My BS is always high when I get up, even if it’s OK and I don’t eat before bed. I’m a little worried. Any reason for this?
How long has this been happening? Maybe you need to adjust you basal.
For a while. We just adjusted it.
@AAT1D Amanda, hi there! (No pun intended) Conventional thought attributes early morning highs to the “dawn effect” or “dawn phenomenon”. The body begins generating glucose, glucogon, and other assorted hormones in effort for the body to operate after sleeping all night. If you’re on a pump set your basal higher for an hour or two before you typically rise. If you’re talking shots, work with your healthcare team to determine the right overnight dose to prevent hypos early in the night.
Don’t stress (another source of high blood sugar), you’ll find your rhythm!
In good health,
Nancy
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Hi Amanda,
Have you done any testing at 3am to see if your blood sugar has gone up since you went to bed? Like Nancy said it could be Dawn Phenomenon or what my CDE calls Feet on the Floor - the adrenaline kicks in when you get up instead of beforehand as with Dawn phenomenon. I would suggest testing at 3am two to three nights in a row to see if you can find a pattern. If you are interested in them CGMs (even a temporary loaner from your CDE) is a great tool to find out what is really going on.
Keep working at it and you will figure it out!
Best,
Christine
There is also what’s called the Symogi Effect (similar to dawn phenomenon) but it’s not related to your ADH and cortisol levels. Talk with your endo and they will be able to help with determining if it is dawn of Symogis
Thanks everyone for their advice. I’ll ask about dawn phenomenon and symogi. 
I have the same problem! When I wake up I instantly feel hot and I start sweating then my bg starts climbing. I’m attributing mine to the dawn effect. Here is a link with information. The dawn phenomenon: What can you do? - Mayo Clinic
I have adjusted my basal and I give myself a 1u manual bolus as soon as I get up. This has helped tremendously. Before raising your basal be sure you are not suffering from hypoglycemia during the night, which can result in the symogi effect. This is when your liver dumps glucose in an effort to raise your bg.
Let me guess, you are and always have been a “morning” person. The result of this means that your body automatically gets you ready to get up and be active in the morning. I have the same issue. I am on the pump and CGM and can see exactly what is happening. First thing when I get up, I bolus 1U just to keep up with my body saying goodmorning. We are all individuals and we all need to discover, with time, how to best respond. Personally if your numbers are not over 300 first thing in the morning then you can correct before it becomes uncomfortable. If you are getting up with numbers over 300 then you most likely will need some adjustments. A CGM is a great way to see trends throughout the night. Good luck my fellow morning person Oh, and that being said, I am also one who likes to go to the gym in the morning. This means, for me, yet an even higher spike in BG, so I bolus for my workout. You’ll figure it out. Happy times, but at least we can live fairly healthy lives, thanks to science and the curiosity of humankind.
I hope that you use an insulin pump with basal rate infusion (for example at 0.6 Unit/hour 24 hours a day) instead of using any NPH or long acting insulin. Your doctor should give you an insulin pump, not many unqualified doctor to save money for insurance company and asks you get NPH insulin or NPH insulin mixed with short acting insulin.
That’s happened to me my entire life. Growing up I wasn’t allowed to sleep past 9 am because my blood sugar would get too high. Increasing my lantus dose helps a lot, but it also makes me go low around 4 am. And I’m on multiple daily injections, so I can’t just bolus first thing in the morning. My CGM has helped reveal my overnight patterns, but when I first started taking lantus 10 years ago I checked my blood sugar at midnight, 4 am, and 8 am every day to figure out when I was going low and when my blood sugar was starting to rise. After a lot of trial and error I figured out a lantus dose and a pre-bed blood glucose range that kept me pretty stable overnight. My blood sugar still rises in the morning, so I do have to be careful when I sleep in or skip breakfast on the weekends, but most of the time it works out pretty well.
i don’t use a pump… yet
High BGs early in the morning are quite common for people who are less than 30. the human body is known to be producing more adrenaline or growth hormones early in the mornings. even if your BG is within the limit before bed and when you wake it would be at least 20 points more than the last night. I program my basal to be little high than normal in the mornings. but then again, you would have to monitor your BGs and talk to your healthcare provider on how to set up your basal. cheers!
I experience the exact same thing. Between 3-6AM my blood sugar spikes up quite a bit every night and I typically wake up hot and have trouble sleeping after that. My endocrinologist just recently told me she didn’t know why it’s happening but that she has seen it occur in others that are in their 20’s. She didn’t seem concerned but it’s annoying to deal with it every night.
we uped my long acting insulin (forgot which it is) and it’s helped. just uped it last thursday.