Type 1 COVID19 - T1D and when to go to hospital?

[LBundy]

Hi All I hope you are keeping well. I have COVID, and am, despite being double jabbed, really very unwell. There is a plethora of information online about Diabetes and COVID, primarily on the subject of avoiding it, which I have spectacularly failed to do.
I guess my question is, my BG is extremely erratic, spiking as high as 23 on occasion, and very hard to control. I have the usual symptoms, temperature, cough, shortness of breath, headache, aches, fatigue and loss of taste, but also the more worrying GI symptoms, nausea and stomach ache (I am on day 3 of symptoms). I am assuming that with stable BG I should stay home unless I have a worryingly low oxygen saturation level, but with erratic BG, should I be asking for help sooner?

 

[Antje77]

I am assuming that with stable BG I should stay home unless I have a worryingly low oxygen saturation level, but with erratic BG, should I be asking for help sooner?

Hi @LBundy , welcome to the forum.

I'm sorry you're having such a rough time with your diabetes and covid at the moment!
Have you tested for ketones?
Either way, please call 111 for advice, and as a general advice from me, better safe than sorry!

 

[KK123]

Hi All I hope you are keeping well. I have COVID, and am, despite being double jabbed, really very unwell. There is a plethora of information online about Diabetes and COVID, primarily on the subject of avoiding it, which I have spectacularly failed to do.
I guess my question is, my BG is extremely erratic, spiking as high as 23 on occasion, and very hard to control. I have the usual symptoms, temperature, cough, shortness of breath, headache, aches, fatigue and loss of taste, but also the more worrying GI symptoms, nausea and stomach ache (I am on day 3 of symptoms). I am assuming that with stable BG I should stay home unless I have a worryingly low oxygen saturation level, but with erratic BG, should I be asking for help sooner?

Hi there, do you have the means to check for ketones as that could be a massive indicator that something is very wrong given your high glucose levels. Apart from that, if you are in the UK, I would phone the NHS 111 system, they will listen to your symptoms and give advice. They will decide whether to send an ambulance to check you over or whether to advise you to stay where you are, etc. I would not sit back and take the risk that things will be ok because even though you might be coping right at this very moment, it is very possible that you could deteriorate in a few hours time. That is precisely why we were all classed as clinically vulnerable, not that we were more likely to catch it but that if we did, the impact could be so much greater, please get medical advice.

 

[LBundy]

Thank you both, I will do as suggested.

 

[KK123]

Thank you both, I will do as suggested.

I know you have far more important things to worry about but if you can, please let us know how you are.

 

[LBundy]

I know you have far more important things to worry about but if you can, please let us know how you are.

Thank you, that is kind, ketones 0.2 and BG coming back down for now, but will make the call and try and check in again tomorrow....thank God for the vaccinations...

 

[Mrs T 123]

Yes please call 111 for advice - better to be safe than sorry - let us know how you get on. Also, I agree with you the vaccines have been a game changer I had COVID also and have recovered from it. Take care of yourself!

 

[alison79]

your keytone level shouldn't be higher than 0.1 so be careful. i know this as i suffered a dka last year for the first time and it was very unpleasant and with covid in the mix i would phone nhs 111 for advice for sure. better safe than sorry. please be safe

 

[KK123]

your keytone level shouldn't be higher than 0.1 so be careful. i know this as i suffered a dka last year for the first time and it was very unpleasant and with covid in the mix i would phone nhs 111 for advice for sure. better safe than sorry. please be safe

Hi Alison, I'm not sure that is exactly the case re the ketones although I accept of course that yours may have been that low and you still had DKA? The official advice re DKA is that your ketones should not be higher than 3 and if they are, accompanied of course by high glucose levels, usually over 13 you're to get medical assistance. Having said that it is a guideline I suppose because DKA could happen with lower levels and with other things going on too. Do you have a link regarding the 0.1 at all? My team said if I was ill, with high glucose levels and ketones under 3, then to keep checking and if the ketones rose to over 3, then the mantra was 'over 3, A&E'. Normal ketones in a person I think are under 0.6 regardless.