How does illness affect diabetes?

[pawprint91]

Another early days question ... what happens to us when we get ill (even with something as simple as a cold)?

I was given a bit of advice on what to do if I feel unwell (check ketones as well as bg) which is totally fine for the short term. However, I am a primary school teacher so know in the future I am inevitably going to come down with viruses etc.

I know everyone is different, but I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on just how off kilter you can be when you are ill with a virus/infection.

Thank you!

 

[Windy]

Hi Pawprint91, there's some information on the main Diabetes UK website that covers this, but I'm sure people will pitch in with their experiences!
Sarah

 

[pawprint91]

Hi Pawprint91, there's some information on the main Diabetes UK website that covers this, but I'm sure people will pitch in with their experiences!
Sarah

Thank you 🙂 yes, would be good to hear other's experiences too!

 

[Zoombie]

I’m type 1 and if I have an infection or vomiting I can easily end up in hospital as my blood sugars get high and I have ketones. Sometimes I can manage at home, but I’ve had to go to A&E on occasions.

 

[Zoombie]

Somewhere on here you will find sick day rules to help.

 

[Robin]

I’ve never had too much of a problem with normal coughs and colds, sometimes my Blood Glucose goes up a bit, sometimes it doesn’t, and a temporary increase in basal insulin has sorted it out. The interesting thing is, if I am going down with something, it’ll show in my blood glucose 24 hours before I start feeling other symptoms, one day I’ll have unexpectedly higher levels and think, what?? And the next day I'll start with a scratchy throat or something and think, ah, that’s what it was about.
Another thing, it’s not just viruses etc that put the blood sugars up, I fell off a horse a couple of years ago and damaged some ribs, and was propped up on pain killers for a few days, and my blood sugars were all over the place until it started settling.

 

[pawprint91]

Is it generally ~okay to have temporarily unstable blood sugars, as long as you know what might be causing it?

 

[rebrascora]

Is it generally ~okay to have temporarily unstable blood sugars, as long as you know what might be causing it?

All you can ever really do with managing your BG levels is your best, but you have to understand that there are about 42 factors which affect your BG and whilst the 3 main players are food, medications and exercise, there are many of those other factors which you have no control over, so maintaining perfect or even good control isn't always possible and you will likely have spells when things go a bit haywire and other spells when it behaves nicely and you are lulled into a sense of having tamed the beast.
I find that there is a sort of ebb and flow to it which I have learned to accept. When my levels don't behave and I start to find it frustrating, the first thing I do is check to see if my basal insulin dose is correct or needs adjusting. Once I am satisfied my basal dose is as close as possible to what I need (by skipping meals to see if it is holding me steady in the absence of food and bolus insulin), then I just dig in and wait for things to settle down again. It may be that I have an infection brewing, or that I wore red socks and it was a Monday (never a good combination 🙄 ) or that the Diabetes Fairy escaped from her lead lined sarcophagus and arrived as an unwelcome and unannounced guest. Calling her a fairy is far too flattering as she is actually an evil little, chaos causing minx. Thankfully she will usually move on to her next unwitting victim after a few days, so hang in there is she takes up residence with you

Add to all that, you have a pancreas that may be still spitting out a bit of insulin when it feels like it, in fits and spurts during the honeymoon period and you start to realise that having spells of temporarily unstable BG is normal for most of us at different time, so it has to be okay! You can't do better than your best

I find it helps to think about my uncle who was diagnosed in the 1940 and had very little insight for most of his life as regards what his BG levels were doing. He did not have a BG meter for most of that time. He had many incidents of being found fitting with hypos or admitted to hospital with DKA but was still cycling alone regularly at 80yrs old and made it to 84 before he checked out (same as my Mam and Dad who were not diabetic), so I think for ourselves with the aid of all the wonderful technology and insulins we have, we should be able to withstand a few relatively minor wobbly BG patches every few weeks/months without too much trouble.

 

[Inka]

Is it generally ~okay to have temporarily unstable blood sugars, as long as you know what might be causing it?

Yes, as long as you’re safe. The big risk is ketones, especially with a vomiting bug, I’ve found. With normal colds my blood sugar does go higher than normal and I need to take it easy because I’ve found trying to do normal exercise like housework can push it higher. Covid made my blood sugar significantly higher than normal and I needed extra insulin.

I used anti-bac gel at work well before Covid. I’ve worked in various jobs including teaching, and if a child had D&V or it was going round the school, I’d be extremely cautious. The most ill I’ve been with diabetes was with Norovirus and similar bugs. Best avoided as much as you possibly can. I was very close to going to hospital.