Colds, Flus and antibiotics.

[Kailz96]

Hi everyone

For the past few weeks I have been loaded with a cold. Last weekend I started to get pain when coughing in my ribs, therefore contacted my GP to get some help. On the Monday I called the GP for the receptionist to take a note of my symptoms. High and low blood sugars, dizziness, feeling tired and all the usual cold symptoms, sneezing etc. I was prescribed Amoxicillin through the GP but did not get an actual appointment with my doctor just the receptionist passing on notes of what I told her. The Amoxicillin has helped as I am no longer in pain but still loaded with a cold and blocked nose. However, yesterday I took my tablet and started to feel dizzy and faint so I called the doctor today to then be prescribed Clarithromycin. Reading the leaflet for a bit more information on the tablet I noticed that it says -

'' Clarithromycin may increase the effect on the following medicines''

I read along the list to then notice ''Insulin and other medicines for the treatment of diabetes''.

Immediately I called back to the doctors for the woman at the reception to check with a doctor, she came back and says that no, the tablet will not cause effects to my diabetes and it is fine to use. I then took the first tablet around 4:30pm with my blood at 7.1 which I was pleased at. Being unwell I had a small plate of chips and nothing else which meant I only had to take a small dose of insulin. 8:00pm tonight I checked my blood glucose and it read 19.5 which was ridiculously high as I ate so long ago and took my insulin. I took my lantus to then check my bloods 10 minutes later, it was down to 16.

I am a type 1 diabetic and ever since my cold started I have kept a close eye out for ketones, luckily I have had none.

I am posting this post in hope of some advice on what to do to relieve my cold and genuine feeling of being unwell and if anyone else has had a similar problem?

 

[azure]

Sorry you're feeling ill. Colds can be miserable. Two things I've found to help are a steam inhalation (plain steam will do - no need for added oils or anything) and hot drinks eg tea. I find those two things help keep my throat and head clear. They're not magic cures, but they can ease the symptoms. Soup can be good too ( a clear one rather than a creamy one).

It could just be the cold making your blood sugar high after your chips. I find it harder to control my blood sugar when I'm Ill. Have you spoken to your DSN about your control when ill? If you're getting too many highs and aren't sure about correction doses, they should be able to help.

Hope you feel better very soon

 

[noblehead]

The high bg levels are quite normal when you have a cold and are unwell, you need to follow the Sick Day Rules to keep your bg levels under control, here is a flowchart explaining all about them:

http://www.mydiabetesmyway.scot.nhs.uk/resources/leaflets/SickDayRulesForType1Flow.asp

Also meal like chips do tend to spike bg levels much later due to the high-fat content.