Why Is The Blood Sugar Level High In Morning?

Diabetes, whether Type-1 or Type-2, is a risk factor for a number of diseases including heart disease, stroke and kidney disease. Managing and controlling the blood sugar level within the healthy range is, therefore, very important for all diabetics. It is not uncommon for some doctors to advise their diabetic patients to measure at home their blood sugar regularly using a blood glucose monitor. Sometimes, certain group of patients may find that their blood sugar readings are noticeably high in early morning. This is properly due to either dawn phenomenon or Somogyi effect, the two common causes for such phenomenon.

Usually occurs between 3 and 8 am, the dawn phenomenon is a natural rise in blood sugar because of hormones secreted at night that trigger the liver to dump sugar into the blood to help prepare for the day. While everybody experiences these natural changes in hormone levels, the body of people with diabetes may not adjust appropriately. For healthy people, the body can just make more insulin to balance everything out, so they do not even notice that is happening. For diabetics, however, the fasting blood sugar reading can go up since the body may not have enough insulin to counteract those hormones. This can lead to higher-than-normal blood sugar at the start of the day.

While the dawn phenomenon happens naturally, the Somogyi effect occurs as a result of poor diabetic management. Taking too much insulin or not having enough food before bed can cause a condition called hyperglycemia, also known as low blood sugar. The body will then release stress hormones like glucagon and epinephrine, to raise the sugar level causing blood sugar to elevate in the morning. That is why Somogyi effect is also known as reactive hyperglycemia. It is thought to be more common in people with Type-1 diabetes than Type-2 diabetes.

To determine what cause the hike in blood sugar level, doctor may ask the patient to check the blood sugar levels between 2 am and 3 am for several nights in a row. If the blood sugar is consistently low during this time, the Somogyi effect might be the cause. If the blood sugar is normal during this time period, then the dawn phenomenon is more likely to be the cause. Some additional clues that the Somogyi effect may be the cause include nightmares, restless sleep and overnight sweating as these are all signs of low blood sugar levels. Some patients with Somogyi effect may also experience difficulty waking up in the morning.

Some research scientists also recommend checking blood sugar levels for several nights specifically between 3 am and 5 am using a continuous glucose monitoring system (CGM). Making use of a CGM enables one to get the information without having to wake up for it. These monitors potentially help identify patterns and severity of high and low blood sugars. In fact, many healthcare practitioners are now offering loan of CGM for a few days.