Thursday 13 - Causes of blood sugar swings

 

 Causes of blood sugar swings

1. If you don't wash your hands before testing your skin might host all sorts of influences on the test, resulting in inaccurate readings. So wash your hands with water, not with gel, and when you want to be as safe as possible, wipe away the first blood drop and test with the second.Dehydration makes your sugar rise.
   
   
2. Less fluid leads to more concentration of the blood, so the glucose levels rise. Add to it: high blood sugars leads to more urine production, so even higher levels.
   
   
3. Psychological stress changes the way your body functions. Certain hormones are released, for instance. So measure your blood glucose more often, and/or adjust your food intake.
   
   
4. Medication can influence your glucoselevels to go up or down.
   
   
5. Decline in glucose tolerance during aging is due primarily to impaired insulin-mediated glucose uptake in peripheral tissues. Exercise and diet change can counteract this decline in some people.
   
   
6. Artificial sweeteners are not glucose neutral. Some cause diarrhea. Result: dehydration, higher glucose levels. Others are used in combination with ingredients that make you eat more so your blood glucose levels change because of that.
   
   
7. Dawn syndrome. Some call it a night time hyper.
   During 2 and 8 a.m. the body goes through a time of release of cortisol and other hormones. Like the body is preparing for waking up. This makes the body less sensitive for insulin, so glucose levels spike. 
   When waking up there is a risk of taking too much insulin as a reaction.
   Sometimes eating a sandwich or something small before going to sleep can prevent this.
   
   
8. Nighttime/nocturnal hypoglycemia. About half of the hypos occur at night. They're due to either taking too much insulin, a bad food-insulin balance or a too long stretch between meals.
   Eating a sandwich before going to sleep often solves the problem.
   Some call it the “Somogyi effect,”  elevated blood sugar in the morning following an undetected and untreated night-time hypoglycemia. To offset the hypoglycemia, the body secretes counter-regulatory hormones, such as glucagon and adrenaline. This is also  called “rebound hyperglycemia.” Some say it's only found in people who inject insulin, but it has also been found in people who use tablets. 
   
   
9. The menstrual cycle can change the way your body deals with blood sugars. Some women experience in the week before their period that they are less sensitie to insulin, so their glucose levels rise. It normalizes when menstruation begins.
   
   
10. Lack of sleep can influence your blood glocose levels and even make you less sensitive for insulin.
    
    
11. Coffee influences blood glucose levels. How depends on the person. So you have to measure your glucose levels and find out how it is for you. In some people coffee keeps the bloodglucose level even and reduces the risks of complications.
    So cut back on caffeinated beveages ad see how your blood sugar reacts.
    
    
12. Travelling interferes with regular living habits. It is wise to plan a medication scheme, especially when you have to pass some time zones. Check your glucose levels more often, because you spend energy in a different way, eat more..or less, etc etc.
    
    
13. Extreme weather influences blood glucose. People with diabetes respond different to for example heat. They suffer from less temperature control, so the body is put under more stress.  The way the body uses insulin changes, and dehydration poses an extra risk.
    
    
    
    In doubt? 
    Ask your diabetes nurse or doctor.
    
    
    
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About **Syl

Syl: "Life is a chain of challenges. Sometimes the largest challenges are we ourselves. Facing life, facing others and facing yourself requires either a worryless attitude or plain courage. Most of the time it is dealing with judgement. Maybe life is about getting rid of it."