What Should Blood Sugar Be At Bedtime

Avoid Sweets Right Before Bed

We have discussed how insulin sensitivity decreases in the evening, as well as the potential reactive hypoglycemic effects of high sugar/starch foods. Avoiding sweets before bed can help circumvent both of those issues.

If you still find yourself craving something sweet, try switching to sources that include fiber or have a reduced sugar content . This can aid in smoothing out glucose levels.

What Should I Do If This Happens

People and their partners or roommates should learn to recognize the signs of nighttime hypoglycemia. Be prepared! Ask your doctor for an emergency glucagon kit. This kit contains a fast-acting medication that can be injected if the person cant be woken up. Store the kit in a bedside drawer for easy access.

DO NOT PUT ANYTHING INTO A PERSON’S MOUTH IF THEY ARE ASLEEP OR CANNOT SIT UP.

• If the person cannot be woken: If there is no emergency glucagon kit, call 911. If the person has a glucagon kit, the partner or roommate should follow the instructions to fill the syringe and inject the medicine. Once fully awake, he/she should eat a meal and check their blood glucose every few hours using a home test kit. After giving the injection, the persons doctor should be notified.

• If the person can be woken up and sit without support: They should be given a fast-acting glucose source. Good options include hard candy, fruit juice or glucose paste or tablets, which can be purchased at most pharmacies. Once the person is fully awake, they should eat a meal and check their blood glucose every few hours using a home test kit.

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What Is High Blood Sugar

People with diabetes are trying to stay in range, but sometimes it is difficult to avoid a high. According to the World Health Organization your blood glucose levels are too high when they are above 126 mg/dL or 7.0 mmol/L when fasting , or above 200 mg/dL or 11.1 mmol/L two hours after eating. This is also referred to as hyperglycemia.Hedia can help you to keep your blood glucose levels in range by providing you with a recommended rapid-acting insulin dose. Download the app for free from the App Store or and try it yourself!

Medications And Blood Sugar Control

If you are affected by type 2 diabetes, medications may be used as an adjunct to manage your condition at a later stage. Factors such as diet, exercise and loss of weight are very important in managing blood sugars if you have tried to make changes in all these areas and are still not successful in gaining good control of your blood sugars, there are many types of medications that can help you manage your diabetes. These medications are usually taken orally, to help lower blood sugar levels. There are different classes of medications, which work on different parts of the body, to try and alter the levels of insulin and sugar in the body.

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Recommended Blood Sugar Targets For Most People With Diabetes*

Your targets may not be the same as the examples in this chart. Your targets are important and should be specific to you.

* This information is based on the Diabetes Canada 2018 Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Prevention and Management of Diabetes in Canada and is a guide.** A1C is a measurement of your average blood sugar control for the last two to three months and approximately 50 per cent of the value comes from the last 30 days.

How To Avoid Low Blood Sugar At Night

A good first step to try and prevent low blood glucose levels is to test your blood glucose levels before bed using your CGM or blood glucose meter. If you know your levels before going to bed you can easily adapt to them. This can help to prevent blood glucose levels drop significantly. Going to bed with stable blood sugars is highly recommended.

If you suspect hypoglycemic episodes overnight, conduct a blood sugar test at 3 am and compare it with your before bed and first thing in the morning tests. You can also adjust your insulin dose according to what you eat. Always consult your doctor before adjusting your insulin yourself.

Its important to have proper nutrition before hitting the hay. Prevent high blood sugar by taking some carbohydrates before bedtime, and prevent low blood sugar by eating a bit of protein.

To control blood sugar levels before sleeping and preventing low blood sugar you can also:

• One factor that can affect blood sugar glucose levels in diabetics is basal insulin dosage its important to reduce the nighttime administration of this medicine.
• Lower the long-acting insulin that you take at night before going to bed by 50%.
• When you went out for an evening or night of drinking its important to eat something that contains carbohydrates
• Test your blood sugar before going to bed

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Know Your Blood Sugar

Blood sugar is the amount of sugar in your blood at a given time. It’s important to check your blood sugar level, because it will:

• determine if you have a high or low blood sugar level at a given time
• show you how your lifestyle and medication affect your blood sugar levels
• help you and your diabetes health-care team make lifestyle and medication changes to improve your blood sugar levels

How To Avoid Diabetic Ketoacidosis

It might have been a really long time since youve been in diabetic ketoacidosis , or maybe youve never had it.

But if you have Type 1 diabetes, you are at risk. Sometimes when you havent recently experienced a situation, you kind of forget about what you were told to do for prevention or treatment. Thats why a refresher might be a great idea!

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Treating Low Blood Sugar At Night

There are two ranges of blood sugars to treat if your child is low because they need more carbohydrates if their blood sugar is less than 50.

Nighttime Low Blood Sugar Treatment For Children UNDER 5 Years Old:

• Any 15 gram carbohydrate item

Remember:

• 14 cup = 2 ounces
• 12 cup = 4 ounces

Do you still have questions about managing your childs blood sugar levels during the day or at night? Contact the diabetes team at Childrens Diabetes Center, Childrens Hospital & Medical Center at for more information about how to treat your childs blood sugar levels to keep them safe.

What Happens To Blood Sugar While You Sleep

Itâs tied to whether the hormone insulin, which removes glucose from the blood, is working the way itâs supposed to. Blood sugar levels surge while youâre sleeping, usually around 4 to 8 a.m. for someone with a normal sleep schedule. In a healthy person, insulin can handle the surge by telling muscle, fat, and liver cells to absorb the glucose from the blood, which keeps your levels stable.

For people who have diabetes or who are likely to get it, insulin canât do that job very well, so blood sugar levels will rise higher.

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Easy Before Bed Routines For People With Diabetes

Managing diabetes whether you have type 1 or type 2 is a full-time job. Your condition doesnt clock out at 5 p.m. when youre ready to take a break. You have to maintain your blood sugar checks, medication, exercise, and eating habits all day to keep your disease under control.

In fact, you should be mindful of your diabetes all the way until bedtime. Before you set the alarm and settle in under the covers each night, here are a few bedtime to-dos that will help you get more control over your diabetes and sleep more soundly.

Sliced Apple And Peanut Butter

Peanut butter is rich in protein, fiber, and healthful fats, an attractive nutritional profile for anyone looking to help control blood sugar levels.

Try cutting an apple and adding a light spread of peanut butter to each slice. Or, try a different type of nut butter, such as almond or cashew butter.

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Normal Blood Sugar Levels Chart

Maintaining normal blood sugar levels is essential to your mental and physical health.

The normal blood sugar levels chart below shows the range to shoot for and the diabetes blood sugar levels chart shows levels to avoid.

What is blood sugar? Its the glucose in your bloodstream that your body uses to produce energy. For most people, normal blood sugar levels range from 80 up to 140 naturally fluctuating throughout the day.

A healthy body has effective ways of regulating normal blood sugar levels.

For example, if your blood sugar falls too low, extra glucose stored in your liver is absorbed into your bloodstream to make up the difference.

Prepare Your Bedroom For Sleep

To optimize your ability to fall asleep and stay that way throughout the night, your room needs to be quiet, cool, dark, and comfortable.

Set the thermostat between 60F and 67F the optimal temperature for sleep.

Dim the lights. Close the shades and curtains so the rising sun wont wake you up in the morning.

Move your cellphone to another room or put it in a drawer so incoming texts and calls dont wake you up. If youre sensitive to noise, get a fan or white noise machine, or use earplugs to block out any unwanted sounds.

All of these things can prep the sleep hormones to kick in and help you fall asleep.

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How Do Glucose Levels Change Overnight

A persons blood sugar levels change during the night, mainly, because of two processes:

A person can identify how their glucose levels change during the night by taking various readings.

• The dawn phenomenon. Between roughly 3:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., blood sugar levels surge as part of the process of waking up. This causes high blood sugar levels in the morning.
• The Somogyi effect. Glucose levels drop significantly between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. The body responds by releasing hormones that raise blood sugar levels again. It can release too much of these hormones, leading to high blood sugar levels in the morning.

Eating a bedtime snack can prevent blood glucose levels from dropping very low during the night and lessen the Somogyi effect.

A person can determine how their glucose levels change throughout the night by taking readings at various points, such as just before bed, between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m., and again when waking up.

Understanding how the body is processing blood sugar is the first step toward picking more healthful snacks in the evening and before bed.

According to the American Diabetes Association , being overweight or having obesity increases the risk of diabetes-related complications. A variety of bedtime snacks can fit into a balanced, healthful diet.

Try To Avoid Food At Least 3 Hours Before Bed

For most people we work with, 3 hours of fasting before bed helps to even out nighttime glucose values. If it has calories, then donât eat or drink it. Simple as that!

However, if your schedule makes it difficult to avoid food within 3 hours of sleep, there are still strategies available to minimize high glucose values before bed, such asâ¦

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What Causes Low Blood Sugar

Low blood sugar has many causes, including missing a meal, taking too much insulin, taking other diabetes medicines, exercising more than normal, and drinking alcohol. Blood sugar below 70 mg/dL is considered low.

Signs of low blood sugar are different for everyone. Common symptoms include:

• Shaking.
• Dizziness.
• Hunger.

Know what your individual symptoms are so you can catch low blood sugar early and treat it. If you think you may have low blood sugar, check it even if you dont have symptoms. Low blood sugar can be dangerous and should be treated as soon as possible.

Know The Signs Of Low Overnight Blood Sugar

Symptoms of hypoglycemia usually develop when blood sugar levels drop below 70 milligrams per deciliter . They include shakiness, sweating, confusion, erratic behavior, headache, and lightheadedness. With nighttime hypoglycemia, you may wake up with these symptoms or with a higher blood sugar reading that results from the bodys response to an overnight low. However, some people experience whats referred to as hypoglycemia unawareness, which means that they dont feel the symptoms of low blood sugar.

Talk with your doctor about ways to recognize nighttime hypoglycemia, especially if you think you may have difficulty detecting it. Its a dangerous condition because people cant tell when their blood sugar has dropped, since they may not have symptoms, Dr. Rodbard says. The body can get desensitized to it. People with hypoglycemia unawareness are also less likely to wake up as a result of nighttime dips in their blood sugar.

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Best Bedtime Snacks For Diabetics To Manage Blood Sugar Levels

A homemade, low-fat, protein-rich snack before bed can help to stabilize your blood sugar levels while you sleep. You must take your dieticians help to tailor the right snacking routines according to your body weight and how your body reacts to sugar while sleeping.

Here are some healthy snacks that you can try before bedtime:

Non-starchy Salad

Carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, etc. make for low calories snacks that you can enjoy anytime. Cut them into slices and sprinkle them with some pink salt along with a few drops of lemon juice for the tastiest and most flavorful salad. You can also choose to add a slice of dairy-free cheese to raw vegetables for more protein.

Popcorn

Air-popped popcorn is another great snack option as they come with good quantities of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and protein. You can add some roasted nuts for more crunch and nutrients.

Roasted Chickpeas

Roasted chickpeas are crunchy, loaded with protein, and super easy to make. You can add some spices and herbs of your choice to make them more flavorful.

Peanut butter

Butter from different nuts, including peanuts, are super delicious and super healthy, as long as you are using an unsweetened version, preferably homemade. Just spread a thin layer of peanut butter on a few slices of apple, and enjoy!

Seed mixture

A handful of seeds of sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, etc. also make for a great snack as they are rich in protein, fiber, and other healthy nutrients.

Nuts

Boiled Egg

Greek Yogurt for Diabetics

Translating Your A1c To A Blood Sugar Level

Using this easy calculator from the ADA, you can translate your most recent A1C result to an eAG or estimate average glucose level.

You can also use this translation when working to improve your A1c and achieving closer to normal blood sugar levels. If you know an A1c of 6.5 is an average blood sugar level of 126 mg/dL or a range of 100 to 152 mg/dL, then you can look at your current blood sugar results on your CGM and meter and pinpoint which time of day youre frequently higher than this range.12% = 298 mg/dL or range of 240 347 11% = 269 mg/dL or range of 217 31410% = 240 mg/dL or range of 193 2829% = 212 mg/dL or range of 170 2498% = 183 mg/dL or range of 147 2177% = 154 mg/dL or range of 123 1856% = 126 mg/dL or range of 100 1525% = 97 mg/dL or range of 76 120

Normal blood sugar levels in a person without diabetes can result in an A1c as low as 4.6 or 4.7 percent and as high as 5.6 percent.

Just a decade or two ago, it was rare for a person with type 1 diabetes to achieve an A1c result below 6 percent. Thanks to new and improved insulin and better technology like continuous glucose monitors and smarter insulin pumps, more people with diabetes are able to safely achieve A1c levels in the higher 5 percent range.

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Check Your Blood Sugar Before Bed

For everybody with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, its absolutely critical that they check their blood sugar before going to bed to make sure theyre not going to have an episode of low blood sugar during the night, says Helena W. Rodbard, MD, medical director of Endocrine and Metabolic Consultants, a private practice in Rockville, Maryland, and past president of the American College of Endocrinology.

If your blood sugar levels are low at bedtime, eat a healthy snack before going to sleep. The size of the snack should be in proportion to the dip in blood sugar. For instance, a small drop in blood sugar requires only a small snack. If you use an insulin pump, consider temporarily reducing the active dose of insulin.