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18.6 and a streaming cold. Advise??

H

Hayley.clancy

Member
Messages
17
Hi
My little girl, aged 18 is unwell with sore throat and cold. Gave her, her usual 4 units before dinner @ 6.00pm, had some pasta. Do I send her to bed, or do i need to give her Novo rapid (fast acting insulin). If so, how do I know how much to give, don't want to send her to bed, with risk of giving too much. Should I seek medical advise?
She was diagnosed end of Oct this year, so its all preety new to us.
Thanks to all who reply
Worried mum (as always lol)
 
Hi Hayley,
If your unsure, as its hard to judge when our kiddies are sick, phone your local hospital and get through to the childrens ward, they should have a hot line where you can speak to a Dr or nurse and they'l be able to advise you properly.
What i do know is if its her basal insulin she has before bed, she will still require it. If you could give us a bit more info re insulins ect and if she has ketones, we might be able to give some useful advise.
Suzi x
 
I am going to check her ketones now. I'm usually worrying about hypos, so I've only just twigged I should test her urine (new to all of this). She does not have insulin at bed time, just novamix before dinner. Will check urine and will give them a call!
Thanks
 
Your welcome Hayley,
We've all been there and know how worrying it can be. If keytones are present its advisable to give plenty of sugar free fluids to help flush them out. Hospital may advise you to give extra insulin tomorrow because that will help to reduce blood sugars and get rid of keytones if any are present.
For example if a correction dose of novorapid 1u brings her blood sugar down by 3 and her bs is 20 you minus it by 7 =13 and divide by 3 =4 units of insulin. They may advise differently, the above is only a guide that i find suitable for my 10yr old son,
Hope she's well soon
Suzi x
 
Waiting for Doctor to call back. Had a snotty nurse on phone. She said how long has your daughter been diagnosed, said 3 months. She then said, well don't you know how much novorapid to give her. Am I supposed to know??? doesn't it depend on how many units she had at tea, what time it is, ... . I've never been told how to work it out. My daughter wisely said.. why didn't you say, if i knew then I wouldn't be calling you. Clever 8 year old. no ketones.
 
Oh Hayley how awful for you to get that kind of reception from a nurse, I'm lucky Causeway hospital always have a nurse on duty who at least knows the basics in diabetes. Its still early days for you and your daughter, there's plenty of support here for you, though we may not always have the answers, we'll always do our best. I suggest tomorrow as i know you wont get much sleep tonight as you'l be constantly checking on her, you take advantage of saturday and sleep when she does and sod the housework.
Let us know what the Dr says,
Suzi x
 
Sorted. Paediatrician called. Told to give 1 unit of novo rapid and do another 3 reading during the night to check sugars. Thanks for your advice x
 
Glad to hear he phoned. Don't be surprised if she's high in the morning as novo rapid only lasts 4hrs or so, i would suggest you check again tomorrow for keytones, and don't forget we're here if you need us. Hope you manage some sleep tonight!
Take care
Suzi x
 
The ADA guidelines (which I have used and work well) for acute illness are:

If the bs is over 13 give a correction dose of 10% of the total daily insulin dose.
check bs and repeat if necessary every 2.5 hours.

If the bs is over 13 AND there are ketones in the blood or urine give a correction dose of 20% of the total daily insulin dose and repeat every 2.5 hours.

If after two correction doses you are not getting control, or if vomiting happens more than once, or there is severe diarrhea more than once contact the hospital and be prepared to go in straight away.
 
The Novo rapid - advised 1 unit, only bought her down from about 20 to 15 last night. (over 5 hours period) She woke on 12.00. She's feeling better (her cold) but is still running high today. Is there a rule that you should only use rapid after a certain amount of time, after using normal doses (at breakfast and at dinner). If she's running high, say 1 hour after evening dinner, should I wait a certain time til I give Rapid. Also, when I tested her at 2.00am she was about 15, didn't know whether to give extra unit then or wait til morning. Ended up waiting, only because too anxious to give, incase she had hypo. For someone who has a masters degree, why can't I get my head round this rapid. (Probably cos the diabetic nurse/doctors did not advise me when she was diagnosed.
 
Hi Hayley,
I can understand your concerns, even after 3 yrs i'm always anxious about giving too much insulin and bringing on a hypo. But believe me having high blood sugars over a few days will cause keytones and she will feel worse with her diabetes than with her sore throat and cold.
Novorapid works similar to humalog fast acting so only stays in the system for about 4-6 hrs or so, as your daughter is still in the honeymoon period its kinda harder to judge.
Katherine who replied to your previous post will advise in a proffessional capacity, i can only suggest what i would do. Check her blood every 2.5 hrs as said by Katherine and if above 15 give 1-2 units of novorapid, if 2.5hrs later shes still high do same again. Novorapid should bring her bs down within 30mins,(that will help you judge if its working) of course when she eats it will raise it up again, but don't worry it should eventually come down.
If by say 8pm this evening your still not happy phone the hospital, hopefully miss unhelpful nurse won't be on duty tonight and you'l get someone who is much more helpful. Has she any keytones today?
Suzi x
 
Hi
Thanks Suzi, you've been really helpful.
Had reading of 22.5 at dinner time,so called doctor. He was lovely and reassuring! Have increased her tea time insulin up by 2 units and advised to give another 2 units nova rapid if she is around 20 at bed time. Going to bed same time as kids tonight, it was hard to sleep last night. Feeling better, knowing can ask questions on forum. Realised that I have so much to learn about Diabetes and its management, but like they say 'Rome was not built in a day!'... A
 
Hi Hayley,
glad i could be of some help, I've been where you are, though to be honest after nearly 3 yrs (2/2) it feels like its been with us a ll his life, it does become 2nd nature after a while. Were all heading out on Friday evening to celebrate managing another year with diabetes, its just something we feel we have to do, after all it involves not only Andrew but his big brother and both me and his Dad. So we've planned a nice meal out and a trip to the cinema.
If you have any questions ask away, i'm only to happy to help and give guidence,
Take care,
Suzi x
 
Have you made contact with your community paediatric diabetic nurse yet? He/she may have some helpful tips for you.
 
5 days later, and feeling so much better. Today her sugars were back to normal and felt confident adjusting dose. Thanks for all your support/advise, I'm sure there will be something else next week to worry about/ask advise. Cheers!
 
You are simply a brilliant mum
 
Hi Hayley,
so glad things are back to normal, you did brilliantly, well done.
take care
Suzi x
 
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