Sugar Spikes during Stressful Events

[monali98]

For quite sometime I noticed that my sugar always goes up by about 2-3 mmol according to my Libre sensor whenever I go through a stressful event such as exams or watching the team I support play (not a joke I’m that passionate when it comes to football), and I’ve always thought that it’s just a normal response to the hormones released because of stress, but I’m just wondering, does anyone here experience something similar? Any creative ideas on how to deal with it other than not getting stressed in the first place because I don’t think I can avoid that.

 

[Rachox]

Yes many of us observe a rise in blood sugar when stressed, and no I haven’t managed to avoid it.

 

[Antje77]

I'm scared of going to the dentist and it makes my bg jump so predictably that I now take some insulin for it before going in.
I haven't yet encountered any other stress situations predictable enough to dose for them beforehand so usually I use a correction dose if it happens.

 

[KennyA]

It seems to be a natural response by the system - stress might be fight or flight and either way adding some extra fuel to the bloodstream just in case probably seems like a good idea to the liver.

 

[MrsA2]

For quite sometime I noticed that my sugar always goes up by about 2-3 mmol according to my Libre sensor whenever I go through a stressful event such as exams or watching the team I support play (not a joke I’m that passionate when it comes to football), and I’ve always thought that it’s just a normal response to the hormones released because of stress, but I’m just wondering, does anyone here experience something similar? Any creative ideas on how to deal with it other than not getting stressed in the first place because I don’t think I can avoid that.

I've shown this Libre graph of mine before. It shows how after a low carb breakfast and a low carb lunch, I was suddenly thrown into a very stressful situation that lasted into the small hours. I had nothing to eat after my lunch. So any spike is stress caused. The spikes accurately map how the situation ebbed and flowed in stress.
To me, it's proof positive, even though its only an n=1 anecdote, that stress raises bg.

 

[Outlier]

I'm a born stresshead and fast reactor, and my system can go into fight-or-flight in nanoseconds. BP goes up to a level I suspect would have me in hospital (in fact just before a perfectly easy scan that on the surface I was more than happy to have, they had to bring my BP down with nitroglycerine before I could be scanned) and my BG rockets, then stays up for a while. It's survival, and if my stress hormones were measured at the time as well, the readings I suspect would be in the stratosphere too. All the time, I look calm/laid back (it's an English thing) and function at top mental capacity. It's different for all of us, it works fine, but it's useful to be aware that for some of us it's extreme. As long as I can keep away from medics during these times it's safe as well, but it would be highly likely that I would risk being overmedicated if it were ever found out. It's all about knowing oneself, and the time to be concerned would be if matters escalated outside our usual reaction pattern.

 

[monali98]

I'm scared of going to the dentist and it makes my bg jump so predictably that I now take some insulin for it before going in.
I haven't yet encountered any other stress situations predictable enough to dose for them beforehand so usually I use a correction dose if it happens.

Thanks for share this. For some reason I didn’t think of dosing beforehand, but I will definitely try that next time I know I’m about to get stressed.

 

[monali98]

It seems to be a natural response by the system - stress might be fight or flight and either way adding some extra fuel to the bloodstream just in case probably seems like a good idea to the liver.

Yes exactly! That’s what I thought as well. I wonder if diabetics are more prone to those stress-caused sugar spikes, and whether they have a long-term effect on us.

 

[KennyA]

Yes exactly! That’s what I thought as well. I wonder if diabetics are more prone to those stress-caused sugar spikes, and whether they have a long-term effect on us.

I don't see why we should be more prone to having them: but I can see why the impact might last a bit longer if you have difficulty clearing glucose from the blood. It seems to be tied up (as so many thing seems to be) with how efficient the liver is - in this case, at regulating blood glucose.

As to the long-term effect - speaking from my T2 perspective I can only say that it seems to be a combination of high BG levels over time that cause physical damage. I'm much more relaxed about BG rises (to relatively high levels for me) and falls that are over within 45 minutes.

 

[monali98]

I've shown this Libre graph of mine before. It shows how after a low carb breakfast and a low carb lunch, I was suddenly thrown into a very stressful situation that lasted into the small hours. I had nothing to eat after my lunch. So any spike is stress caused. The spikes accurately map how the situation ebbed and flowed in stress.
To me, it's proof positive, even though its only an n=1 anecdote, that stress raises bg.

Thank you so much for sharing this. I notice something very similar almost every time. Yesterday, when I was watching the World Cup final, my BG spiked, and as I got more stressed towards the end of the match my BG was at its highest point, and after the dust was settled it plummeted to its normal levels again. Quite fascinating really

 

[Robbity]

Yes, one of the first things I discovered (and confirmed while using a sensor) was that stress - amongst other non foody things such as illness or pain - will raise my glucose levels, usually more than food itself.

 

[monali98]

I'm a born stresshead and fast reactor, and my system can go into fight-or-flight in nanoseconds. BP goes up to a level I suspect would have me in hospital (in fact just before a perfectly easy scan that on the surface I was more than happy to have, they had to bring my BP down with nitroglycerine before I could be scanned) and my BG rockets, then stays up for a while. It's survival, and if my stress hormones were measured at the time as well, the readings I suspect would be in the stratosphere too. All the time, I look calm/laid back (it's an English thing) and function at top mental capacity. It's different for all of us, it works fine, but it's useful to be aware that for some of us it's extreme. As long as I can keep away from medics during these times it's safe as well, but it would be highly likely that I would risk being overmedicated if it were ever found out. It's all about knowing oneself, and the time to be concerned would be if matters escalated outside our usual reaction pattern.

Hahaha, I reckon I’m also like that as well. Some events just stress the heck out of me, and about everything just skyrockets, and you’re absolutely right about the potential of being overmedicated because of those moments. I remember during last year’s exams I had to go to my GP, and when they checked my BP it was abnormally high. She started talking about medications but I asked her to wait until I’m done with my exams and I’ll monitor it at home for a week before we do anything. Sure enough, it was absolutely normal throughout the whole week, and only went up time last because of how stressed I was.

 

[Deleted member 527103]

Yes exactly! That’s what I thought as well. I wonder if diabetics are more prone to those stress-caused sugar spikes, and whether they have a long-term effect on us.

Bodies without diabetes will still have glucose dumps to provide the energy to manage the stress. However, their pancreas will then release insulin so the spikes will not be as significant.
It is just like Dawn Phenomenon - most livers will dump glucose to start the day. But most people have enough insulin released fast enough to cope with it so they don't experience the morning spike.

 

[Antje77]

Thanks for share this. For some reason I didn’t think of dosing beforehand, but I will definitely try that next time I know I’m about to get stressed.

Just be careful and keep a very close eye on your BG!

 

[MrsA2]

Thank you so much for sharing this. I notice something very similar almost every time. Yesterday, when I was watching the World Cup final, my BG spiked, and as I got more stressed towards the end of the match my BG was at its highest point, and after the dust was settled it plummeted to its normal levels again. Quite fascinating really

Imagine how much higher it would be if beer and carby snacks were ingested too!