High amFasting Blood Sugar

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Does anyone have any "tricks or hints" on how to lower a. m. blood sugars? I am currently on 500mg Metformin(cut down from 1000mg) My last A1C was 5.5. EVERY am my fasting is 143 or higher(this am was 196) I have good control in the daytime(yesterday afternoon was 90). I have tried eating a snack before bed, NO snack before bed but I am always getting a high reading,. I even took my metformin at bedtime(didnt work). I would appreciate any help as I feel I have half of this under control.

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  • LauraDotts
    LauraDotts Posts: 732 Member
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    Get up in the middle of the night (3 or 4 am) and check your blood sugar. See if it is very low. Your blood glucose may be dropping too low during the night so your body releases and dumps sugar into your blood stream to bring it back up giving you a high reading in the morning. Do that for about a week. Try different times -- 3 am, 4 am, 5 am, etc... Write it all down. If you are dropping in the middle of the night, call your doctor so that your meds can be adjusted.

    http://diabetes.webmd.com/morning-high-blood-sugar-levels
  • JaceyMarieS
    JaceyMarieS Posts: 692 Member
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    What are you eating at night ... or for your last meal of the day? What are you eating as a snack? What is your BG reading after your last meal/snack? You say your afternoon reading was 90...was that before a meal? At peak after a meal? A post-prandial reading?


    It could be the Somogyi Effect (rebound hypoglycemia), which is what LauraDotts is referring to. It could be Dawn Phenomenon.



    Your diary isn't open, so it's hard to tell what the problem might be.

    I will say that I struggled horribly to bring my fasting numbers below 100. Peak and post-prandial numbers were well within target ranges, but my fasting numbers still fluctuated between 101-112. I tried various snack combinations....protein, protein/carb, fat/carb, fat/protein, protein/fat/carb .... all in various ratios. At my last check-up (A1c 5.5), I asked to increase my metformin from 1000 to 1500 per day. In addition to my morning and evening workouts, I also added 10 more minutes of exercise (nothing strenuous, just .5 mile at an easy pace) after my last meal/snack.

    I haven't had a fasting reading over 100 since August unless I make a concious effort to blow my meal plan, so the combo of meds and exercise is working
  • KNEEKNEE5
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    Maybe I should try more evening exercise, as most of exercise is am-afternoon. I also will try testing my bs in middle of the night when I get up to use the bathroom. My 90 bs other day was 1 1/2 hours after an afternoon snack of 2 fun size snickers....It really is frustrating trying to figure out what causes the spikes.
  • travisseger
    travisseger Posts: 271 Member
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    My highest reading of the day is always my a.m. fasting reading. They are not bad, but they are higher. I have found doing some of my exercise - as little as 10 minutes - in the evening as a way to lower the morning reading. If I do some of my exercise in the evening, I usually wake up to 85-95. If I don't, I usually wake up to 95-110. I'm not saying it's the trick that will work for you, but it does work for me.
  • Jacquis59
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    I was going to say take your Metformin at bedtime, but I see you're already doing that. Try to eat a "freebie" snack like cucumber slices with hummus or something like that if you're going to have an evening snack.

    I've also got a recipe for turning every day cashews into a spectacular spicy treat that a small quantity of really satisfies my need for a munchie and it doesn't affect my sugar as much.

    My fastings have been running from 39 to about 70. For the first time in over a year I'm under 150-200 for fasting. My daytime numbers fluctuate quite a bit but I'm spiking less and less of time over the past two months.

    Good luck!!! You'll make it!!
  • KNEEKNEE5
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    I have discovered that cashews are a spiker for me, that was my go to snack. Also my last two am fastings have gone down. I have not eaten any cashews since Friday afternoon when I tested because I felt "shaky and weird" I thought I might have low bs. it was 85(my lowest thus far!) I ate about 6 cashews and retested 1/2 hour later- I was up to 106! I am going to eliminate cashews and find a new snack. Also the last 2 mornings I have slept in(at least 9 hours a night of sleep) I havent slept in for like 5 months.. Maybe I need more sleep (i usually get 7 hours)
  • deeschange
    deeschange Posts: 186 Member
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    I'm going to try that excerising 10 minutes before bed...maybe that will push my numbers under 100 consistently....

    I'm learning from these suggestions.....

    Thanks
  • EinTX
    EinTX Posts: 104 Member
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    Thx for asking this, I have been doing really well during the day but my morning numbers are always high. This post gives me good ideas on what to try.
  • deeschange
    deeschange Posts: 186 Member
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    I tried excersing before bed last night....fasting this morning was 100.......

    I'm going to try this daily to see if I hit the mark or lower and if it shows up consistently then I know this is a "KEY" for me.

    Thanks again for the suggestion.
  • asb46
    asb46 Posts: 26 Member
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    I am new to this group, and diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes just last spring. I, too, have struggled with controlling my fasting BG. My A1C numbers stay in the 5-6 range, so my Doc is never concerned. She raised my night dosage of Metformin to 1000 mg, and I take 500 mg in the am. I find that my BG is "better" when I am diligent about having a snack before bed, but the idea of some light activity in the evening seems like a good plan. Has anyone had this contribute to or exacerbate insomnia? I'm also menopausal and struggle with sleep issues.

    Angela
  • sabinavaughan
    sabinavaughan Posts: 109 Member
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    I have always had the issues of fasting bs being high....I find that that one thing that helps is protien...as long as its protien only so I tend to snack on a handlfull of almonds at night..going to try the 10 minutes walk at night too..so lets see if that works. Thanks for asking and thanks for all the wonderful advice!
  • jsiricos
    jsiricos Posts: 338 Member
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    Exercising at night didnt help :( its been going steadily up for a week, today 118, woke with a headache..
  • Aussielooser
    Aussielooser Posts: 139 Member
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    I tend to go for a walk about an hr after dinner and my fasting is anything from 4.2 to 5.5.. I also tend to snack more at night time as I am up most of the night with my chronically ill son...But If I over snack my reading are always still around the same when I get out of bed. It takes trial and error.. good luck...
  • reerazzle
    reerazzle Posts: 81 Member
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    I have a similar problem and over the past month I have lowered my carbs ( not always consistently) and added exercise in the evening. When I exercised late at night, there was pretty good correlation with lower blood sugars in the morning but it was disturbing my sleep. So I shifted it before my meal and that too seems to have had a good effect. However, my fbg has not consistently come down, but has definitely improved.