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Ill!

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O

orange

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hello!

I just wanted to moan for a bit really, hopefully with people who understand as I don't really know any other diabetics! I'm type 1, and have been since I was 5, I'm 19 now! I feel sooo ILL at the moment. I've been really ill
since Friday afternoon. I suddenly came over very cold, even when I put
on 2 pairs of jogging bottoms, a t shirt, a cardigan, two pairs of
socks, a hoody, a scarf, gloves and my duvet! Then about 1 and 1/2
hours later I feel absolutely boiling. During all of this I have a
really bad headache. Since Friday it's been a recurring pattern. I've
been up since 2am today, feeling very sick, and it's affected my
diabetes as I have very very very high ketones at the moment, so I had to get up at 6am and drink lots, they went away...but now they are back! So I'm drinking again! I just feel awful! I also have a lot of college work I'm suppose to be getting on with...that's not happening! I really don't know what's wrong with me! There are only the emergency doctors and nurses to call out over the weekend, so I'm hoping to wait until Monday and get a doctor to give me a home visit! I realise this thread is a little pointless haha as I'm not really asking any questions, but I just wanted to rant a bit! I haven't seen or spoken to people in ages, I've just been stuck in my college room feeling ILL!

Thanks to those who read!

Orange
 
Hi orange, sounds like you've got a pretty bad bug there. What are your blood sugars like? Are you upping your insulin? If those ketones persist it might be worth calling emergency - you don't want to go into DKA. Don't let things get worse for fear of making a fuss, that's what the services are there for. Call NHS Direct and see what they say, but please don't just try and sit it out. Have you got friends who can keep an eye on you, that are aware of what is happening?

Hope you get well soon!
 
Hi orange,

sorry you are feeling so poorly - keep an eye on those ketones those. If you ve had them for an extended time and they are very very high (im assuming you mean ++++) you ask risking being really ill.
Maybe best not to wait till monday to see the doc.

Do you have someone with you who can keep an eye on you?

x
 
Orange, it sounds to me as if you have the flu plus DKA.
You do need urgent hspital care. Please ring your hospital or NHS direct for advice.
 
Hello

Thank you for all your support! I do have flatmates and one has been checking on me, but I find it difficult to have to explain everything, like why I have ketones etc.

I have rang the out of hours surgery and a nurse is calling me back.

The problem is, my ketones have gone again now...but it's been like this all the time, they go to ++++ then drop in about two hours, then up to +++ then down again, my bloods are 9 (they are always a little on the high side) I've had some toast and a few oat biscuits with insulin, but feeling boiling with a headache! My mouth is constantly dry too evne htough I've drank 1.5 litres today!!

Thank you!!

Orange
 
Orange, if the nurse hasn't phoned you back by the time you read this, phone NHS Direct or your local emergency medical services (again) as soon as possible. If you have any anti-pyretic (to bring down temperature) tablets eg paracetamol / aspirin / ibuprofen that you know you can take, then take as directed by the packet.


If you need anything from outdoors, ask your flatmates - most convenince shops sell small quantities paracetamol / aspirin / ibuprofen, without prescription. At least 1 chemist in each locatility is usually open for a couple of hours around midday on Sundays (and Bank Holidays), but it's too late for that now. Some GPs, particularly in rural areas are dispensing practices, or A&E departments can provide small amounts of prescription only medicines.
 
Hello again

It took over an hour for them to call back, then I had to wait for the doctor to ring. They said as long as my bloods dont rise about 18, cus they are around 10 at the moment, and I don't vomit and keep drinking then I won't need to go to hospital.

It concerns me how dry my mouth feels despite drinking about 2 litres of fluid today...I;ve managed to eat a couple of satsumas which seemed to have helped. Not looking forward to tonight though, as I need to set an alarm to check bloods and ketones frequently.

I have some paracetamol thanks and it seems to be helping, I've been taking them the past few days, but they wear off quickly !

It's nice having people who know what's going on! My flatmate just said when she cooks oat biscuits with melted toblerone on top I can have one! I'm sure that is not a very wise thing to do at the moment!!
 
You can take up to 8 paracetamol 500mg tablets per day (assuming you're adult - mentioning flatmates suggests you are), 2 at a time, at intervals of 6 hours, not all at once. You can also take aspirin or ibuprofen tablets, assuming there are no other reasons why you shouldn't (contraindications in patient information leaflets). Keeping temperature under control makes you feel far more comfortable and able to eat and drink, balanced by insulin. Hope you enjoy the oat cakes, with or without melted Toblerone!

As you say, checking blood levels at least once through the night is a good idea. Might be better to stay at home anyway, with winter storm forecast.
 
Hi orange

I have just been off work for a whole week for the flu plus ketones. I tried NHS Direct but they were not much help. They put me in touch with the out of hours doctor in my area and he was worse than useless. Luckily I did the DAFNE course. I went to the GP the next day and she was incredibly sensible - I was amazed! She rang through to the clinic at the hospital and put me on the phone to them and they told me what to do in terms of injecting extra insulin. This is very important even if you are not eating, you need to inject a lot of insulin but if you are not confident and have not been taught how to do this, it might be best to go into hospital. I was seriously considering it. The only thing that stopped me was that they would be so busy, I saw on the news last week they were only taking severe emergencies and I was not at that stage yet. I would say that you also need someone to take care of you, I would have gone into hospital if I had not had my family with me helping me decide what to do. Diabetic care is very complex when ill with ketones and you really don't feel up to managing it yourself. Be careful with sugary carbs like toblerone, I found the best things were light things like toast or soup. I was told it is best to eat something though, since even in non diabetics, if they do not eat, their body makes ketones anyway. That's why it is good to go to hospital since they can feed you through a drip and you don't need to worry about eating.
 
How are you today?

Hi Orange
How are doing? Illness especially flu like illnesses often have this affect on bs and create keytones - personally, like Lizzie, I give myself lots of extra wallops of insulin to bring bs down even if I have not eaten - but this is not advised - just what I do. I actually never test for keytones. But that's just me! I really hope you are feeling better and that taking paracetamol or the like has reduced your symptoms.
 
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