Another First

I'm still a pretty new diabetic, so I continue to experience "firsts" in this journey. A few days ago I was reminded of this as it was the first time that I have gotten really sick since I've had diabetes. When I first was diagnosed with diabetes, the doctors and nurses gave me information at the hospital about what to do on "sick days" and everything. But I thought at the time that feeling ill would be the same whether or not I had this disease. Like many other times in my life, I was proven wrong!

It all started because my numbers were going a little wonky. Highs and lows within hours for no explainable reason. I thought this was a little odd, but that's what life is for, right? Keep it interesting? ;) Then after a short while, I was experiencing the cold symptoms. Normal, I thought. I'm just getting the cold that's going around. And it was fairly normal for the rest of the day.

I was anticipating on getting up and ready for school the next morning as usual. But the moment I woke up, I knew that wasn't an option. So I stayed home from school for a couples days. This felt almost entirely like the yucky cold that goes around, but the difference was adding diabetes to the equation. I was surprised to discover that when I checked my numbers before meals, they were in the 200s and 300s. This is definitely unusual for me as I try very hard to control my numbers to where they should be. Even after giving myself extra insulin to correct at suppertime, I was still at 358 and nine o' clock. Not only was I disappointed that my numbers were high, I also didn't get my normal nine o' clock snack. Oh well, life goes on.

The next morning I did some serious research into being sick with diabetes. Here are a few big things I came up with. If you are a diabetic, you might want to keep these things in mind if you ever have a couple sick days.

1.) High numbers are normal. High numbers and even high to low fluctuations are normal when you are sick because your body is under stress. To deal with this stress, your body releases hormones that help it fight disease. But these hormones have side effects. They raise blood sugar levels and interfere with the blood sugar-lowering effects of insulin.

2.) Check your ketones. None of us like to do this, right? We forget, it gets busy, we just don't want to. But it really is important. Because of the higher numbers, you may find that you have ketones. Even if you aren't above the 240 point, doctors will still tell you to check your ketones every 4-6 hours when you are sick. If you have moderate to high ketones, but you don't know that or you don't treat it, it can result in a coma and even death. Okay, I know that seems very serious and it is. But it doesn't have to be something to worry about if you simply check your blood glucose and your ketones often.

3.) Drink A LOT. No matter if you have diabetes or not, your body needs some extra fluids to fight against this sickness. But also, to help prevent having ketones, the more you drink, the faster your body flushes out ketones. Hot tea is perfect. There are many different flavors and there aren't any carbs.

 4.) Check your cold medicine. Make sure you read the labels of the cold medicine you are going to take. A lot of them tell you to ask your doctor before using if your have diabetes. That is very important. You don't want to make anything worse by taking something that is going to harm you more than help you. Also, there are many diabetic-friendly cold medicines that you can find at your local pharmacy. That way, you know for sure that it is safe for you.

The biggest thing about being sick with diabetes is simply to be aware of your body. I'm sure that everyone is different. These are just a few things that I learned while experiencing another first in my diabetic journey. I hope that this information can help in some way.