Since your glucose is impacted by a variety of factors during the night and upon waking, it's not uncommon to see a slight rise in glucose during the early morning hours.
For one, you are less insulin sensitive in the evening and activity decreases. Also, late-night eating can elevate your nighttime and morning glucose values.
Another interesting and natural occurrence that may contribute to a rise in glucose is the release of cortisol and other hormones. These hormones increase when you wake up as a part of your normal circadian rhythm to help you get going. This can result in a rise in glucose that you may see on your graph, referred to as the Dawn Phenomenon.
It looks something like this:
The degree to which glucose may rise varies greatly from person to person and should not be a cause for concern. Several studies show this phenomenon also occurs in non-diabetics.
However, people with Diabetes often have a much more exaggerated rise in morning glucose. Since they are insulin resistant (Type 2 diabetes) or they do not produce insulin (Type 1 diabetes), they cannot effectively clear the glucose from their system and may compensate for this rise with exogenous insulin.
Note: There are plenty of cases of CGM readings being lower at night. What looks like a rise could simply be your sensor returning to normal from a previously false low reading (like sensor compression during sleep).
Some simple strategies you can try to minimize elevated glucose at night and in the morning are:
To ensure you get a good night of sleep (aim for at least 7 hours of quality sleep per night)
Eat dinner earlier in the evening
Tune in to your stress levels!
Learn more about sleep and blood sugar in this blog post.
Our Community is a great place to discuss topics like this, compare your experience to others, and exchange tips.
Note that Veri should not be used for medical purposes. The sensor is not a diagnostic tool, and you should not use it to self-diagnose diabetes or hypoglycemia. If you are concerned about elevated morning glucose, you should contact your healthcare provider.