A week before my first anniversary as a type 1 I came down with the flu. All year I had heard warnings from doctors, friends, and
Internet buddies to be really cautious when you get sick because blood sugars can go crazy with illness. I had a rough cold back in October but nothing that really affected my blood sugars - my good fortune turned out to be short lived though.
Tuesday I was all set to head to the pool at 4pm; around 2:45 I got a slice of pumpkin loaf from Starbucks to shoot my blood sugar up into the 200s. Right before eating I had a
bs of 130, 30 minutes after eating I had a
bs of 75,
wtf! I took a sip of coca-cola, 15 minutes later my blood sugar was 70 and my stomach started to feel less than happy. I sat at my desk wondering what the heck to do. Chelsea my most trusted diabetic
alli told me to use a small shot of
glucagon if my blood sugar got really low but otherwise just take the subway ride home really slowly.
So with great
trepidation I set out of my office for the subway ride home. Once in my apartment I curled up in a ball on my bed until the stomach demons arrived forcing a mad dash to the bathroom. I tried to keep down Ginger Ale and Saltines but nothing was cooperating, worse yet after I emptied my stomach 3 or 4 times my blood sugar started to shoot into the 200s as I felt a fever come on. I tried to drink as much as I could, but I woke up at 1am with a
bs of 230, a high fever and a ton of confusion. I knew I needed to drink something, and drink something fast so I mustered all the energy I could to make it to my
refrigerator; the trip back to bed wasn't as
successful as the trip to the fridge! After about 5 steps I felt my legs give out from under me and heard a loud crash and saw a flash of light. Next thing I knew I woke up in a puddle of sweat staring at my ceiling - guess I didn't get those liquids soon enough. Knocking my head on my hard wood floor kicked some sense into me however. Instead of drinking the ginger ale I remembered I was high,
bolused and downed 2 water bottles filled with water and smartly kept one next to my bed that night.
Yesterday my blood sugars were still running a bit high so I found the energy to make it to my pharmacy to pick up my new
prescription of insulin (was supposed to pick it up the day I got sick). Thankfully everything seems to be back to normal today but I learned a ton from my 48 hours of hell:
1 - Always, always, always, keep drinking fluids when sick with diabetes, the combination of a fever and high blood sugars can lead to huge problems - like passing out on your living room floor.
2 - Monitor blood sugars every 1/2 hour when
battling the flu, recovery is
alot easier when the
bs is under control.
3 - Be less concerned about eating "perfect" foods than you are with eating things you can keep down when sick, 48 hours of white bread and saltines won't kill your A1c.