Illness

[EmilyCox76]

hi my 8 year old daughter has recently been diagnosed type 1 and I think she’s starting to get flu like symptoms just wondering if there’s anything I need to know or look out for or what to expect with sugar levels etc, thanks

 

[rebrascora]

Hi
Sorry to hear of your daughter's recent diagnosis and that she may be coming down with an illness on top of that.
The important things are to ensure that she stays hydrated by making sure she drinks a none sugary (ideally water) at a rate of min 100mls
every hour and keep checking her BG levels. Usually with illness they will go up even if she is not eating.
Do you have a means of testing her blood for ketones? If not get in touch with your diabetes team/clinic tomorrow and get some blood ketone strips and a meter that will accept them if you don't currently have a dual BG/ketones meter already. If her BG readings are regularly over 15 then you need to test her blood for ketones. If she doesn't have ketones or only low levels (less than 1.5mmols/litre) then continue to encourage her to drink regularly and use corrective doses of her bolus insulin to try to bring it down. If she has ketones of 1.5 or above then seek medical help via 111.
Hopefully it will just be a minor illness and she will recover without need for medical assistance.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Sorry to hear about your poorly little one

Have you been given any ‘sick day rules’ as a guide for what to do during illness? It is likely that illness will raise BG and she will need more insulin for food and background. I’ve had a nasty cold over Christmas and have really struggled to find single figures despite big increases in basal pattern and corrections.

I’m not sure if it’s different for children, but you might find this ‘Sick day rules’ printout from Leicester Diabetes Centre a useful start?

https://www.t1resources.uk/resources/item/sickday-rules-pdf/

Hope the illness passes soon, and she bounces back in no time.

 

[EmilyCox76]

Thank you for the advice, yes we’ve got keystones testers and they are 0.1 so all good and will keep trying her with water she fights me on this, haven’t got a sick days rules sheet I’ll check out the link thank you! It’s so nice to know I can just ask on here and people actually care , thank you for replying x

 

[SB2015]

I hope that your daughter is beginning to feel better @EmilyCox76
How have you both managed?

 

[EmilyCox76]

Not too bad thanks, her bloods have been quite high and we’ve been checking her through the night she’s starting to get better now. Thank you

 

[Thebearcametoo]

I hope she’s doing ok. My daughter got a bad bug within a week of being diagnosed. Nothing like being thrown in at the deep end! Don’t forget you can always phone your diabetes team for advice or if in the middle of the night your local children’s ward. Our DSN was good for reassuring me that I was doing the right thing and for double checking numbers. They would much rather you called them often with sick day rules than have a child end up in hospital so don’t be afraid to call them.