Just a small note, since this is probably obvious to many. I live in the Pacific Northwest, and we’ve been in the middle of a heat wave. Daily temps between 95 - 102, several days in a row. I’ve noticed that I seem to need a lot more insulin these last 4-5 days. I also seem to be much more sensitive to any carbs I eat. (Spiking more than usual.)
We all know about the dangers of dehydration when it’s really hot, but I did not realize that dehydration reduces blood supply to the skin and, therefore, less absorption of injected insulin.
I hope this is helpful to anyone else who is experiencing the same thing. On a related note, it took me a while to connect sunburn with high blood sugar, but there is a definite relationship between the two.
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I usually find the opposite actually—high temps lead to much lower insulin needs and lower blood sugars.
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Yep, I’m the same. High temperatures and any kind of activity means I have to watch my BG to make sure I don’t get and stay in a mild but persistent low.
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Add my voice to the chorus. The hotter I am, the more effective insulin becomes. It’s likely bordering on certain that the dehydration is what’s causing your problem. In fact, dehydration all by itself can cause higher readings, even with nothing else going on. The more dehydrated you get, the higher the percentage of glucose in the blood, so the same sample size will contain more sugar, causing the meter to register higher.
Not sure where you are (we are in the middle of the Willamette Valley), but our heat wave finally broke yesterday. Today it feels basically normal for the time of year. About time!
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Thanks, everyone, for your responses. Sounds like dehydration is the issue. Off to drink some water!
Most likely it could be dehydration. But in all things Type 1, your mileage may vary.
Here in the Phoenix area 110+F summertime, I am in AC much of the day so my sugar goes higher. If I am lucky enough to escape to breath natural air, my sugars drop.
With the onset of cold weather in November, my blood sugar always rises, and this is the same season in which most new cases of type 1 diabetes are diagnosed. In the warm weather my blood sugar falls again. With me the effect can be quite dramatic, so in the depths of last winter my mealtime insulin requirements tripled, and in the warmer weather this summer they fell back to their original level. The problem is that the collapse of insulin requirements every summer can be extremely dangerous, since I can’t predict exactly when it will happen or how far it will fall, so severe hypoglycemia episodes are unavoidable.
Of course, the typical idiot M.D. response to these situations is either “are you sneaking candy” when the insulin requirements go up, or “did you draw down too much insulin in the syringe” when the blood sugar unexpectedly goes down. I wish more endocrinologists had gone to the police academy instead of medical school, since that seems to be where their real talents lie.
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Where did you find this statistic/factoid?
,Hi. I’ve heard this a number of places, as well as at the Joslin Clinic when I was first diagnosed, where one of the doctors commented that the “crowd always appears in the Fall.” For a scientific source, see: E. Motchchanova, et al,“Seasonal Variation of Diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus in Children Worldwide,” Diabetic Medicine, vol. 26, no, 1, pp, 673-678 (July 26, 2009), which found a peak of new cases from October to January and a trough of new cases from June to August. A seasonal infection is thought by many to be the spark in genetically pre-disposed individuals.
Thanks. That plays into the Epstein Barr and Coxsackievirus that I’ve mentioned here before. In 1980, the rate of newly diagnosed Type 1 went straight up for those with Dutch and Scandinavian heritages. I only have one person in my entire family background going back to the 15th century that wasn’t Dutch. And I contracted it in 1987.
Just gotta say, I have experienced highs when it’s hot and lows when it’s cold, since I was diagnosed and began treatment in 2010. I do not believe that dehydration is my issue. I use metformin and insulin. I am active and not overweight.
