Forums: January 2011 Kickstart Forum: "Dawn Effect"
Created on: 01/13/11 10:24 AM Views: 1226 Replies: 5
Checochinican Joined: 01/04/11 Posts: 148	"Dawn Effect" Posted Thursday, January 13, 2011 at 10:24 AM What is your experience with this? How long does it last? My fasting scores are miserable this morning.
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Bugsmom Joined: 09/13/10 Posts: 2087	RE: "Dawn Effect" Posted Thursday, January 13, 2011 at 10:32 AM Checochinican wrote: What is your experience with this? How long does it last? My fasting scores are miserable this morning. It can be permanent - I've been dealing with it since I was diagnosed 5 years ago. The number one biggest thing that I've found that helps me is exercise. If I get in a good 45 minutes to an hour of walking after dinner, that seems to have the most impact on my morning number. Next most important is what, when and how much I snack in the evening. Even if what I'm eating is vegan, low fat, low glycemic, it can still impact the morning. There are days where my after breakfast reading is LOWER than my pre-breakfast reading! --Deb R
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fiji51904 Joined: 01/12/10 Location: Ontario, CA Posts: 98	RE: "Dawn Effect" Posted Thursday, January 13, 2011 at 10:35 AM I'm assuming that this has to do w/blood sugar but I have been HG my entire life & I have never heard this term. What is the 'dawn effect'? Heidi
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Bugsmom Joined: 09/13/10 Posts: 2087	RE: "Dawn Effect" Posted Thursday, January 13, 2011 at 10:42 AM fiji51904 wrote: I'm assuming that this has to do w/blood sugar but I have been HG my entire life & I have never heard this term. What is the 'dawn effect'? When any body is preparing to wake from sleep, the body temp rises, circulation increases (heart rate goes up etc), and all the systems get primed to be active again. In that mix, the liver releases glucose to fuel the body systems. For some people, more is released than is needed/used creating higher than appropriate fasting blood sugar readings first thing in the morning. A big part of it is insulin resistance, which is why exercise is helpful. There are also medications for diabetics that specifically target/assist with this situation. The hard part of dealing with it is that, unlike the rest of the day when you can control your activity level, food intake, etc., you have little control over what your liver is doing while you're asleep. --Deb R
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Susan Levin Joined: 12/26/09 Posts: 1212	RE: "Dawn Effect" Posted Thursday, January 13, 2011 at 10:54 AM I asked our resident nurse and CDE to respond to this. Here's what she said: The Dawn Phenomenon is a normal physiologic process where hormones released in the early morning hours promote release of glucose from storage in the liver, basically to provide fuel for the tasks involved with waking up. In people with type 2 diabetes, the process may be accelerated. This explains how one can go to bed with a normal reading and wake up higher, even though nothing was eaten during the night. If blood sugar readings throughout the day are decent, I generally don't get too worried about slightly higher morning readings. I use the A1c reading as the guide in this situation. If mornings are high (let's say 150-160), the rest of the day within normal most of the time (90-130 mg/dl AVERAGE before meals per American Diabetes Association) and the A1c is 7% or lower - you are in good shape and I would not push more medication to further lower the numbers. Realize this is general advice and only for non-pregnant adults: individuals should work with a health care provider who knows their medical history and can set appropriate targets. If mornings are consistently too high, and there is no further room for improvement in diet or exercise, or the person is symptomatic or about to undergo surgery, then some long-acting insulin at night time may be warranted. Again, this is general, and does not cover all possible contingencies. I would remind all that blood glucose numbers and the A1c test are but one measure of health. Many improvements that result from a nutrient-dense, low-fat, plant-based diet cannot be measured at home, such as improvements in circulation, reduced inflammation, even improved metabolic processes at the cellular level that reduce insulin resistance and the risk of cancer. Focus on healthful behaviors, don't get too hung up on the numbers, and good health and vitality will follow. Caroline Trapp, MSN, APRN, BC-ADM, CDE Director of Diabetes Education and Care Susan Levin, MS, RD PCRM Director of Nutrition Education
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Checochinican Joined: 01/04/11 Posts: 148	RE: "Dawn Effect" Posted Saturday, January 15, 2011 at 11:20 AM Thank you! I greatly appreciate the responses here. My wretched numbers recently may be a problem with my meter, not my glucose. I'm checking into that.
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