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Diabetes after a cold Virus

J P Edwards

J P Edwards

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Every time I get a cold or Flu. It seems to take weeks or sometimes a couple of months for sugar levels to balance out! I have to up my Basal rate but that is changing all the time. Which can be a nightmare. The bolus rate is always changing. This issue was even worse when I was on injections. Constantly 20 odd and awkward to get down.
I believe this problem is quite common?
 
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HI @J P Edwards, Sorry to hear about your troubles. As a Type 1 diabetic I can relate to what you are experiencing.
Perhaps to help further could you provide a little more detail?
I am assuming you are on an insulin pump and that you are trying to adjust your bolus and basal rates?
Are you doing this with guidance of your DSN or doctor?
What sort of changes are you making? e.g. 10%, 20% etc in the rates and for how long?
What sort of food and quantity do you eat?
Do the colds, viruses etc affect you to the point where you are prescribed antibiotics?
 
Hi, I have corrected the predictive text. Yes insulin Pump which is much better at times like now! I adjust the settings myself. It is is up about 50%, at the moment but all over the place. Always been a issue with me. Think the diabetes came on after a cold when I got diagnosed 20 years ago.
I try and eat a healthy diet. Haven’t taken antibiotics for a cold. Think this is a issue with most diabetics.
 
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Viruses are linked to diabetes.
Do you get stressed when you get a cold as I find the stress due to breathing difficulties and not being free of congestion stresses me out, especially at night. Hence rubbish bgs from the start of my day with rubbish sleep so cortisol or prolactin levels are often higher. All causes for the liver to dump glucose more often.
 
J P Edwards said:
Every time I get a cold or Flu. It seems to take weeks or sometimes a couple of months for sugar levels to balance out! I have to up my Basal rate but that is changing all the time. Which can be a nightmare. The bolus rate is always changing. This issue was even worse when I was on injections. Constantly 20 odd and awkward to get down.
I believe this problem is quite common?
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Hello there @J P Edwards , and welcome to the forum.

I notice you haven't had the chance to update your profile yet to show your type of diabetes, and how you manage it? It's not a mandatory thing to do, but it really can reduce some of the same, repetitive questions folks will need to ask you to make the most appropriate responses to your threads. You can make those updates via your account settings.

If you need any help with that, just tag on any of the Mod Team.
 
HI @P j Edwards, Thank you for that info. I assume you mean your pump's basal rate has been increased 50%?
What about the bolus and correction rates??
 
I am Type 1 controlled with a pump. Not stressed. The insulin levels required are up by 50% at the moment (Basal and Bolus). But slowly reducing back. The correction factor is also increased. Controlling the diabetes after a illness is a nightmare. The question is do others suffer controlling blood sugar levels after illnesses? I understand a week or two but a month or two after?
 
Thank you @J P Edwards. I am glad to hear you are gradually getting back to nearer normal doses.
I guess recovery depends on the infection and how easy or difficult it is for one's immune system to deal with it.
I have heard of some viruses that take weeks and months (e.g. glandular fever) to recover from and there is the risk of a secondary infection ( e.g. viral sinus infection turning into bacterial infection) which prolongs things.
According to Dr Richard Bernstein, some of us diabetics have a immune deficiency problem which makes us more susceptible to infection and experience more difficulty overcoming infection. ( Dr Bernstein's Diabetes Solution revised 2011).
I imagine that various tests of your immune system would need to be preformed to prove or disprove this if you were to continue to have trouble with longer than usual lasting infection.
Some doctors swear by doses of vitamin D for prevention of winter flu's on the basis that influenza starts to happen as people's vitamin d levels (supplemented in summer by sun exposure, reduced in winter) fall.
Fingers crossed for a better rest of the winter !!!
 
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