Can menstrual cycle affect diabetes blood work?

Question

Hi doctor,

I had my blood work recently for diabetes. During that time, I was in my first day of menstrual cycle. Will that affect my results by anyway? I had glucose test with 12 hours fasting.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

No, blood results of sugars are not affected by normal physiological changes in the body. The menstrual period is a physiological stress on the body. If your body is producing normal levels of Insulin to control the sugars, then it will go ahead with normal production. Only when you do something out of normal like excessive exercise or fever or any medications or certain steroid tablets or injections, then the blood sugar will be affected. Hope the bleeding was not massive or very painful. If these were excessive and out of normal levels, then blood sugars may slightly change. Also, the hormones in periods from ovaries do not affect the blood sugars.