Quick Tip Summary

For Your Education
Usually blood glucose will be higher around or during your period, as the hormones cause your body to be more insulin resistant.

An excellent resource is the American Diabetes Association's book called Women and Diabetes, by Laurinda M. Poirier and Katharine Coburn.
For Your Well-Being
Keep a careful record of your blood glucose levels during these times so you and your team can identify patterns.

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Other Health Issues


Hormone Cycles
Judy Kohn, RN, BSN, CDE
Section: Other Health Issues
By: Judy Kohn, RN, BSN, CDE
Posted: 04.01.2009
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Can the female menstrual cycle affect blood sugar? Can the hormones produced (or not produced) affect it? If it helps, I also have Hypothyroidism. Usually, I don't have much of a stomach to eat anything when I have my period. Today, when I got that high reading, I ate the same thing I normally do at lunch (typically resulting in a good reading of 114-120 two hours after lunch) but today it was 153!

Hormone Cycles

Yes, female hormone cycles can affect blood glucose. The reference I used, which I highly recommend, is the book from the American Diabetes Association called Women and Diabetes, by Laurinda M. Poirier and Katharine Coburn.

In that book the authors explain that usually blood glucose will be higher around or during your period, as the hormones cause your body to be more insulin resistant. The blood glucose often remains high for 3-5 days, and then returns to its usual level, sometimes gradually, and sometimes rapidly. But note that while some women notice this change right before their cycle, others notice it during or right after. In addition, either PMS or your menstrual period might cause you to have less energy, and thus you might not do your regular exercise, further causing your glucose to go up a little. Finally, the food cravings some women have-related to the hormone changes-can aggravate blood glucose levels as well, although in your case, you stated that you lose your appetite.

Naturally it is important to discuss this with your diabetes team, as well as to keep a careful record of your blood glucose levels during these times so you and your team can identify patterns. The blood glucose change you reported may be considered insignificant and/or unrelated - i.e. it may be a one-time slight rise and perhaps your healthcare team will tell you not to worry about this-but this is all individual and should be discussed with your medical team.

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Important Notice: Information provided by the team of Diabetes Educators is for general background purposes and is not intended as a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment by a trained professional. You should always consult your physician about any health care questions you may have, especially before trying a new medication, diet, fitness program, or approach to health care issues.

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