Surprising Causes Of Blood Sugar Fluctuations

Surprising Causes Of Blood Sugar Fluctuations

GLUCO METER

Altered sleep patterns, dehydration, stress, and several other everyday occurrences can cause fluctuations in your blood sugar.

What is diabetes?

1. Diabetes mellitus is a condition where the body does not produce enough insulin, or where does not respond to insulin in a normal way.
2. Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas that acts to move sugar into cells to be used as energy, and when our blood sugar becomes too low or too high, it can cause serious problems.
3. Diabetes is a growing concern worldwide and contributes to the development of other serious illnesses like heart disease, stroke, and other vascular conditions.

Different Types of Diabetics

• People with type 1 diabetes typically have the condition from childhood, or as a result of a problem with the pancreas developing later in life.
• It isn't usually easy to predict who will have type 1 diabetes. The main treatment pathway for type 1 diabetes is insulin injections tailored to regular blood sugar monitoring.
• People with type 2 diabetes may have more treatment options, ranging from simple diet management to tablets, injectable non-insulin diabetes medications, and insulin injections. Some of the risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes include being overweight or obese, having a sedentary lifestyle, and carrying excess fat around the middle.
• Sometimes diabetes develops in pregnancy and is called gestational diabetes. This is associated with some risks to the mother and baby, so needs to be closely managed.
• Gestational diabetes usually resolves after birth, but people who experienced gestational diabetes seem to be at a higher risk of going on to develop type 2 diabetes later in life.

Why does blood sugar fluctuate, and how do I know when it happens?

• Small fluctuations in blood sugar readings are normal, and blood sugar varies throughout the day and depending on activity, diet, and several other factors. In non-diabetic people, these fluctuations are usually minimal, as the blood sugar amount is carefully regulated by the body's natural processes and insulin secretion.
• We don't know exactly how high or low our blood sugar is unless it is tested. This is usually done with a finger prick test, where a drop of blood placed on a machine is analyzed. Specialists may refer to these as capillary blood glucose — CBG.
• This can be done at home, and people who take insulin may have to check their blood sugar readings several times a day. Large fluctuations in blood sugar may cause symptoms like fatigue, confusion, dry mouth, headaches, and blurred vision.
• Untreated critically out-of-range blood sugar levels can have extremely serious long- and short-term effects.

Diet and fluid intake

• It shouldn't come as surprise to learn that your food affects your blood sugars. It's not just simple sugars, sweets, and puddings that can soar blood sugar levels. Some fruits are notorious for sending blood sugars out of range, with unexpectedly high sugar levels.
• Dried fruit in particular is a dense source of sugar. Fruit is still good for you, full of fibre and vitamins, so most people shouldn't totally avoid it; just be mindful of the amount of sugar in some fruits.
• Maintaining a healthy diet and weight is important for lots of reasons, and one of the most significant is reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes.
• In general, the more fat we carry, the less sensitive our body can become to the insulin we naturally release. Without insulin effectively controlling our blood sugar, we can develop type 2 diabetes and increase our risk of many serious health conditions.
• Dehydration can also play a huge part in blood sugar control. Being dehydrated causes higher blood sugar levels, causing extreme thirst and, long-term, causing serious problems with the small blood vessels of the body.
• People who take insulin may follow a regime where they take a measured dose of short-acting insulin to match the carbohydrate content of a meal.

 Artificial sweeteners

• Sugar-filled soft drinks are an often-overlooked route for lots of sugar to enter our diet, but actually, sugar-free diet soft drinks seem to hurt our insulin sensitivity and blood sugar control too.
• Artificial sweeteners can be found in all sorts of food and drinks, but are most commonly found in soft drinks and yogurts. Any sweet-tasting food that's sold as 'sugar-free' or 'diet' is likely to contain artificial sweeteners.
• Although artificial sweeteners don't have the same kind of immediate blood sugar-boosting effect that sugar has, regular consumption of artificial sweeteners affects the way we metabolize glucose.

Hormones

• Some people's blood glucose levels fluctuate with their menstrual cycle, thus diabetics may need to adjust their therapy.
• Gestational diabetes requires continuous monitoring and management due to variable blood sugars during pregnancy.
• The doctor administering hormone medication should be able to advise patients whose blood sugars may be altered. Some hormone therapy may lower blood sugar.

Medications

• Some drugs can raise blood sugar. Inflammatory, autoimmune, and pulmonary disease exacerbations often require steroids like prednisolone, which raise blood glucose.
• High doses of these steroids may require blood sugar monitoring.
• Diabetes drugs like metformin and gliclazide affect blood sugar. Some affect how our liver transfers sugar into the blood, while others improve insulin production and usage.
• Some diabetic drugs lower blood glucose immediately, while others manage diabetes over time. Doctors must experiment to find the optimal amounts and timing of diabetic drugs for each patient.

Insufficient rest

• Poor sleep and irregular sleep patterns might affect blood sugar. According to our circadian rhythm, our bodies control blood sugar and insulin secretion.
• Diabetics who work night shifts may struggle to maintain a healthy blood sugar control regimen. Sleep disturbances from a new baby, illness, or caring responsibilities might disrupt circadian rhythm and blood sugar regulation.
• Just as variable sleep patterns can affect blood sugar, diabetics may find that unstable blood sugars cause poor sleep.
• Healthy bodies regulate insulin and blood glucose overnight to maintain stable blood sugars, but persons with unstable blood sugars may wake up with out-of-range blood sugars.
• Stable blood glucose can be achieved by timing meals, consuming slow-release carbs such as wholegrain foods, and monitoring blood sugars before bed and in the morning.
• Diabetics and non-diabetics alike can feel weary after a terrible night's sleep. Even non-diabetics blood sugar fluctuates more when they're sleep-deprived.
• Tiredness can also make us hungry, so we eat sweets to boost our energy.

Caffeine

• Caffeine affects type 2 diabetics' blood glucose management and may cause it.
• Caffeine has long been disputed in blood glucose regulation, and some caffeinated drinks may be protective.
• However, recent high-quality research has shown that caffeine negatively impacts blood sugar regulation.

Stress

• Family and personal problems, work pressures, injuries, illness, and other modern stressors affect blood sugar control. Acute stress, long-term mental health issues, anxiety, and depression all affect insulin and blood sugar regulation.
• Diabetics are most at risk, although anyone can be affected. Long-term, high-stress levels may keep the body in a low-key "fight or flight" state, causing the nervous system to release more glucose.
• The association is likely complex and entails stress and mental illness's effects on sleep, food, activity, and alcohol and caffeine consumption.

Exercise

• We require glucose to fuel our cells when we work out. To extract and use blood sugar, we need insulin. As we burn energy during exercise, blood sugar drops immediately. Blood sugars are affected by workout length and intensity.
• Diabetics, especially insulin users, should monitor their blood sugar before and after exercise.
• According to the body's circadian rhythm and energy levels, afternoon exercise may be best for blood sugar levels.
• An active lifestyle with lots of healthy exercises may improve blood sugar control, diabetes risk, and diabetes management over time.
• Being active is one of the best ways to enhance our health and lower our risk of type 2 diabetes. Obesity is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes; exercise helps regulate weight.
• Regular, high-intensity exercise lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes in non-diabetics.

Illness

• Acute sickness causes blood glucose variations. The physical stress of disease, some drugs, and the effects of illness on sleep, hydration, and nutrition all contribute to unstable blood glucose.
• Diabetics should consider how acute sickness may affect their blood sugar control.

Alcohol

• Like other simple carbohydrates, alcohol raises blood sugar shortly after consumption. After an initial surge, blood sugars can drop dramatically because alcohol inhibits the liver's capacity to transfer glucose into the bloodstream.
• After a night of moderate to heavy alcohol consumption, insulin-controlled diabetics are more likely to experience hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar).
• Alcohol's empty calories can cause weight gain, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes in some people.

Conclusion

Blood sugar control

Lifestyle improvements like diet, exercise, and weight control can reduce type 2 diabetes risk and severity.
We can also reduce our alcohol intake and be wary of hidden sugars and artificial sweeteners.
To make healthy decisions and appropriately care for ourselves and our loved ones, we need to know some of the surprising causes of blood sugar variations.
Knowing the effects of stress, hormone swings, and severe sickness can help us recorecognizening signs.
Telehealth, home visits, and medicine delivery make it easier than ever to manage our chronic ailments.
Specialist carers can aid diabetics with blood glucose monitoring, medication reminders, insulin administration, and healthy lifestyle management.