Dec 04 2008
Diabetes and the Common Cold
I feel lousy.
This isn’t a hangover from last night’s wing buffet. (Morning blood glucose reading, 111 by the way). It’s not just because I’m getting little sleep. I think I’m coming down with something.
Getting a cold or the flu or a stomach bug or what have you is irritating on a number of levels, aside from the usual inconvience and worry that I’ll infect my co-workers or my wife. It plays hell with my blood sugar.
I’ve gotten pretty good at reading my body. I can tell when I’m a little sugar crashy versus when I’m just tired or hungry. Being sick, especially at first when I’m not sure, throws that off.
Illness also throws off my ability to stay active, my appetite and therefore my ability to eat regularly and a number of other small things that meant the difference between me taking care of myself or not.
The people at John’s Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic both suggest more or less the same precautions with diabetes and illness: stay hydrated, keep to your schedule and check your sugars more frequently. Also, if you go to a doctor for you illness, make sure he knows about the diabetes too.
I doubt I’m going to the doctor or taking anything heavier than Vitamin C, but I’m still trying to pay attention. I don’t want a bad situation to get worse, because diabetes doesn’t just complicate things when I’m healthy. It’s also a royal pain when I’m experienceing, well… other royal pains.
I have a few relatives that have diabetes. One really gets drained when he has a cold. It’s good that you can read your body’s signs and know when you’re crashing. Some people aren’t that lucky. One of my relatives had an episode and had to be hospitalized. I think it was some kind of seizure or he passed out.