Diabetes patients need to check and control their blood sugar from time to time, but sometimes they have tried their best in diet and exercise, and take medicine on time, but the blood sugar still has not reached the goal. Why? Diabetes control is not controlled by exercise and diet alone. Seven factors such as illness, stress, sleep, eating and medication time, and caffeine can all affect blood sugar.
Factors affecting blood sugar
1. Sickness and discomfort
When the body is uncomfortable, it releases several hormones to increase blood sugar. Although you may not feel it, you can find it if you measure blood sugar. For diabetic patients, it is very important to discuss with the doctor in advance what to do when they are sick or uncomfortable, and they should also understand how to restore blood sugar to normal after recovery.
2. Stress
Have you ever felt that your blood sugar rises when you are under stress? Stress can stimulate the body’s fight or flight response, and at the same time release a variety of hormones to increase blood sugar in response to emergencies. When you encounter additional stress in your life, such as increased workload, family changes, etc., it is important to find a way to relieve the stress so that blood sugar is normal.
3. Lack of sleep
Good and adequate sleep is important to everyone, but diabetics should take it as a priority. Sleep can help the body regulate hormones, and lack of sleep can lead to the need for more food to supplement energy and make blood sugar higher.
4. Time to eat and take medicine
Ensuring that you take the medicine at the right time is a good way to control your blood sugar. If you take the medicine too early, your blood sugar will be too low. If you take the medicine too late, it may cause your blood sugar higher. Taking the medicine within the prescribed time will help you control blood sugar.
5. Caffeine
Many people get up in the morning and drink a cup of coffee before starting the day’s work. This may be the cause of rising rapidly in blood sugar in the morning. If your blood sugar remains high for a long time and you still have a habit of drinking coffee every day, you should consider reducing your caffeine intake.
6. The dawn phenomenon
The typical phenomenon of the dawn phenomenon is that the blood sugar higher before eating breakfast when you wake up in the morning. The reason is that the body does not release enough insulin to reduce the blood sugar that rises in the morning. Many diabetics have fasting blood sugar higher than expected, because of the dawn phenomenon. If your blood sugar is so high in the morning, but your blood sugar is normal before going to bed and after dinner, you are advised to consult a doctor.
7. Insulin
Insulin injection can lower blood sugar, but what should you do if blood sugar still does not reach the target level after the injection?
Many factors affect the effectiveness of insulin:
Timing: Ideally, the amount of insulin injected should match the amount of food eaten.
Injection: Injecting insulin under the skin is very important. Put the insulin in the right place so that the body can absorb it correctly, then the blood sugar will not drop too low or too quickly.
Expiration date: Use unexpired insulin to ensure that the insulin injection has the correct effect