Dawn Phenomenon

Hi all,

I have been reading the posts on this with interest.

Most days I do not have a problem with high BG results in the mornings. I tend to be between 6 and the top end of the 7's (how frustrating is it when you get a 7.6 and it shows as above target!! lol!!). However, I do many once or twice a week (not in a regular pattern) get a high BG in the morning.

With what I have been reading on here I have been doing some 3am BG tests this week and it would appear that on average I do stay pretty level through the night but this morning I have gone from 7.6 at 2.30am to 11.3 at 7.20. There doesn't seem to me to be any other explanations to these occasional rises in the morning (other than maybe Dawn Phenomenon) but is this usually something that happens every day or do other people experience this occasionally too.

I would be interested to hear anyones thoughts on this.

Many thanks.

Karen x

Hi Karen

I have been struggling with 'Dawn' only recently and have found a similar thing, now this morning everything is perfect...........................I can't figure this out at all.

Tracey x

Hi Nicky

Wow! 3 differnent insulins. You know the more I think about it it doesn' t sound that bad. The pump sounds like they have their advantages I guess there are certain things like how do you go swimming can you remove it for a certain length of time, a few things are going round my head. You're right when you say a jags a jag, that's how I look at it too. I'm in bed round 10pm so I'd probably set my alarm to take it if that's what my team recommend.

I need to think about it but definately can't continue with high sugars night and morning.

I'll let you know what they say next week!

Sam x

Hi Tracey

How are lucky are you to have be within your targets of 7. I get those kindof readings after exercise and if I don't do any I rise to the 10s+. So in order for my control to be tight I have to exercise full stop until my body becomes used to it and the insulin!

Anyway I'm not an expert on the DP but I've certainly felt more at ease with the high readings and what to do from the folk on this site. I feel a bit more relaxed knowing I don't need to panic too much.

I'm at my 6 week review on Wed so I'm going to discuss my options whether another insulin to take or a pump?

I'm not sure if it has to be a continuous thing to experience DP I think if you have high readings over a period of time on and off and do your checks then you can say it is.

It's whether or not you feel you need to change insulins or what?

And as Tracey has said she experiences it at times and now all of a sudden her readings this morning were perfect. I think its your donald duck. Being diabetic is never straight forward and it's the biggest frustration out there. I've asked my Raymond to buy me a punching bag for xmas.

I'm tired of being so well behaved, following DAFNE rules, forcing myself out to excercise just to get lower readings and and that it's taking it's time but you know what I'm alive and that's the main thing. Okay moan over!!

Hope it works out, keep an eye on it and feedback,

Speak soon
Sam x

Hi Sam,

Yes i was told that I suffer with the dawn phenominum. When I am working i usually get up at 6.30 and find that my BG levels are not to bad. However at the weekend when i enjoy having a lay in- everything seems to spin totally out of control and I spend the best part of the day struggling to bring my BG down to an acceptable level. I am usually very ratty and have zero tolerence for other people whilst this is going on. I also skip meals because I feel to unwell to eat. I have been seen by my diabetes specialist nurse who made suggestions on what I could do. So having listened and taken there advice but it has had little impact, leaving with the choice of resting and suffering or getting up at 6.30am everyday!!! Great choice! Lol

Guys....so excited changed my BI to Humulin I and wow what a result. I'm still high before bed although it has came down and having to take BI at midnight which means I set my alarm, getting used to it now!! I've went from double figures in the am to single. Still got a lot of experimenting to do but it goes to show the theory works.

So for anyone else out there suffering the Dawn seek about changing your BI, it's worked so far for me. Will post results later just to give you an idea of what I was like before and after!!!

Sam x

Hi Sam!

So glad that the Humulin I seems to be working for you too!! I've been fine tuning mine (different doses and times) for a few weeks and the last three mornings I have woken up between 4 and 6!! Its so good!

Setting the alarm is a good idea. My BI is actually working a bit better at 12.30am and sometimes I am too tired to stay up til then (although exams coming up means more often than not I'm up anyway!) so I set my alarm too. It's a bit annoying but I have gotton so used to it I'm still half asleep and often don't remember taking it haha!

Hope it continues to work for you, let us know

Nicky

Hi

I've been reading all the postings and thinking - hey! that sounds like what happens to me!

My BG has been high in the mornings for months and every effort from DAFNE Educators and DSN's doesn't seem to have any effect. Mine are usually between 11 & 14 most days and then occassionally I get one in single figures.
Saw the DSN on Monday and she suggested a Continuous Glucose Monitoring. I understand this is done for 72 hours so you can see exactly what's going on.
I just wondered if anyone else had had this done and if it had helped to see whether the cause was hypos or 'dawn'?

Su x

Hi all

I too sometimes suffer with morning BG's in double figures and get really frustrated by it. I'm on Novorapid at mealtimes and have my Lantus at 17.30 each day. Have done 3 am tests and don't seem to be hypoing. I correct my BG at breakfast time and this usually works for me.

After checking the diabetes-support website that Sam posted above in October, over the past week I've been having a heaped teaspoon of peanut butter at bed-time (and maybe a small snack if necessary depending on my bed-time BG) and have had: 1 morning BG at 3.7, 4 above 7 and 4 between 4-7 mmol. I'm going to keep going with the peanut butter for another few weeks and see how things go before I contact my diabetes team. Has anyone else tried this and what were the results, please?

I suspect I may be having DP issues having just had an insight into the problem whilst on holiday. For the past fortnight or so I have been having lie-ins (as much as the children will allow) this means getting up at about 09:00 rather than the usual 07:00ish. My pre-breakfast BS have been between 12 and 19 mmol/l over this period, this morning following my return to work and early mornings my pre-breakfast BS was 4.5. I have had other examples where I have got up early (06:00) tested my blood (7 mmol/l) driven straight to work (approx 50 mins) then retested before having breakfast and got a score of 17. My conclusion from all of this is that the background just doesn't do the job in the morning, it seems that I need to get some QA on board to counteract the DP. Prior to DAFNE I was overusing the BI insulin which probably masked this effect. Does this ring true for anyone else or the HCP's ??