Surviving Cold and Flu Season with Diabetes

Over the holidays my hubs and I were gifted the flu. Yes, we ruined Christmas, and gave my dad our flu for his birthday. I deserve the daughter of the year award right? It will definitely be a year to a Christmas to remember. But, on the bright side of things my flu did give me something to blog about. How do you manage your diabetes and the flu?



Here are some basics:

If you are an insulin pump user you need to set a temporary basal for your sick days. When you are sick your body is releasing more hormones to fight off whatever is bothering your insides. The sucky thing about this is these hormones will wreak havoc on your blood sugar levels and you will most likely need to increase your insulin dosage for that very reason. Be sure to talk with your doctor about how much you should be increasing your numbers.
Because your hormones are bothering your blood sugars be sure to check your blood sugars every 2-3 hours and correct as needed.

The American Diabetes Association says to have a meal plan for sick days with meals of 50 grams of carbs for every 3-4 hours. Now for my flu the thought of eating made my want to vomit, for me, it’s more about eat if you can and pay close attention to your numbers and do as needed.
Drink plenty of fluids. If you are having a hard time eating due to vomiting, try drinking broth, it has carbs and can prevent you from having low blood sugars.

 Make sure you have ketone test strips around. If you are having higher numbers be sure to check for ketones. If you show a low or moderate amount you should test again in a couple of hours. If you have a large amount of ketones you might want to call your doctor because a large build up of ketones can become dangerous and poison your body.

Contact your doctor if any of the following occur while you are sick:
You have had a fever for more than 2 days
You are showing signs of ketoacidosis
Have consistent high blood sugars
Have large amounts of ketones in your urine
I know it may seem like a lot for when you are sick. But, it’s still important to take care of your diabetes when you can’t keep anything down. The last thing you will need on your sick day is to end up in the emergency room with ketoacidosis or in a coma. I survived being sick, thank God, however I felt and still feel terrible for ruining Christmas with my family and my dads, hopefully I can make it up to them next year.
source:www.diabetesdaily.com