Book your Flu and/or Covid-19 vaccines now - use your online booking link in your text or email invitation.
Invitations are currently being sent out to our eligible patient groups. Use the online booking link in your text or email invite. Remember to use the dropdown menu to change the site and choose a date and time.
Get help from your GP by completing your health form
About Us

Key Information

  • Stress can affect blood sugar because hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline can make insulin less effective.
  • Living with diabetes can itself create stress. When managing diabetes starts to feel too much, this is called diabetes distress.
  • Poor sleep can also make blood sugar harder to manage and can make insulin less effective.
  • A higher blood-sugar result does not automatically mean you have eaten the wrong thing or made a mistake. It is information about what is happening in your body.

How Can Stress Affect Blood Sugar?

When you are under stress, your body releases hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. These can make insulin less effective, which means more glucose can stay in your blood.

Stress does not cause every high blood-sugar result, and it does not mean stress caused your diabetes. It means food is not always the whole explanation for a result that is higher than you expected.

What Is Diabetes Distress?

Diabetes itself can add to your stress. You may be thinking about food, tablets, appointments and blood results, or wondering whether things are getting better or worse.

When living with diabetes starts to feel too much, this is called diabetes distress. Stress can affect diabetes, while managing diabetes can also add to stress.

How Can Sleep Affect Blood Sugar?

Stress can make it harder to switch off, fall asleep or get back to sleep after waking in the night.

Poor sleep can also make blood sugar harder to manage. Consistently poor sleep can affect how your body controls blood sugar and can make insulin less effective.

Can Stress, Sleep and Diabetes Become a Cycle?

They can affect one another: stress can affect blood sugar, diabetes can create more stress, stress can disturb sleep, and poor sleep can make managing blood sugar harder again.

This does not mean you are stuck. You do not have to fix the whole cycle at once. If more than one thing is affecting your blood sugar, there may also be more than one place where you can make a difference.

Is the Answer Just to Stress Less and Sleep Better?

Not always. You cannot remove all stress, and persistent sleep problems are not always something you can solve simply by trying harder.

Problems such as insomnia or sleep apnoea can sometimes be involved.

When Should I Ask the Practice for Help?

Recognising patterns between stress, sleep and your blood sugar can help you see what you may be able to change yourself and when it may be useful to ask The Adam Practice team for help.

If sleep problems persist or managing stress, sleep and diabetes together feels difficult, ask the practice team for help.

Further Information

For more information about diabetes, please visit the NHS website.

Last reviewed: 21 August 2026

Next review due: 21 August 2029