Glucose rise in the morning

You might notice your glucose rises in the morning - here's why

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Written by Tia
Updated over a week ago

It's not uncommon to see a slight rise in glucose in the early morning hours. There are a variety of factors that may impact your glucose during the night and upon waking.

For one, because you are less insulin sensitive in the evening and activity decreases, late-night eating can affect your nighttime and morning glucose values, causing them to be elevated.

Another interesting and natural occurrence that may contribute to a rise in glucose is the release of cortisol and other hormones. These hormones increase when you wake up as a part of your normal circadian rhythm to help you get going. This can result in a rise in glucose that you may see on your graph.


It looks something like this:

The degree to which glucose may rise varies greatly from person to person and should not be a cause for concern. There are several studies that show this phenomenon occurs in non-diabetics.

Diabetics often have a much more exaggerated rise in morning glucose, known as the dawn phenomenon, because there they are either insulin resistant (Type 2 diabetes) and cannot effectively clear the glucose, or they do not produce insulin (Type 1 diabetes) and most compensate for this rise with exogenous insulin.

Note: There are also plenty of cases of CGM readings being lower at night. What looks like a rise could simply be your sensor returning to normal from a previously false low reading (like sensor compression during sleep).
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Some simple strategies you can try to minimize elevated glucose at night and in the morning are to ensure you get a good night of sleep (aim for at least 7 hours of quality sleep per night), eat dinner earlier in the evening, and tune into your stress levels!

Our Community is a great place to discuss topics like this, compare your experience to others, and exchange tips.

Learn more about sleep and blood sugar in our blog post here.

Note that Veri should not be used for medical purposes. The sensor is not a diagnostic tool, and you should not use it to self-diagnose diabetes or hypoglycemia. If you are concerned about elevated morning glucose, you should contact your healthcare provider.

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