Sick Days
People with diabetes should make a sick day plan with their health care team before they get sick.
Here are a few points to remember when making your sick day plan:
- Keep taking your medications - You should continue to take your insulin even though you may not be eating. Be sure to ask your physician if you need to make any changes in insulin dosing or oral medications while you are sick or if you are not eating.
- Try to keep on your regular diet - Although you may not feel like eating, it is important to try and eat something. Your body needs energy to fight illness and food provides the fuel to do that. If you are too ill to eat solid foods, replace meals with foods that are easy to digest such as, crackers, toast, soup, hot cereal, milk, etc.
- Drink a lot of liquids - If you are able to keep on your regular diet, drink liquids that have no calories, such as water, diet soda, and tea (without milk, sugar, or honey). If you are unable to keep on your regular diet, you may need to drink regular liquids (with sugar) like non-diet sodas or fruit juices. Either way, maintain a constant intake of fluids to prevent dehydration (approximately 1/2 to 3/4 cup every half-hour to hour).
- Check your blood glucose often - Because your body is in an altered state when you are sick, it is important for you to be aware of what your blood glucose levels are doing. Monitor your blood glucose often.
Call your doctor or diabetes educator when:
- You have symptoms of Ketoacidosis or dehydration.
- You have moderate to large amounts of Ketones present in your urine.
- Your blood sugar is 240 mg/dL or greater even though you've followed your sick day plan.
- Your illness or fever has lasted a couple of days.
- You have persistent vomiting and are unable to keep down food, liquids, or oral medications or have diarrhea for >6 hours.
Cough and Cold
There are many over-the-counter remedies that can be used to treat the symptoms of a cold; however, people with diabetes must be careful and read all labels before purchasing and using such items. Consult your Rite Aid Pharmacist for answers and recommendations. There are products on the market specifically formulated for people with diabetes.
A few points to remember when selecting products:
- Always look for products that are sugar-free
- Decongestants may raise your blood glucose
- You may need to test you blood glucose more frequently
- Large doses of aspirin can decrease blood sugar
