Sick Day rules

[JoeJOns]

Hi guys,

I have gone over my sick day rules with the diabetic team briefly. I would love to hear about sick they rules from you though! What do you recommend for a type 1 diabetic? What is the best way i can manage my illness at home, get my blood sugars down and get my ketones down? I am currently on one long acting injection a day, and three other fast acting injections before each meal.

Thank you!

 

[trophywench]

How often do you plan being that ill you need to employ sick day rules? I only ask cos I've only ever possibly needed em twice - first time when I was having a nervous breakdown and the second when I was a hospital in-patient having been operated on to mend my smashed kneecap. The first occasion it was so tricky because my BG wasn't constantly high, it would soar and then plummet at least several times daily because of the stress I couldn't risk it and the second time I actually needed three times my normal insulin doses but being an in-patient I asked to see the hospital team (different hospital to my normal one) and got very good advice from them.

Other than that I've only ever had coughs and colds etc which just need a bit of fire-fighting for a few days. OK they are sick day rules which the collective experience of those publishing them informs them 'this is about average' - but that's ALL, cos we ARE all DIFFERENT!

 

[TheClockworkDodo]

Yep, we are all different. In theory being ill is supposed to raise your blood sugar - the only time it's raised mine is when I had two abscesses on one wisdom tooth, and I had to put all my doses up about one unit. I've never had raised blood sugar with any other infection. I've never had ketones (since I was first diagnosed and hospitalised with DKA 9 years ago), however high my blood sugar's gone.

I think the best thing you can do if you are ill is just to keep a close eye on your blood sugar (and check for ketones if it's high) and see what it does, then react accordingly.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

This is a helpful flowchart from a respected diabetes centre which you can print out and save for whenever you need it.

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

Which hopefully won’t be for many years! I’m not sure I’ve ever needed to follow a predetermined sickday rules protocol in all my 28 years of pancreas impersonation.

 

[Pigeon]

Yes I've had it 12 years and never needed to follow them! Had a couple of tummy bugs where I struggled more with lows than highs so just tried to sip Lucozade or orange juice when I could. Never been hospitalised or had DKA. Easy to say but try not to worry about what might be, just get to grips with carbs and getting your insulin doses right and keep doing stuff you enjoy too - including exercise, seeing family, eating nice food, doing nice stuff with people you like.

@JoeJOns , I get the impression you're worrying about a lot of stuff, which is only natural, but in a few months you will see diabetes as a part of your life, like cleaning your teeth! Honestly, it does get better and doesn't have to be all bad news. When I was diagnosed age 26 I emailed a friend who had had it since she was a teenager and she replied straightaway saying "doesn't change a thing, just put your pen and some sweets in your handbag and away you go!". I was dubious at the time, feeling like life would never be the same again, but I tried to get on with life like she does and now I would say the same (except these days I clip on a pump rather than putting my pen in handbag!)