higher blood sugar level in the morning

I’m type 2 and have had high levels in the morning--AS WELL-- without eating anything from 9pm (with a normal level then) to the next morning with abnormal level. For what it’s worth… ran across the comments/article (below)…LHunt


Source: http://diabetes.webmd.com/morning-high-blood-sugar-levels

Diabetes and Morning High Blood Sugar Levels
For people taking insulin for diabetes, blood Sugar levels are often elevated in the morning. This is likely due to inadequate amounts of NPH/Lente insulin before dinner or at bedtime. High morning insulin is referred to as either the dawn phenomenon or the Somogyi effect.

Dawn phenomenon. The dawn phenomenon is the end result of a combination of natural body changes that occur during the sleep cycle and can be explained as follows. Between 3:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., your body starts to increase the amounts of counter-regulatory hormones (Growth hormone, cortisol, and catecholamines). These hormones work against insulin's action to drop blood sugars. The increased release of these hormones, at a time when bedtime insulin is wearing out, results in an increase in blood sugars. These combined events cause your body's blood Sugar levels to rise in the morning.

Somogyi effect. Named after the doctor who first wrote about it, this condition is also called "rebound hyperglycemia." Although the cascade of events and end result -- high blood sugar levels in the morning -- is the same as in the dawn phenomenon, the cause is more "man-made" (a result of poor diabetes management) in the Somogyi effect. The term refers to pattern of high morning sugars preceded by an episode of asymptomatic (without symptoms) hypoglycemia. Your blood sugar may drop too low in the middle of the night, so your body counters by releasing hormones to raise the sugar levels. This could happen if you took too much insulin earlier or if you did not have enough of a bedtime snack.

Which of the Two Conditions Is Causing the High Blood Sugar Levels?
To determine which of the two above conditions is causing your high blood sugar level, your doctor will likely ask you to check your blood sugar levels between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. for several nights in a row. If your blood sugar is consistently low during this time, the Somogyi effect is suspected (too much nighttime insulin or too small of a bedtime snack for the insulin given). If the blood sugar is normal or high during this time period, the dawn phenomenon (increases in counter-regulatory hormone) is more likely to be the cause. Tweet