Interesting discussion all. I think Diabetes has provided a life long learning for all of us and continues to prove how very unique each of us is. ❤️

I don’t know if being med free has anything to do with it but I really haven’t seen a drastic change in FBG correlating to what I eat. Exercise has had an impact, lower, and meds, illness or shots can cause it to be higher. Though my Russell stovers did cause a rise during the day😢 it’s now a very sometimes treat. When I’m exercising I seem to be able to tolerate them better. That goodness for quest making candies I can tolerate!

Our FBS is primarily the result of Sugar (Glucagon - or body produced Glucose) that is stored and dispensed by the Liver and not the cookie you had before bed.

The liver releases sugar to keep the brain/organs functioning while we are fasting/sleeping since they need sugar to effectively stay alive. Most of that sugar that is stored is (sourced) from food we eat and stored for later but if that is insufficient then our body can convert protein into sugar for use/storage. In extreme cases our bodies will eat our own muscles (starvation) to produce the sugar we need.

The Liver responds to a number of hormones released by other glands to determine when/how long to release stored sugar. In a non-diabetic if the Liver got a little out of hand then the pancreas would simply release some insulin to deal with the excess.

In most Type 2's that process itself works but because we are often more often "resistant to using that insulin" we end up with high fasting sugars.

The liver takes it's cue from (primarily) the Thyroid, Pituitary and Adrenal glands, with the two hormones that most directly affect our FBS being Cortisol (a "steroid" growth hormone) and Adrenaline (Epinephrine) - two hormones that are released to "wake us up" (take us from unconscious to conscious) and are also released during periods of stress or fear (to name two others).

Any disorder in your Thyroid (whether over or under active), an Adrenal disorder (such as Cushing's) or Pituitary disorders will all effect (mess up) the amount of sugar that the Liver releases.

There is NOTHING you can do TODAY or TONIGHT that will significantly affect the release of hormones while sleeping/fasting that will have much of any effect on your FBS tomorrow morning - it's not like you can cram for a fasting test.

If you have a "disorder" in one of your glands it must be treated.

Otherwise, over a longer period of time, by normalizing and optimizing your metabolism (eat properly every day, get your BMI into the normal range, get enough sleep, do yoga or tai chi to manage your stress or whatever works for you, get enough exercise etc) you would put downward pressure on your FBS.

Sound like a long process that takes work?

That's why Big Pharma created Metformin for those that just can't manage the process....

Becky -- Ahhhh...thanks for explaining. I did see that the CDC is sponsoring workshops/programs to help folks with diabetes. It sounds very useful. BTW, I've found a low carb bread that I buy at Sprouts -- 7 c. per slice, and it's pretty decent toasted. Forget the brand name.

@A DiabetesTeam Member I know how you feel, so many questions. I only wish I’d been diagnosed pre diabetic and maybe I could have turned things round. I still wonder if covid had something to do with it. It was about 6 months after I had covid that I was diagnosed and prior to that my blood sugar was fine. Whatever the cause it’s something I’ll have to deal with so as they say I took the bull by the horns and did a lot of research and joined this group and am slowly learning what I need to do. This group is great and ask away someone here will be able to help.

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