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Sickness/diahorrea bug!!

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R

Ruth Goode

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Parent of person with diabetes
Last week Carly had a sickness then diahorrea bug, with the sickness her level was rather higher than usual then the diahorrea came her levels suddenly went too low. She had hypos a lot - the worst she had 8 in a day!! The fast acting treatment didnt work and failed three time!! I texted DSN, she said to give her glucogel (dextrogel) and that helped slowly, she said the fast acting treatment went through her body. I was surprised to find glucogel didnt send her levels up too high!!
 
Must have been a nightmare :( I felt rotten but nowhere near as bad as Carly. My average BG over the 7 days went from 5.3 to 7.5, which is a very high average for me, no hypos. Must be so much more difficult with a child.
 
If anyone's gut is damaged, particularly indicated by diarrhoea, then it's difficult to absorb fluids, but one mechanism can still work. It which requires a carrier molecule in cell walls to "flip" which it can only do when it has one molecule of sodium and one of sugar, after which the increased osmotic pressure inside the cell draws in water, So, that's why oral rehydration drinks work so well. You can buy sachets such as Dioralyte or Rehydrat, or use a sugar / salt measuring spoon eg http://www.talcuk.org/accessories/sugar-and-salt-measures.htm to make up correctly formulated solutions.

So, sugar and salt can be better absorbed than sugar alone eg Glucogel / Hypo Fit gel - and will also help general hydration.
 
Hmmm!! I should try that next time, thank you for your advice and hopefully Carly will take it!
 
Speaking from experience of both having had diarrhoea before diabetes, plus a couple of times in the 15 years with it, plus several periods working as medic at rehab centre for disabled children in Mexico, and expeditions / youth projects in Costa Rica & Indonesia, I can assure you that if someone is really ill due to dehydration, they can tolerate oral rehydration drinks, but if they're not ill, they might not like the taste! You can also work out relative strengths and improvise eg adding salt to full sugar soft drinks - taste to ensure it's not more salty than tears. That's particularly useful to know when travelling without easy access to safe drinking water (takes time / stoves / pots /bottles to treat water by boiling or iodine) and bottles / cans of Coke etc are microbiologically safest.

So, I'm pretty sure Carly would take it, if she needs it. 🙂
 
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