• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Dawn Phenomenon

@Ullrich were you on a low carb diet when you did this? If so did eating the carbs 2 hours before bed impact your ketosis?

I guess I could experiment with this though. I usually have dinner around 6pm. Which would be low carb. Around 8pm I do exercise, which at the moment is 30 mins of yoga. Then bed at 10:30pm.

I could try a sip of orange juice perhaps.
 
No I don't use a low carb diet.

It could still be worth a try if you are not eating for 4:30hrs + sleep. I recall reading some advice at the time I was looking for an answer that suggested low GI foods like peanuts or certain green apples could be good before bed as they slowly release a small amount of carbohydrates while you sleep. Oddly enough that didn't really work for me, medium GI 2hrs before sleep matched my insulin curve better, however maybe this could work better for someone on low carb?
 
Many type2s use none carb foods to do their liver block before bed. It improves their fbg levels by 2mmol/l on average. Low carbers only get improvement after 4wks of low carbing, again on average.
Many wake on very similiar to their bedtime test result on low carbing with their liver block.
 
So a little something (cheese, meat) before bed might help?
 
Thanks @ickihun. Saw you posted on another thread about fbg and your liver block recommendations. I'll read over there
 
Oh gawd that's tough. So sorry
 
It's so so frustrating, so interesting to see so many others have it. I only started DP or became aware of it about 2-3 yrs ago. I found after low carbing for 3 weeks I woke up with great results. Then I didn't. Then I did. A very royal pain! I find low carb difficult when times are tough/stress/kids/chocolate addicted hubby/falling off the wagon. Just need a kick up the *r $e. I'm going to follow this thread as interested in what other people experience.
 
Last edited:
I been a lowish carber the best part of my life (53 years!)... doesnt make a blind bit of difference to me whether I have higher at 100g or 20g. Same old 4am increase. Only difference is going to bed late and getting up late.. that just shifts the DP...
 
Also have this problem. I can go to bed with BG at 5 but I know it will increase by +7 or more by morning. I've also recently noticed that taking the dog for his morning walk on an empty stomach will increase my BG by another 2 or 3!
Don't know if this will help anyone else but I have been experimenting with 90% dark chocolate - currently Lindt Excellence - and I have found that half to 1 square before bed appears to almost eradicate DP! I haven't done a blood test 2hrs after eating the chocolate yet so don't know if it causes higher BG but it certainly seems to stabilise me so I don't have to spend my 1st waking hours trying to get my numbers down.
Of course, this may not work for anyone else and I'm still experimenting but so far so good.
 
Try sleeping with an eye cover when in long daylight environments. Nature probably designed us to lift up the sugar levels to prepare us for the days activity at dawn. Just an idea that clicked as I know light exposure has several effects on the body.
 


Something just clicked here regarding locality affecting the liver activity at first light! I would try using an eyeshade to sleep when you are in long daylight environments and see if there is any difference. Probably all our livers, diabetic or not are designed to prepare the body for the day's energy requirements when early work starts were the norm. Perhaps it is just doing what if is designed to do! My rooster has a habit of crowing early and I could be exposed to more light than I would have if not woken up.
 
I have dp throughout my day as well as night. Anytime my body thinks I'm fasting, my liver dumps. I have to eat breakfast are I too increase by 4mmol by the time I eat. Even on an excellent basal called Toujeo300. That is why I say basal doesn't make any difference for me. Novarapid and food resolves my liver dump but on lchf fatty protein worked nicely too.
My consultant doesn't want me on fatty diets before bariatric surgery. He's hoping to more than half my insulin injection needs.
 

Tried this last night. First in range reading in weeks!! Let's hope it isn't a fluke.
 
I get DP every morning and have failed to find a solution. But when I am on holiday I do not get it! In fact I wake very low and have to adjust for that by lowering my Lantus when on hols! Went to Sicily for 2 weeks in May and no DP, been to Portugal and no DP! Why? Maybe the solution is to move to a warmer country......
 
Could it be that you eat different foods when away? I'd imagine the diet in Sicily is somewhat different than what you would have at home. Could you replicate what you eat when away as a comparison?
 
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…