Confused about sugar reading - help!!!!

S

squirtsdad

Member
I have been type 2 diabetic for about eight years now with varying degrees on control. I Suffer from quite severe depression and when you dont want to be on this planet then eating a mars bar doesnt seem to really matter!! I am now really trying to get my house in order including my health.

I have been low carbing for just over two weeks. I have not been following a diet but cutting out all sugar and spuds, rice, bread, cereal, pasta etc. I try and keep the calories to 1700 a day aswell as I need to lose some weight.

My question is this. How does my blood sugar go up when I have not eaten? An example - Last night I had a 100% beefburger and salad for tea. My reading 2 hours after was 5.7, good for me. I then go to bed and do another reading at 7am. 8.6! How comes? To confuse it more I then went out for a run (jog would be more appropriate) for 4.5 miles and out of interest took a reading when I got back. 9.4!!! I am totally confused with this so please help
 
DAWN PHENOMENON
Everyone, diabetic or not, exhibits some Dawn Phenomenon. It is a natural part of our bodies' circadian rhythms. Some have said it is the way our ancestors had the strength to rise and slay a wooly behemoth for breakfast.

Since most of us fast while sleeping, with teenagers a possible exception, our bodies use stored energy during sleep. The body uses all three macro-nutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) to store energy.

The most easily used is the storage medium of carbohydrates, called glycogen. Glycogen is made from glucose, and is stored in the liver and muscles. Since it is basically nothing more than a complex matrix of glucose, it is easy for the body to store and use, something the body does all day long. The technical term for the act of creating and storing glycogen is glycogenesis. When the body calls for the conversion of glycogen back to glucose it is called glycogenolysis.

Another macro-nutrient that is available to be converted to glucose is protein. Most of us think of our protein as being stored in muscle, but the body has protective mechanisms to make muscle wasting its last choice. One of the most useful and readily available sources of protein storage is in blood components, i.e., albumin (plasma). The body uses a process performed in the liver to convert amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, into glucose. The name for this process is gluconeogenesis, literally "the creation of new glucose".

So, what does all this have to do with a high fasting BG? Overnight, usually between 4am and 11am, your body releases some hormones. These are Growth Hormone (GH) from the anterior pituitary gland, cortisol from the adrenal cortex, glucagon from your pancreatic alpha-cells, and epinephrine (adrenalin). These hormones cause an increase in insulin resistance, raising your BG. In addition, these hormones trigger glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis, adding stored or new glucose to your bloodstream.
The 2009 guideline Bg figures to aim for are as follows:
Fasting (waking).................Between 4 - 7 mmol/l.
2 hrs after meals.................No more than 8.5 mmol/l.
Click to expand...

As for the readings going up after exercise this quite often happens but will usually drop a short while afterwards. It all depends on whether you fuel your body before the exercise, what sort of exercise and it's intensity as to the outcome. If you have not enough 'fuel' to start with you can even go too low and hypo. It's a fine balance when you exercise between carbs and glucose levels. You might want to check the levels during the exercise as it is also possible to 'liver dump' (similar process to the DP) when the levels are way too low which will increase the Bg numbers as well.
 
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