Long sleeping & high blood sugar!

QUESTION: I was diagnosed with Diabetes type 2 in 2009, my HbA1c reading was 9.2.

After 6 months of treatment (Janumet 1000 - 2 tabs a day)+ exercise and diet. I lost 10 KGs of my weight and my sugar was stable. Though, I noted one strange thing.

In the early mornings, when I wake up my reading is high 7.5- 8.2 but after I have my black coffee + small brown bread toast my reading go back to normal (5.8)even after I have lunch or dinner I wait 2 hours and make the test it will go to 6.2 and not more.

My judgment is that long sleeping and low activity and heart beat can be the reason..

Please Dr. give me your explanation.

Thanks
Fadi Hamoui, Montreal


ANSWER: Hi Fadi,

You are absolutely right in saying that the bodies differ, which means that every single person is unique. Therefore, the approach for the diabetic treatment is unique for every single patient.

It is also true that sleeping affects the blood glucose concentration. Keep in mind that the major goal of sleeping is to prepare you body for the day, to ensure enough energy, to clear it from the bad molecules formed during the day and to give brain some time to rest.

The most important fact for your case is the insurance with energy (glucose). You have to know that during the night, your body uses the nutrients acquired at dinner and stores them in the blood and in the liver.

Besides this, because of the reduced speed of the metabolic processes, the body is not able to use all the glucose stored in the blood during the night, which results with slight elevation of the blood glucose level.

Regarding the low heart rate, you have to remember that when it is low, the body uses less energy; and when it is rapid, the energy usage grows.

Because of this, the low heart beat is another explanation of the slight blood glucose elevation observed in your case.

Something really important about the sleep is that you have to sleep about 7-8 hours at night, in purpose to give your body enough time to metabolize the glucose acquired with the food and store it in a proper way.

You have to know that when you sleep less than 7 hours, your body is not able to do this, which results with a spike in the morning blood glucose level.

Something else, which you have to know regarding your problem is that certain hormones are elevated after waking up. Most of the hormones, like cortisol, adrenalin, noradrenalin and others are increasing the concentration of glucose in the blood.

This is physiological, which means that you are not able to prevent it. However, there are few things, which you can do in purpose to keep your morning blood glucose elevated, but within the normal ranges.

The best way to do this is to eat your dinner around 3-4 hours before going to bed. Besides this, try to reduce the sugar concentration in the products, which you are eating at dinner.

In this way, no matter the slow speed of the metabolic processes, your morning blood glucose level will be within the normal ranges and very well controlled.

Hope it helped!

Dr.Alba