As if managing diabetes during the day isn’t hard enough, you are required to babysit this disease even nighttime. Apart from the dawn phenomenon you need to watch out for, allow me to introduce to you his accomplice in making your life miserable: the Somogyi effect.

(Don’t laugh. It’s real.)

The Somogyi Effect

Did you know?

The term “Somogyi” is credit to the pioneer researcher, Michael Somogyi, Ph.D., who shed light on the matter.

Also known as the rebound hypoglycemia, the Somogyi effect is the body response to hypoglycemia, a.k.a. low blood sugar. To prevent the blood sugar from dropping, a surge of stress hormones is unleashed in an attempt to bring it back up, as quickly as possible. Such mechanism can be trigger when severe hypoglycemia occurs following excessive alcohol consumption, insulin overdose, or extreme fasting. The only problem with this system is that the body sometimes elevates the blood sugar levels beyond what is needed, leading to hyperglycemia.

Much like the dawn phenomenon, the Somogyi effect may be the reason behind your high blood sugar in the morning. However, one of the main differences between the two troublemakers is that Somogyi effect is more so due to “poor diabetes management.” For instance, taking too much insulin before bedtime may cause a massive drop in blood sugar while not taking enough of it may spike it up instead.

The question you must be asking yourself is: How do I know if I am suffering from the dawn or Somogyi effect?

Here is a pro tip to kickstart your investigation. Set the alarm between 2 AM and 3 AM and haul yourself out the bed to give your glycemia a check. If the glycemia is low, the Somogyi effect might be in play. In contrast, if the glycemia is high or within the normal range, and spikes up in the morning, the dawn effect might be to blame.

Do this for a couple of nights, jot down the numbers, and share them with your diabetes team.