Heavy cold for over a week - when would you contact a GP?

[Trulee]

Have had a really heavy cold since last Wednesday - laid me up for two days in bed (Mon/Tues) which I never do!!!! I always have my flu jab and had it back in October.

Am hacking like I smoke 60 a day, have cattargh/phlegm on my chest, nose is alternately drying up/running like a drain. Any amount of physical exertion sends my temp through the roof, numbers are up a bit (not hugely 7-9's where I would expect 5-6's)

I seemed to be getting better and managed a day at work on Wednesday -without too much exertion- and worked my last half day of the year yesterday, but was exhausted when I finished.

It seems to get better for 12 hours and then reverts back, either as bad, or worse again.

Would you contact a GP before the holidays, or trust that either MIU or NHS 111 would be able to offer advice if needed?

thanks
Trulee

 

[Northerner]

Have had a really heavy cold since last Wednesday - laid me up for two days in bed (Mon/Tues) which I never do!!!! I always have my flu jab and had it back in October.

Am hacking like I smoke 60 a day, have cattargh/phlegm on my chest, nose is alternately drying up/running like a drain. Any amount of physical exertion sends my temp through the roof, numbers are up a bit (not hugely 7-9's where I would expect 5-6's)

I seemed to be getting better and managed a day at work on Wednesday -without too much exertion- and worked my last half day of the year yesterday, but was exhausted when I finished.

It seems to get better for 12 hours and then reverts back, either as bad, or worse again.

Would you contact a GP before the holidays, or trust that either MIU or NHS 111 would be able to offer advice if needed?

thanks
Trulee

Hi Trulee, welcome to the forum 🙂 Sorry to hear that you are unwell Are you on any medication for your diabetes? I'd suggest contacting NHS 111 now and seeing if they think a GP appointment might be needed. I'm not sure what can be done about a bad cold though, unfortunately

I hope you feel much better very soon! 🙂

 

[Trulee]

Hi Northerner
Thanks - yes take Levemir, Novorapid and Metformin. Also am an post heart attack patient so take various heart and cholesterol meds as well.

Might give NHS 111 a try in a minute..

thanks
Trulee

 

[Northerner]

Hi Northerner
Thanks - yes take Levemir, Novorapid and Metformin. Also am an post heart attack patient so take various heart and cholesterol meds as well.

Might give NHS 111 a try in a minute..

thanks
Trulee

As you are on insulin, are you testing for ketones? Given your circumstances and medication I would think a telephone appointment with your GP might be a better idea. If you do ring 111 then make your history and medication clear to them 🙂

 

[Trulee]

No I am not, have never been asked to and wouldn't know how to tbh!

Surgery closed until 2.30 so will give them a call then - thanks

 

[Northerner]

No I am not, have never been asked to and wouldn't know how to tbh!

Surgery closed until 2.30 so will give them a call then - thanks

Hopefully you will be OK. How have your blood sugar levels been behaving? If you are managing to eat and keep taking your insulin then there shouldn't be a problem - ketones usually arise when your blood sugar levels are high and you're not eating. They are a by-product of burning body fat in place of food and can become dangerously high in people who use insulin - this should have been explained to you when you were put on insulin, I'd ask about it when you get your appointment 🙂

 

[DaveB]

I would test my body temperature every so often to check that any infection wasn't getting out of control and just wait for the cold to fade. I suspect a call to 111 or the GP wouldn't achieve much unless you feel increasingly ill together with a temperature.

 

[Trulee]

Thanks all - got an appointment at the Doctors last Friday afternoon - he confirmed it is just a really heavy cold, listened to chest and back and both chest and lungs were clear, so even though I have felt like death right up until yesterday (still not right today tbh), it put my mind at rest a bit.

Only problem I am having still is the high blood sugars - I know people will say its Xmas and over-indulgence etc but I really haven't to any extent (not as much as I normally would), but my morning sugars are really high for me (13's) and though they then seem to settle back during the day to being on 1 or 2 higher than normal (7 - 10's) they seem to creep up again at night. Any thoughts anyone - is it just the infection, or should I be looking at something else.

Was 13.4 this morning before breakfast - took usual shot of insulin, working it out as I have been taught, and an hour and a half later is the highest I have had - 17.2. Will test regularly for a couple of hours and see what it does from here.

 

[Northerner]

Hi Trulee, it does sound like your levels are higher because of the infection, and probably reduced activity levels too. Especially in the mornings we can be more insulin-resistant, so this may be why it appears worse at that time. Also, it's likely that you aren't getting enough insulin currently to deal with the effects of the illness. However, hopefully you will recover soon so it's probably not worth putting too much effort into adjusting doses as you might just end up going the other way! When you are recovered though, and that factor has been removed, if your levels are still on the high side it could be that your insulin needs have simply changed - this happens to most people from time to time.

Get well soon, and start 2018 healthy! 🙂

 

[Trulee]

Thanks Northerner - have just taken my daily shot about an hour earlier than normal to see if that will help. Just really frustrating, and have never really been told at what 'high' level I should really think about contacting dr/111 etc.

I am normally a very independent person so losing control of something like this, and not being sure how to handle it, is very frustrating

 

[Ljc]

Hi Trulee. Sorry to read you’re not well. I’m afraid infections, pain or stress can affect BG levels.
Hope your feeling much better soon.
I’ll see if I can find the sick day rules and put them here, unless someone beats me to it lol
http://www.mydiabetesmyway.scot.nhs.uk/resources/leaflets/SickDayRulesForType2.asp
If you click on the link near the bottom, called something like further reading, it will take you to a graph for both T1 and T2 . Just follow the T2

 

[Trulee]

Thanks Lin

 

[Northerner]

Hi Trulee, as you are on insulin, you might find these sick day rules useful alongside Lin's:

http://www.uclh.nhs.uk/PandV/PIL/Pa...ick day rules – multiple daily injections.pdf