In a past thread, someone commented that taking a shower can lower blood sugar if high (when I say high, I mean 160-180). So I was curious and started testing myself after my showers, and I noticed my BGs jumping up 40 or 50 points higher than what I was at before I commenced singing loudly and quite poorly during my daily cleansing process.
Has anyone else noticed this?
I do sometimes find my blood sugar drops if I have a hot bath.
Just a thought (I was about to post a similar question today): are you a pumper? Do you plug the site before taking a bath? It might be possible the site leaks some insulin that hasn’t been absorbed yet. Or, it might be just that you disconnect your pump for some time.
No I’m actually using injections. This has happened more than once now. It’s usually been about 2-3 hours after I’ve eaten dinner, so right before bed. Strange phenomenon if you ask me.
Strange…Hot Shower will raise my BG. Hot Tub will drop me…
Never mind…you’re on mdi. I don’t know…
Every time I take a shower my BG goes way up. Not right away tho. Today it was 180 after breakfast and went up to 240 after and had to take three boluses to get it down. This happens every time I take a shower. I am a pumper and cover the insertion site. Have heard that most people experience lows but I am quite the opposite. I keep denying the situation. I am at a point where I am contemplating changing the insulin after every shower. Does this happen to ANYone else?
rcarli, I don’t know if it is related, but my husband’s BG has been going up since I started washing his feet every morning. I wonder if it could be related to the soap you are using? Because we know that when he applied steroid cream to his leg when he had a skin issue, it caused his blood sugar to go up. I started using baby bath to wash his feet, because his skin is so sensitive, and I don’t want to dry his skin out, I wonder if it is has something in there that is causing his blood sugar to rise. Could that also be the cause of your blood sugar going up? I mean, they have diabetic lotions and creams, so I am assuming that means that nondiabetic lotions and creams may have some ingredient that affects BG? Or perhaps it is not as gentle as the diabetic lotions. I may have him start checking his blood sugar after his showers to see if that is affecting his blood sugar. We haven’t noticed that in the past.
Thanks, I’ll try some diabetic soap and see if that’s the cause.
Diabetic Soap is just a clever way to extract extra money from your wallet. Never heard anyone claim soap raises their BS.
Heat always seems to raise my blood sugar and cool temps lower my cgm reading every time. Every morning my shower raises me 20 or 30 points, then it drops once I’m out. I have a hot tub and it does the same every time I get in it. Cool air blowing on dex is sure to drop my reading, be it a fan blowing on me at night trying to sleep on a warm evening or riding in a convertible cool air will always give me a false low every time. When submerged in warm water both my bs and cgm raise, cool air and water drop only my cgm, not my actual bs.
Steroid cream and soap are very different things. I’m not at all surprised that steroid cream would have an impact…
Soap on the other hand shouldn’t unless it’s irritating your skin. If it’s causing inflammation, then that could definitely raise bg levels.
Remember, a CGM isn’t actually measuring blood glucose; it’s measuring a property in the interstitial fluid of your subcutaneous fat that is analogous to blood glucose. By significantly warming up or cooling down this interstitial fluid, your CGM may give you erroneous readings that doesn’t actually reflect your current blood glucose value. The only way to know what’s really happening is through finger sticks.
I found the following article on the web about hot showers affecting BG.
“8 Things That Affect Your Blood Glucose Levels
2. Heat - A hot day, or even a shower or bath that is too hot will affect your sugars. Heat can cause your sugar levels to fluctuate. According to the Mayo Clinic, diabetics often have damage of the sweat glands affecting the body’s ability to cool down. Dehydration can be a result of a hot day, as well as a result of high blood glucose levels. High levels cause the body to excrete more urine, causing dehydration if one does not increase their intake of caffeine free fluids like water, seltzer, and sugar-free drinks. Heat can cause dehydration as well and could result in the more serious affects of heat exhaustion. Remember, try to keep out of the direct sunlight on a hot day, drink lots of fluids, exercise in the cool of the morning or late evening. You may find, like me, that you just cannot take the heat like you did before the diabetes.”