Can Continuous Glucose Monitoring Help You Keep an Eye on Stress? Yes!

Have you ever noticed glucose levels creeping up during the holiday season, even though you’re keeping a close eye on food intake and activity levels? 

If so, one source could be stress hormones, which can even spike from joy and excitement! Using a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) can make it easier to understand the relationship between holiday stress and glucose levels.

How Stress Impacts Glucose Levels

It’s helpful to understand exactly how stress raises glucose levels.

Maybe you’re the lead of the community holiday play or hosting the neighborhood potluck. Maybe you arrived late to a party or had to shop for gifts at the last minute in an overwhelming crowd.

When your body registers a high-stress situation, it triggers your system to respond. One thing that happens is the release of stress hormones, like adrenaline and cortisol. The liver may also release extra glucose. This increases glucose levels.

Using CGMs to Identify Stress-Related Glucose Patterns

CGMs make it easier to understand how your glucose levels respond to stress. Here’s how to get the most out of your CGM:

• Watch for sudden spikes. A rapid and sudden rise in your glucose can be an indicator that your body is responding to stress. 
• Track highs that won’t come down. After a stressful event, your glucose may stay high for an extended period of time. 
• Notice the Dawn Phenomenon. Stress will often lead to a dramatic morning glucose rise (beyond your normal).  
• Use trend arrows. You can see the immediate impact stress has on the body by paying attention to when the trend arrow on your CGMs display is pointing up. 

Be sure to log these glucose trends by time/date, what you were doing, and how you were feeling. This will help you identify your stress triggers and allow you to strategize and possibly prevent spikes in the future. 

Share your glucose trends and insights with your Healthcare Provider (HCP) so they can recommend changes to your diabetes management plan as needed. 

Strategies for Resilience and Stress Management

Whether you’ve identified glucose patterns related to stress or not, it is important that you proactively manage stress. There are many ways to manage your body’s stress response. You might need to try different options to see what works best for you.

Strategies for managing stress include:

• Exercising regularly
• Staying hydrated—while limiting alcohol and caffeine intake
• Prioritizing sleep and practicing good sleep hygiene—limit exposure to blue light before bed
• Eating regularly (every three to five hours) for maximum energy and focus
• Practicing relaxation activities such as yoga, meditation, breathing exercises, reading or crafting
• Setting boundaries and saying no to commitments that will increase your stress levels, especially around the holidays
• Writing down what you are grateful for at the beginning or end of the day
• Staying positive while being aware of unhelpful thoughts
• Connecting with others who can support you in stressful times

Turning Data Into Empowerment

As you review CGM data, you might blame yourself. You may think you should have managed your diabetes better and feel guilty or ashamed as a result. However, the data is simply information. It is meant to help you and your HCP make changes to your diabetes routine, not create blame.

Your CGM is a powerful partner in diabetes care. Use it as a reminder to manage stress now so you become more resilient year-round.

This content was made possible by Abbott Diabetes Care, an active partner of Beyond Type 1. Beyond Type 1 maintains editorial control over its content.