Have you ever had to lower your insulin dose or omit it all together while you were sick?

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Permalink Reply by Laura on February 25, 2009 at 5:58pm

I went through almost 2 weeks of lows from vomiting just recently. I had to not give myself any insulin until my BG was about a certain amount and then just bits at a time. I have also been on certain antibiotics that cause lows because of how they disrupt the intestinal track. The ones in the mycin family and penicillin family. But those are so safe compared so I deal with it.

There are certain illnesses like for instance a sinus infection that always send me high but anything to do with the stomach and I experience what you are saying. All you can really do is what you have done and it will pass although I know how scary it is.
Thanks for taking such good care of her.
Be loved

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Permalink Reply by Dave   _ on February 25, 2009 at 7:30pm

Being a Type one I'd NEVER need to ELIMINATE my insulin, no matter what the circumstances.

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Permalink Reply by Dave   _ on February 25, 2009 at 9:38pm

In answer to your question, infections will raise bg's rather than lower them.

Your kid's bg's are great, so I don't understand why you said you are frustrated. Go with it!

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Permalink Reply by Ronda Darling on February 27, 2009 at 3:37pm

A four year old who is sick and is struggling to stay above 80 is the frustrating end of it.

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Permalink Reply by Joanie on February 25, 2009 at 9:55pm

I had a really bad flu a few months ago and for the full first day I could NOT get my sugars up no matter what I did. The next day I could not get the down. Not sure if that's typical or not

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Permalink Reply by Leona Peterson on February 27, 2009 at 5:26am

The body resets itself. In the absence of carbs, the levemir was what she was getting and it was keeping her in the normal range. Also in the absence of carbs the insulin resistance that had been occurring was dropping.

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Permalink Reply by Riette on February 27, 2009 at 6:15am

I had a big fight with a general doctor regarding this. Everytime my son has a stomach flu he ends up in hospital. This doctor didn't want to do it and everytime my sons bg drop I had to give something to eat and thar upsets the stomach again and he vomits again..... The one thing I know is one should always give insulin. If Bg is low the doctor should give glucose intravenoulsy. If bg rises above 13mmol ( 230) he then should change it back to saline and so forth.

I worries myself sick everytime he gets ill and doesn't want to eat - I hate it- I always wonder should I give less should I not. I realy must say the pump is much easier in this regard.

Another thing that helps is this - I did try it once and it worked like a charm.
The book by Ragnar Hanas explaines it very well here is it at google books : (read page 101 and 102) There's two good books: TYPE 1 DIABETES
A Guide for Children, Adolescents, Young Adults- and their Caregivers Everything You Need to Know to Become an Expert on Your Own Diabetes by Ragnar Hanas copyright 2007 and Type 1 Diabetes in children, adolescents and young adults

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Permalink Reply by Ronda Darling on February 27, 2009 at 3:42pm

Thank you for the information. We did the mini dose glucagon using an insulin syringe which seemed to work for a little while, but with her continuing to vomit, etc. an ER trip was a definite. I'll have to look into this book. I have one (it has the pink panther on it) that has helped me understand this disease alot, but this one also sounds like a keeper too.

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Permalink Reply by Maureen on February 27, 2009 at 8:18am

Yes. I became quite ill while on vacation once, and had to dramatically cut my insulin. I was too sick to eat for 3 days, and I had great difficulty keeping my nuimbers in a safe range. I cut my insulin to about 25% of my usual total daily dosage.

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Permalink Reply by Ronda Darling on February 27, 2009 at 3:50pm

Thank you to all of you for writing a comment to this post. Olivia is doing much better. We cut her long acting insulin (levemir) in half and are back to our regular insulin to carb ratio (I:C) and correction factor with her fast acting insulin (Novolog). Her appetite is coming back and we have a follow up visit at the doctor's office next week. This was our first real illness since diagnoses and we learned alot and made it through! We are going to continue adjusting her insulin until we get back on track.

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