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Stress & sugars

Medusa41

Medusa41

Well-Known Member
Messages
423
Location
South East
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Hi all - Just a quicky: Can stress really cause long periods of elevated sugars? I know stress does exacerbate things at times but sugars have been running at 18 for most of afternoon Finally coming down! Unsure if stress or dodgy cannula! TIA
 
Yes, it can but I'd change your cannula too @Medusa41

I find stress can cause both low, high and erratic sugars.
 
Cannulas are a pain in the posterior. Remember too, it could be a bit of both - bad cannula and a bit of stress combining to push your BS up.

I hope it settles down for you soon.
 
Medusa41 said:
Hi all - Just a quicky: Can stress really cause long periods of elevated sugars? I know stress does exacerbate things at times but sugars have been running at 18 for most of afternoon Finally coming down! Unsure if stress or dodgy cannula! TIA
Click to expand...
Although I'm not a pumper, I agree with @azure.

Another thing worth noting, is that us diabetics can become somewhat obsessive with our BG's. Given that, I've found in the past that when I've seen a high BG (even though I thought I'd done everything properly) it has caused me to get angry or upset. I believe that's enough to throw up our BG by a significant amount.

Being stressed can raise BG and so can the further stress caused by the recognition of elevated BG in the first place... It's quite hard to word, but hope that makes sense!

Hope you're back to normal soon:)
 
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Medusa41 said:
Hi all - Just a quicky: Can stress really cause long periods of elevated sugars? I know stress does exacerbate things at times but sugars have been running at 18 for most of afternoon Finally coming down! Unsure if stress or dodgy cannula! TIA
Click to expand...
The answer is yes! This is an easy explanation of why stress worsen diabetes and causes Type 2 Diabetes:

Stress is defined as the body’s reaction to a change in the environment that requires a physical, mental or emotional response.The physiological reactions to stress begins with the perception of stress.The perception of stress results in an activation of the autonomic nervous system to react in emergency situations. Under a stressful situation, the human body responds by quickly mobilising its resources in order to get away from danger or face it.This instinctive physiological response to perceived threats is known as "fight or flight” (Cannon, 1932). The "fight or flight" is an incredible way of communication between the body cells in response to a perceived threat. This response is an instinctive and automatic reaction that prepares the body to "fight" or "flee" from perceived attack, harm or threat to our survival. The danger is perceived first by the eyes, which send signals to a part of the brain called “hypothalamus”, which in turn send a signal to the adrenal gland (in the kidney) in order to secret the stress hormones (called cortisol and epinephrine) that stimulate a rapid access to stored energy (fat and glucose) to help the body to react faster in an emergency. the cortisol facilitates a quick release of glucose from the liver into the bloodstream, and this helps to accelerate the heart rate, raise blood pressure and strengthen muscles… in order to fight or flee from danger.

When the danger is over, normal people regain their normal relaxed state quickly because the normal body have the ability to secrete more insulin to restore the excess of glucose in the bloodstream back into the liver. However, human body may not cope with this process cycle, especially when stress persists for a longer period of time (in the case of chronic stress). As a result, the excess of glucose build-up in the bloodstream, causing hyperglycemia, and thus, Type 2 diabetes.

I hope this can help understand how stress causes type 2 diabetes.
 
stress falls under the radar as a contributor to BG levels -- and it shouldn't
a great thread and great replies !!!

hope you are back to normal @Medusa41
 
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