Getting High with Coffee and #Type1Diabetes

Getting High with Coffee and #Type1Diabetes

Back in the early days of living with Type 1 i was always baffled by the fact that when I woke my blood glucose would be 5-6 but an hour after my morning cup of coffee my blood glucose would have risen to anything between 10 and 13 and that's without food.

My morning coffee is like my "On" switch and without it very little happens. It's my function button, fuel for my daily journey. 

Once I realised my dilemma and pinpointing what was happening I made some adjustments to my diabetes management. Now if your thinking I gave up coffee you'd be sadly mistaken, that would have resulted in either becoming a hermit or becoming people intolerant when I'm out.

My trick, and it works for ME ! While the kettle is boiling or the coffee pot is doing its thing, I bolus (inject with novo rapid) so it's starting to kick in when I'm drinking my very necessary morning cuppa, with no after spike ...

But let me remind you here everyone is different so speak to your diabetes health care professional about what YOU should do

 But why does coffee cause a blood glucose spike?

One theory put to me was that coffee blocks insulin. The majority of articles Iv read state that Type 1 diabetics should avoid caffeine as it makes insulin less responsive, causing sugars to rise. 

Another theory as to why it raises Blood Glucose is that the Caffeine causes an instant Adrenal response, this is one of the glands in the body which is responsible for the "flight or Fight" response. So when we drink coffee a hormone called Cortisol an Adrenalin is released into the blood stream which will have a slight blocking effect on circulating insulin take up. Also Cortisol and adrenalin and other fight of flight hormones released by the Adrenal glands will have a short term sudden impact on raising Blood Glucose, this is the main reason for a raise in Blood Sugar.

In not a professional just a coffee drinking person with type 1 diabetes 

Davina