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Can temperature changes affect your diabetes?

Simranp

Simranp

Member
Messages
7
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Can a change of temperature have impact on your blood glucose values? If so, how and what causes it?
 
You don't say whether it's bodily or ambient temperature that has changed. I hear (and DN agrees) that illness can cause blood sugars to rise. This seemed to be borne out during my recent cold.

A change in ambient temperature might mean you expend more energy maintaining your bodily temperature and shivering is a form of exercise I suppose. I don't know of any research on the subject though. That's all I know.
 
Yes it can, I need slightly more insulin in the cold Autumn/Winter months than I do in the warmer months of Spring/Summer.
 
I'm the opposite , I need more basal in the summer particularly when it's hot and less in the depths of winter. Never have found an answer to this as the general consensus is the opposite i.e. low in heat , high in winter !

I normally get caught out each seasonal change i.e. go too high in the transition to summer and vice versa and have hypos in the winter (before I can adjust my basal properly)
 
Hello to all, as a T2 I find that when I am cold br bs reading go up, even though my medication stays the same dosage. I get hotter in the winter after I have eaten, even for a short time (not hot flushes),,,
I think it could be more meals with spuds, or slow cooked meats with thick gravy,,,,,well we have tohave a little bit of comfort in the winter, so it is the 'winter menu',,,,,ttfn from Karen.
 
Yes, my basal rate has to go up from 14 units a day to 15 units a day when temperatures drop in autumn and back down again when summer temperatures kick in the next year. One unit doesn't sound like much but it makes a difference. My bolus rates seem to vary more according to fitness and activity levels.
 
Hello RuthW, yes these things are sent to test us,,,,now what ever happens in the season of the red suited guy,,,we must be strong and resist the urge to have an extra anything,,,,even if it is only a satsuma,,,tizz the season to be orange,!!!,,ttfn from Karen.
 
Agree! I constantly battle lows in warm weather, need more insulin in cool/cold weather. Wearing a cgm has helped me with better control year round.
 
I get this problem in the bath or shower, I asked the doctor whether it could be the hot water because every time I will hypo. The doctor said that heat cannot affect my blood sugars
 
No, you're not alone in finding that a hot shower has this effect. Prople have posted about this before. on other threads. I have certainly experienced a drop in BS level after a hot shower myself, though not so much as to be hypo. Doctors don't always kniw everything. We live with diabetes 24 hrs a day, every day. They don't. That makes a difference. We speak from experience, not just theory.
 
Sarahlouxoxo said:
I get this problem in the bath or shower, I asked the doctor whether it could be the hot water because every time I will hypo. The doctor said that heat cannot affect my blood sugars
Click to expand...

We've had previous discussions on this topic, and I've recorded such rises via both pre and post bath finger pricks and Libre sensor logs. Here's my partial Libre log from a few years back, showing the start of a rise after a late morning (staring around 11.30-ish) bath.:


bath-spike-jpg.23025

:Din
 
Wurst said:
I'm the opposite , I need more basal in the summer particularly when it's hot and less in the depths of winter. Never have found an answer to this as the general consensus is the opposite i.e. low in heat , high in winter !

I normally get caught out each seasonal change i.e. go too high in the transition to summer and vice versa and have hypos in the winter (before I can adjust my basal properly)
Click to expand...
 
Simranp said:
Can a change of temperature have impact on your blood glucose values? If so, how and what causes it?
Click to expand...
Well as my body has it breathing changes your blood glucose numbers Diabetes is unique to the individual so what makes your blood glucose levels change might not make mine change.
 
Yes, as in several reports here my I need to increase my insulin dosages in the SUMMER months and reduce as the the winter approaches. Often it is simply the nighttime long acting dose only which needs adjustment. I have worked running diabetes clinics in general practice for over 26 years as well as being a type 1 diabetic myself (for 60 years)! We are all individuals and this applies to our diabetic control and also anyconsequential effects of the condition. I now have the Libre 2 sensor which has been life changing after some 45 years of finger pricking! Guaranteed to improve HBA1c levels if used regularly with correct insulin adjustments as required.
 
Olive_Grace said:
Yes, as in several reports here my I need to increase my insulin dosages in the SUMMER months and reduce as the the winter approaches. Often it is simply the nighttime long acting dose only which needs adjustment. I have worked running diabetes clinics in general practice for over 26 years as well as being a type 1 diabetic myself (for 60 years)! We are all individuals and this applies to our diabetic control and also anyconsequential effects of the condition. I now have the Libre 2 sensor which has been life changing after some 45 years of finger pricking! Guaranteed to improve HBA1c levels if used regularly with correct insulin adjustments as required.
Click to expand...
Apologies - I wrote this alongside the name Olive Grace Whoops. I am Judith McDonald
 
Shecat said:
Well as my body has it breathing changes your blood glucose numbers Diabetes is unique to the individual so what makes your blood glucose levels change might not make mine change.
Click to expand...
Btw did you realise you were replying to a question that was asked 6 years ago?
 
Sarahlouxoxo said:
I get this problem in the bath or shower, I asked the doctor whether it could be the hot water because every time I will hypo. The doctor said that heat cannot affect my blood sugars
Click to expand...
What would the doctor know unless he/she was diabetic him/herself? Most are clueless!
 
Olive_Grace said:
Guaranteed to improve HBA1c levels if used regularly with correct insulin adjustments as required.
Click to expand...

For some people that's simply not true sorry. It may be that they've had good hba1c levels, but that's because they've had a lot of hypo's to lower an otherwise high hba1c. A libre hopefully will improve time in range for those people, but their hba1c may very similar.
 
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