Fasting Blood Glucose Levels

[Jenny15]

Hi everyone, I'm interested in discussing what happens with BG levels in the morning from waking up until eventually eating something.

Will discuss with my DN of course, but posting here because there aren't many T2s on insulin on the forum and it may help others.

Upon waking, I'm not usually hungry for 2-6 hours, and I've long adopted the practice of not eating unless I am hungry. I test my BG on waking up every day now, and before my first meal (and at whatever other times I need for various reasons.)

As I understand it, I can continue delaying breakfast while using basal insulin. I sure hope so, anyway.

I have read about dawn phenomenon on this site so I understand what is thought to cause it. My BG decreases after that, which I love to see... can anyone tell me why this happens (to people in general)?

My fasting BG at the moment is 8.5-10.5 most days. Have only just started low carbing again and using insulin. During the day my BGs are 7-10 as long as I low carb. I need them eventually under 7 before meals and no more than 9 two hours after.

My current Lantus injecting time is 5pm, if that makes a difference. I suspect my BG would still decrease during the late morning without being on insulin, as IIRC it used to do that years ago. I am also on 1500mg of Metformin - one on waking up, the other two at 5pm when I have dinner. I believe Metformin reduces my appetite a bit (a good thing!), and other GI disorders I have also help with that.

I won't make a decision on staying with Lantus until I am free of a current UTI infection. It certainly is the most accessible insulin option for me right now, and my nausea is decreasing.

I had the worst luck in the world by getting daily nausea as soon as I started Lantus, and had no signs of the UTI until day 6 on Lantus. Caused confusion, but that was beyond my control or awareness at the time. According to my endo, a few people find their body doesn't tolerate something that's in Lantus.

If I stay with it I will ask about transitioning to an earlier dosing time. My DN said Lantus dosing time doesn't matter and is down to personal preference. I'm sure she won't have an issue with me changing it.

Understanding what happens to BG after waking up and before eating will help me learn more about managing my diabetes. Thanks.

 

[Jenny15]

Today my FBG was 7.1! And pre-meal a few hours later it was 6.1.

Well chuffed, as you Brits would say. In NZ/AU we would say beaut.

I'm still a wee way from not needing insulin, though. Got to get FBGs and mealtime BGs well down and stable before I and my DN want to slowly reduce my basal insulin and see what happens. Also need to reduce Metformin from 1500mg to 1000mg because that's the level where I had no bowel side effects. We'll need to make these changes separately for empirical purposes.

Here's the question I posed earlier:

"I have read about dawn phenomenon on this site so I understand what is thought to cause it. My BG decreases after that, which I love to see... can anyone tell me why this happens (to people in general)?"

Thanks again.

 

[Mike d]

"AU Beaut"? No.

 

[Jenny15]

"AU Beaut"? No.

YMMV

 

[Mr_Pot]

Well chuffed, as you Brits would say

Or "One is absolutely delighted!" as we say in Windsor.

 

[Jenny15]

Or "One is absolutely delighted!" as we say in Windsor.

Oh wow, you live in Windsor? I love that place and visited a few years ago. Visiting the castle was such a great experience. I'm really into history, esp British & British Empire history. I call the UK our mothership, lol.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Understanding what happens to BG after waking up and before eating will help me learn more about managing my diabetes. Thanks.

The dawn phenomenon is a natural event that everyone experiences, including non-diabetics.

In normal healthy people the liver will dump glucose in the blood stream from its own stores whenever it detects glucose is low. The pancreas then leaps into action and secretes some insulin to balance this out and keep glucose levels stable, at the same time telling the liver to stop dumping. This is all regulated by certain hormones, (including cortisol, growth hormone, glucagon, and adrenaline.) It saves our lives, because otherwise in times of fasting and between meals (and exercise in some cases) our glucose levels would be insufficient to feed our brains and red blood cells, and we would die.

This system breaks down when we are diabetic with insulin resistance. The liver dumps its stored glucose but due to insulin resistance the secreted insulin can't do its job properly, the liver keeps dumping and the glucose stays in the blood stream until enough insulin has been produced to clear it, which can take ages. The more severe the insulin resistance, the longer it will take.

The system also breaks down if our pancreas is a bit worn out and doesn't produce enough insulin, or if we have wonky regulating hormones..

Basically, for those with insulin resistance the only real way to prevent it happening at significant levels is to reduce the amount of IR.

Does that help?

 

[Lamont D]

Today my FBG was 7.1! And pre-meal a few hours later it was 6.1.

Well chuffed, as you Brits would say. In NZ/AU we would say beaut.

I'm still a wee way from not needing insulin, though. Got to get FBGs and mealtime BGs well down and stable before I and my DN want to slowly reduce my basal insulin and see what happens. Also need to reduce Metformin from 1500mg to 1000mg because that's the level where I had no bowel side effects. We'll need to make these changes separately for empirical purposes.

Here's the question I posed earlier:

"I have read about dawn phenomenon on this site so I understand what is thought to cause it. My BG decreases after that, which I love to see... can anyone tell me why this happens (to people in general)?"

Thanks again.

As my understanding of why dawn phenomenon happens is to wake you up with usable glucose due to Glucogenesis from your liver, to prepare for whatever your body requires before you break-fast from your sleep cycle.
It is a normal and natural bodily function for your endocrine system.

When I test before my first bite of the day, it is not a waking test, as some people use as a fasting test, but a pre meal test.
A fasting test can be used at any time preferably hours after waking or eating.
I ignore the waking test because it can vary so much.

Oh yeah, I don't suffer from dawn phenomenon.

That's great! (Or fab!) If you like, you know what I mean, like! (Sixties!)