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Stress link to blood sugar

J

JonPlym

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When I was diagnosed as type 2 a year ago, and not having a weight problem, I was told that my diabetes was probably caused by stress and bereavement. I notice that my sugar levels do change according to my stress/anxiety/worry levels and wonder if there are others who find this?
 

Hi @JonPlym

Yes it's a normal natural reaction. In times of stress one's cortisol levels increase, and this triggers a release of glucose from the liver to help you cope with fighting off the cause of the stress.

For a diabetic, having all that extra glucose and not being able to use it isn't much help.
 

That is interesting as it was the first thing my doc asked if I was stressed - I’m slim too. I didn’t feel stressed but after a hormone test confirmed my cortisol was off the chart (MUCH higher than the max). It makes me wonder if it was a contributory factor.
 


Thank you
 

I’m finding it all interesting. Until now I’ve been thinking more about the food angle on it but I’m starting to think that it’s more stress related
 
Yes! One of the highest glucose levels I've recorded was a short term stress one - it was worse than a pure sugar spike.

Currently general stress over all the cornonavirus hoo-ha has upped my glucose levels slightly overall, however I'm not getting any significantly worse rises from what I'm eating unless I've consumed rather more carbs than I know I should.

Thing like illness, pain, and certain medications can also affect our glucose levels too.
 

Thank you, it's good to know I'm not the only one finding that this difficult time is making my readings higher (up and down for apparently no reason)
 
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