Manicarrie
Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi, was just admitted with severe dka due to a stomach bug and poor sick day education. Now I am home am doing nothing but sleep and feel generally weak, is this normal?
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Dka after effects
- Thread starter Manicarrie
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Redkite
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Parent of person with diabetes
Sorry to hear this. I would say that recovery from a stomach bug leaves you exhausted and washed out even without the DKA. Have you now been given some sick day advice?
My son has had numerous gastro bugs, as is typical with young children, but a nightmare when they have type 1. I have had to deal with them when he was on mixed insulins, MDI, and a pump, and it is definitely easier with a pump. What type of insulin regimen are you on? The key thing is that even if you are vomiting and not eating, you still need some insulin.
When my son has been vomiting, I have tested his BG hourly, and also tested his blood ketones. Do you have a blood ketone meter? If not I would recommend it, as you can then see instantly if your ketones are rising to dangerous levels, whereas with the urine ketone strips, you are only seeing what the ketones were several hours before. If his BGs are high, obviously I can correct with more insulin, but usually with a stomach bug he runs at very low BG levels, with lots of hypos, and ketones begin to creep in. We try to tackle these with by getting him to have small sips of lucozade, teaspoons of full-sugar jelly, sugary ice lollie, anything he can bear to have, accompanied by tiny boluses of insulin. If, despite this, his ketones continue to rise, and/or we can't keep his levels out of the hypo range, we know we'd have to go into hospital.
Do you live alone or is there someone who could help you with overnight testing when you are ill?
One other thing - after this type of illness it takes the gut 2-3 weeks to heal, and during this time you may find your food absorbs more slowly, and you may find it helpful to take your insulin after eating.
Hope you feel better soon 🙂
My son has had numerous gastro bugs, as is typical with young children, but a nightmare when they have type 1. I have had to deal with them when he was on mixed insulins, MDI, and a pump, and it is definitely easier with a pump. What type of insulin regimen are you on? The key thing is that even if you are vomiting and not eating, you still need some insulin.
When my son has been vomiting, I have tested his BG hourly, and also tested his blood ketones. Do you have a blood ketone meter? If not I would recommend it, as you can then see instantly if your ketones are rising to dangerous levels, whereas with the urine ketone strips, you are only seeing what the ketones were several hours before. If his BGs are high, obviously I can correct with more insulin, but usually with a stomach bug he runs at very low BG levels, with lots of hypos, and ketones begin to creep in. We try to tackle these with by getting him to have small sips of lucozade, teaspoons of full-sugar jelly, sugary ice lollie, anything he can bear to have, accompanied by tiny boluses of insulin. If, despite this, his ketones continue to rise, and/or we can't keep his levels out of the hypo range, we know we'd have to go into hospital.
Do you live alone or is there someone who could help you with overnight testing when you are ill?
One other thing - after this type of illness it takes the gut 2-3 weeks to heal, and during this time you may find your food absorbs more slowly, and you may find it helpful to take your insulin after eating.
Hope you feel better soon 🙂
Manicarrie
Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Yeah they weren't letting me out without sick day advice!!! Had already started to recover from bug the day before I to really ill, should have asked hospital about recovery before I left. Stupid me, assumed that once fluids sorted and ketones down I would be back to normal.
Redkite
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Parent of person with diabetes
No it takes a while I'm afraid. Do beware of hypos after eating - like I said we've found that food absorbs more slowly for a couple of weeks after a stomach bug, and it might be advisable to delay your insulin until after eating (or use a square wave if you have a pump).
Manicarrie
Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Thanks for the advice, I am injecting before food at the moment as my bg is generally high right now, my lowest since getting out of hospital has been 10.5. I think I will just live in bed until I speak to clinic on Monday 🙂 and enjoy being spoiled by my hubby.
Garthion
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
I've had "severe" DKA a few times (too many in fact) was kept in Hospital for a week each time to make certain that I was getting better. You still have a period of 2-3 weeks where you are not fully recovered and are more susceptible of a recurrence of the DKA or any other bugs that are going around. It is advisable, if you are working, to take at least another week off sick before going back to give yourself more time to recover, a habit I only developed after my 4th DKA 
and getting a Blood Ketone meter, (Optium Exceed or Glucomen LX Plus) would be of great use, your GP can not refuse to let you have the strips either as you have now had DKA and may be more likely to get it again in the future (not saying you will)
DKA can be very scary and take a lot out of you, the best thing that you can do is just to take it easy until you feel better, then don't rush things, make sure you are fully recovered before you go back to doing what you normally do, the most important thing in your life is your own health, always remember this and don't take it for granted.
and getting a Blood Ketone meter, (Optium Exceed or Glucomen LX Plus) would be of great use, your GP can not refuse to let you have the strips either as you have now had DKA and may be more likely to get it again in the future (not saying you will) DKA can be very scary and take a lot out of you, the best thing that you can do is just to take it easy until you feel better, then don't rush things, make sure you are fully recovered before you go back to doing what you normally do, the most important thing in your life is your own health, always remember this and don't take it for granted.
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