Take your diabetes medicine even if you have a cold or the flu

Blood sugar levels will probably rise in the physical stress of being sick, even though you are not eating. It might seem that if you're refusing to eat much because you're sick, you need to take less medication or none at all, but simply the opposite will probably be true. Illness, infection, and injury all create stress on your body.

Stress hormones are then released, causing your liver to send extra glucose into your bloodstream to provide your body extra energy to fight the illness. That means your blood sugar will probably go up. So if you are barely eating because you're too fatigued, or feel nauseated, as well as are vomiting, you'll likely need your usual quantity of medicine or even more.

If you take insulin it seems counterintuitive to consider more while on your table less, however for most people, including myself, that's precisely what you need to do. But be aware that not every sniffle will affect your blood sugar; the only way to know whether it has done same with to try your blood sugar levels every couple of hours. Whether it's high, call your health care provider, or, if you're skilled at adjusting your insulin, increase your dose by one or two units to determine whether this returns your blood sugar levels to target range.

If you avoid using insulin and need to lessen your blood sugar level, eat a little less carbohydrates or take a short walk if you're feeling well enough. If your blood sugar goes way up and won't fall, you might need to take insulin temporarily. Keeping your blood sugars within or as near to your target range as you possibly can will help both of you feel better and heal faster.

Choosing easy-to-digest foods when you're sick

Carbohydrates are crucial while you're ill, simply because they provide much-needed energy and speed healing. If eating is a problem since you don't have any appetite or a high fever, you still need to try to eat your usual amount of carbohydrates. All of the following foods are simple to digest and contain 15-20 grams of carbohydrate, which is equal to one carbohydrate exchange.

half just one cup regular soda (not diet)
half just one cup juice
half just one cup ice cream
one fourth of the cup sherbet
half just one cup cooked cereal
1 slice toast
1 cup soup
6 saltine crackers
3 graham crackers
half just one cup regular gelatin (not sugar-free)
1 Popsicle or fruit juice bar

Recognizing and managing dehydration

In addition to keeping your carbohydrate intake when you're sick much like what it's when you're not sick, it is important to not get dehydrated. Dehydration is really a loss of body fluids that contain vital minerals, for example sodium and potassium, and is usually brought on by vomiting, diarrhea, or not eating or drinking enough.

Dehydration can put a strain on your cardiovascular system, affecting your heart, kidneys, and brain. Its warning signs include thirst, headache, dizziness, fatigue, weakness, irritability, heat flush, vomiting, nausea, and muscle cramps. Dehydration may also rob your body of its capability to rid your bloodstream of extra sugar.

To prevent dehydration, sip water and, if you like, sugar-free or caffeine-free liquids during the day. One diabetes educator advises her patients to snap sips of liquid during each commercial break if watching TV. If you are feeling well enough, eating fresh fruits and vegetables will also replenish water in your system. Ingesting fluids that contain sodium, such as broth, tomato juice, and sports drinks, can also be vital that you help retain fluid and replenish mineral loss.

Because it could be harder to keep your blood sugar levels in target range when you are sick, exercise an agenda with your diabetes educator or doctor so that you realize, before you get sick, how to proceed once the need arises. Make sure your sick-day plan includes how often you should measure your blood sugar levels, your target blood sugar range, how to deal with your medicine, what you need to eat and drink, which foods or beverages you need to avoid, and what specific symptoms should prompt a call to your doctor.

1. How can water regulate body temperature
Water regulates body temperature Exercise generates heat. This occurs because the efficiency of converting the chemical energy in ATP into the mechanical energy...

2. How to maintain a healthy water and electrolyte balance
Water and Electrolyte Balance To maintain water and electrolyte balance, intake and excretion must balance. Water intake is stimulated by thirst, but is not fin...

3. One of the problems with fluid and electrolyte balance is dehydration
Problems with Fluid and Electrolyte Balance During exercise, most people only drink enough to keep them from being thirsty. By the time they finish exercising...

4. A low sodium level points to Hyponatremia
Sweat is important for cooling the body. Sweat is mostly water. For most activities, sweat losses can be replaced with ordinary water. However, sweat also contains some...

5. The fact that eating sweets causes diabetes is just a myth
Really, it does not - at least not in the way you think. Diabetes is caused by a genetic predisposition and lifestyle factors, or by an autoimmune reaction. Nevertheless, i...

6. One does not have to be obese to suffer from diabetes
About 20 % of people who get type 2 diabetes are not overweight, nor are most individuals who get type 1 diabetes. Most people associate type 2 diabetes with being overweig...

7. Borderline means you probably have pre diabetes
If your doctor tells you that you have "a touch of sugar" or "you're borderline," you most likely have pre-diabetes. This puts you at greater threat for developing type 2 d...

8. Diabetes can have complications right after diagnosis
More than 25 % of all newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients have complications, as do some patients with type 1 diabetes. At the time of diagnosis, as many as 25...