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

Dawn Phenomenon

T

Tampatownfan

Newbie
Messages
2
Hi All, new to the forum but been Type 2 for a number of years. My struggle has always been my fasting numbers. During the day I typically watch my numbers drop from a 9.4mmol/L (sometimes higher) down to about 6.7mmol/L. I've been following an intermittent fasting (less cups of tea) routine of eating between 12pm and 6pm, with only water in the evenings. I typically take my metformin 850mg before going to bed to try to offset the dawn phenomenon effect but to no avail. Even with the 12 hours/ish since the last meal, the numbers jump. I have some stress, but not a huge amount, and sleep fairly well typically for about 6 hours a night. Im just struggling to think of what I can do next to address this phenomenon. Ive read on here the suggestion to have a snack before bed to fool the liver in to not releasing and might try that. Perhaps slow release metformin? I'd appreciate any suggestions, thanks in advance.
 
Welcome @Tampatownfan good to have you here. I have no winning suggestions but others may well have. It seemed rude not to say Hi and offer my best wishes.
 
Welcome to the forum.
How to fix the dawn phenomenon, well I don't think it can be fixed. It's just the bodies response to the release of certain hormones, so not really a phenomenon and it can happen anytime, not just when you're getting ready to wake up.
It happens to everyone but our insulin resistance means we have trouble dealing with the resulting glucose. So the real problem is our bodies overflowing with glucose and our resistance to our own insulin. I think the best way to tackle it is by cutting as many carbs from your diet as you can and fasting . here's a link to a blog by someone who has managed to successfully tackle it
https://healthybodyhack.com/dawn-phenomenon-how-i-fixed-high-morning-blood-sugar/
 
Hi @Tampatownfan and welcome to the forums. The obvious question is, how may carbs are in your diet? If you're already low carbing to the max, have you had any tests to confirm that you are T2 rather than a slow onset T1/LADA?
 
Hi Ellie, many thanks for the reply. I can honestly say that there is a lot more I could do to cut out more carbs. Unfortunately my living situation for a couple of months at a time is that my meals are provided with an option of 1 choice. My way of addressing this is to pretty much leave the obvious high carb items on the plate where possible. I have typically been able to maintain a fasting rate of about 8.3mmol/L, until the last few months where it has risen quite a lot. Other than my HbA1c tests, I haven't had any other testing done and my Doc hasn't mentioned any further testing.
 
Hello and welcome! Obviously everyone’s different and I’m only sharing what worked for me but I recently found that when I reduced my evening carbs (including a small pre-bed snack), my fasting numbers shot into the 9s (they were rarely over 5.5 before). Adding a small protein snack (usually cheese, sometimes nuts) about an hour before bed has me back in the low 5s on waking.
 
Back
Top