do you always have higher blood sugars when you're sick?

So I have my first bug since diagnosis. I've had a mild fever (~99.5 - 100.2) for the past 36 hours, and feel crappy in various ways, but am not nauseous or anything. But my blood sugars are perfectly fine. Anyone else had this experience? The CDE hammered "sick day management" into me so hard that I thought something dire would happen. Maybe I'm not sick enough.

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Permalink Reply by Leo2 on May 23, 2011 at 2:15pm

Whatever you're doing must be working! Hope you get over it soon!

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Permalink Reply by Julia on May 23, 2011 at 3:58pm

When I am sick, most of my blood sugars are normal, except for a few lows. Last time I was sick my BG's were everywhere! High, low, and in range!

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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on May 23, 2011 at 4:14pm

I try to turn my pump up and take lots of insulin to kill the germs.

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Permalink Reply by Ant97gtr on May 23, 2011 at 5:35pm

Unfortunately there isn't a 'one size fits all' answer to this. Thankfully I don't get sick too often but when I do (just talking about colds here) it can affect my blood sugars differently. Sometimes BG seems to be unaffected and other times its sends it through the roof and is very difficult to bring down no matter what I do. There doesn't seem to be any rhythm to this either, and just seems kinda random.

Best solution is to monitor BG closely and take steps to correct if required.

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Permalink Reply by Lathump on May 23, 2011 at 6:21pm

I don't think that I can ever remember my BG going high because of being sick. But for other people, it obviously does. So I think it's another one of those YMMV things.

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Permalink Reply by Brett on May 23, 2011 at 6:36pm

Hi Kestrel,

For me, the difference is what kind of "sick" I happen to be. A cold doesn't seem to cause any real changes in my BGs, but any sort of infection causes them to go through the roof.

Watch out also if you are taking any medication since some of them can cause weird BG reactions. Vomiting also can cause real issues.

I guess what I'm getting at here is "don't worry about fitting into the description of a sick day, but just watch your BG carefully and act accordingly".

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Permalink Reply by Kari on May 23, 2011 at 6:41pm

I find that it varies. With an infection or fever I do go high. But if I have a cold, I actually tend to go hypo quite a bit. The same with if I get a multi-day migraine.

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Permalink Reply by Mandie_T1 on May 31, 2011 at 6:15pm

It depends for me. If it's the Flu, my bgs are high. If it's Bronchitis my bgs are low. It's a lose/lose situation. Are you on a pump? Shots? Whatever you're doing right now keep it up! That's the MOST important thing to keep your blood sugars at good enough ranges to be satisfied while your sick. I hope that this bug will pass soon.

One tip I do have for you with this bug going on is my CDE when I was in my teens told me to check double the amount of times I normally check in a day.

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Permalink Reply by T1Forever on June 1, 2011 at 9:32am

I generally do not have any high readings when sick. I am always surprised, because everyone tells me they will come when I am sick. Generally, there are no real changes in my BGs and SOMETIMES they are actually better, especially if I am not eating. I am on a pump, so in the rare instance when they go up, I can change bsasls to compensate.

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Permalink Reply by Teena on June 2, 2011 at 7:25am

Personally when it comes to fevers...most of the time my bg remains fine. The only time, I noticed, that my bg goes sky high is when I have bad colds running for several days, asthma and allergy attacks. Though my doctor once said that my bg swings may also be caused by the stress that I usually have during "sick days..."

Hope you'll feel better soon =)