• Guest, the forum is undergoing some upgrades and so the usual themes will be unavailable for a few days. In the meantime, you can use the forum like normal. We'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Dawn Phenomenon

MissPiggy

MissPiggy

Member
Hello, my question is around the dawn phenomenon. I know that it relates to blood glucose rising between 3am and 8am but I presume this is based on people with a normal sleep schedule of going to bed around 11pm and waking up around 7am? My quesion is will the dawn phenomenon be messed up if you are on a different sleep schedule or, as in my case, up multiple times a night with children and have been for the past 3 years?

My bloods are always around 10 - 12 in a morning so I have been doing the wonderful 3am tests. Sometimes If I go to bed with a BG of around 7, at 3am it is still 7 and by morning is approx 11 (I've tested this several times in the past couple of weeks). I'm usually up at least once in the night on these nights. This would suggest dawn phenomenon wouldn't it?

However recently my kids have been up many times, most nights. Last night I went to bed with a BG of 4.7 (hadn't eaten/injected for 5.5h previously so all fast acting insulin should have been used up). At 3am it was 9.8 and by morning it was 11.4 again. This would suggest I need an increase in my background wouldn't it?

I'm very confused (as well as very tired) and my diabetes team keep saying until I know if it's dawn phenomenon or a need for increased basal, there's nothing they can do which I completely understand but I'm just wondering if it's my ridiculous sleeping pattern that may be causing some of the confusion.

Thanks in advance!
 
Wow Miss Piggy, that sounds like you've got more than your fair share. I'm afraid I don't know enough about the subject, my paultry example is if I've been good having very few carbs during the day but I'm hungry late evening, I'll have some carbs, and when I test the following morning, my reading is down to in the 5's, when I haven't eaten carbs the evening before, my fasting bloods average 6.6????

Someone will give you a good response soon, so hang in there. Welcome. :) xx
 
I would say that if it's creeping up throughout the night then it would be that you need an increase in your basal.

If you're up a few times a night with the kids could you test yourself each time and see what's going on?

Don't know what else to suggest really unless you do some hourly testing throughout the night to basal test. No one really wants to do that though do they!

Indiana x


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
MissPiggy said:
my diabetes team keep saying until I know if it's dawn phenomenon or a need for increased basal, there's nothing they can do
Click to expand...
That doesn't really make sense on their part. It doesn't much matter what the cause is, the overnight basal dose should be increased, as you can't be expected to wake up each night at 3 am to take quick acting insulin!

If the increased overnight dose starts to cause hypos in the afternoon or evening, the next step would be to split the basal dose into two daily injections.
 
Back
Top