Controlling blood glucose levels is difficult during the day when you can wake up and control your insulin bolus and basal speed manipulation to deal with carbohydrates, exercise, stress and hormones.
Tackling your blood sugar levels overnight is a completely different issue that you need to delicately address in order to fine-tune your controls and stay healthy.
Many people with diabetes struggle with stubborn overnight blood sugar, but there are a few things they can do to control this.
In this article, we will highlight the main ways to avoid overnight high blood sugar and feel good and refreshed.
Why does blood sugar levels skyrocket overnight?
Like all diabetes, the answer is subtle and can depend on the person and the situation, but in most cases blood sugar levels tend to skyrocket overnight.
Think about it. Two hours after breakfast or lunch, perhaps test your blood glucose level, monitor it with a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), track changes, and doss it appropriately. After the exercise, you need an eye for that detail, and usually treat it with the right snack before it becomes dangerous.
That’s not when you sleep 7-9 hours a night. This can cause many problems for people with diabetes.
How to help avoid overnight hyperglycemia
Although not all hyperglycemic events can be prevented forever, these strategies can help reduce problems and reduce many hyperglycemic stress.
Try these and see if you notice overall management of diabetes and/or A1C improvements!
Make good use of technology
Techniques like insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors are there to help you. If you’re aware of a lot of high blood sugar overnight, tinker with the basics and bolus fees before bedtime at dinner.
Most people need more insulin overnight to combat the phenomenon of dawn, so if you need two (or more!) basic rates overnight, you won’t feel bad or feel guilty.
Additionally, set a hyperglycemia alarm on CGM (the alarm goes off overnight when 200 people have blood glucose levels).
If you are using a hybrid closed loop system such as the Medtronic 670G, 770G, TSLIM Control IQ, or DIY loop, the insulin pump will automatically help you fight overnight highs, but if not, you can do this.
Don’t get too close to bedtime
Technology should mean more freedom for people with diabetes, but that doesn’t mean that midnight ice cream sundae won’t let your blood sugar spike.
Not only does it make digestion difficult when you get too close to bedtime, but you don’t know how you will respond to foods you eat when you’re asleep.
Try stopping all meals and snacks (except for hypoglycemia treatment, of course), approximately 3 hours before bedtime, you can closely monitor your post-meal glucose levels and make corrected doses if necessary.
Since an evening meal bolus can wreak havoc on blood sugar levels overnight when not calibrated correctly, you may need to reevaluate your carbohydrate ratio and basal programme in the evening to carbohydrate ratio and basal programme.
Keep in mind that high fat and protein diets are digested much more slowly. Therefore, even if you don’t consume a lot of carbohydrates at night, if you don’t get the right volution, you can suffer from delayed hyperglycemia.
I exercise every day
Exercise is truly the best medicine, and the same goes for blood sugar control. Doing daily movements helps stabilize blood sugar levels for a smooth voyage overnight.
Exercise also increases sensitivity to insulin and facilitates bolus later in the meal.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most adults should aim for moderately intense aerobic physical activity for at least 150 minutes, or active-intensive physical activity for 75 minutes, which is about 30 minutes per day per week.
Stay hydrated!
According to Mayo Clinic, the average male adult needs about 3.7 liters of liquid per day, while the average female needs 2.7 liters of liquid per day (if exercise regularly).
Water is essential for health and vitality, including excellent diabetes management. Insulin resistance can kick if you don’t have enough liquid or are chronically dehydrated, so fill it with water or other sugary drinks such as coffee, tea or seasoned seltzer water during the day.
Get into a good bedtime routine
Research has shown that most people with diabetes struggle to get quality sleep. This is due to many factors, including frequent thirst and urination, nerve pain, hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia, and even hunger.
One way to improve sleep and avoid hyperglycemia overnight is to go into a good bedtime routine. Normalize your hormone cycle to wake up and fall asleep at the same time, limit the screen a few hours before bed, and instead prepare your mind for sleep by doing relaxed things like yoga, meditation, reading, and journaling.
Keep your bedroom lights low, keep the room temperature a little cool, and finally, remove all electronic devices from your bedroom, except for CGM, insulin pumps and CGM receivers (possibly smartphones).
Easy predictability allows for much better management of blood glucose levels, resulting in avoiding many hyperglycemia.
Set the alarm
If you are not using a hybrid closure loop system or CGM and are struggling with nighttime lows, set up an alarm every two hours to perform a basic home test.
Track your blood sugar levels as they creep up and adjust as needed. This can be cruel for the next few nights you’re doing it, but thinking exactly when and how your blood sugar levels are rising will fine-tune your management (splitting long-acting insulin doses into two doses, changing the timing of your evening insulin dose), preventing chronic daytime hyperglycemia.
Always talk to your doctor first before making any such changes.
Give yourself grace
It is important to remember that diabetes management is a tough job. If it was simple, everyone would have perfect blood sugar and A1c! Our bodies are constantly growing and changing. This is also true of diabetes management.
Be flexible in what your body needs and work with your doctor when making dramatic changes to insulin therapy. And perfection is not ideal.
Continuous advances in diabetes management include mental health and happiness, so don’t stress too much overnight than blood sugar levels that aren’t perfect. If you have stubborn problems, seek support from family and friends to help.
Managing the ups and downs of diabetes is always difficult, but overnight can be especially difficult when we are supposed to sleep and get the rest we need, but these strategies will make overnight hyperglycemia a thing of the past, if possible.
Always work with your healthcare team before making any major changes to diabetes management and/or insulin therapy.
