Newbie sick day rules at Glastonbury query

[NoopNoop]

Hi guys, I'm three weeks into dealing with my diagnosis and I'm currently away working at Glastonbury. I'm about to go to bed, feeling like I've potentially got a cold coming, that rough, uncomfortable feeling at the back of my throat. I'm crossing my fingers that it's just irritation from breathing in dust, but trying to get my head around what to expect if it's not. So I understand that my BG could go up and I'd need to correct it with more insulin. Is this likely to start early on at the first sign of an immune response, or can it take a while for this to start happening? My DSN won't be contactable until Monday so I'm not sure what my plan should be, or when to initiate it. Do I just start work in the morning and stop if BG gets to a certain level? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Jim.

 

[SimonP78]

I'd wait and see what happens, I'm guessing you're pretty busy if working at Glastonbury which would certainly make me run low.

A cold might make me run marginally higher, but probably not enough to notice if I'm very active. It's when I'm not doing much physical activity that I'd notice (or if I feel absolutely terrible, which will make me run high).

If you're so newly diagnosed you likely have some insulin production going on too, which I'm guessing may help.

Don't stress, running a bit high won't kill you short term, running too low may be problematic if you're working and also potentially be troublesome if you then have to source food to correct, etc.

 

[EllieM]

In theory, diabetics are supposed to be given sick day plans by their team so that they can manage extra insulin when ill, but in practice it seems to often not happen.

Being newly diagnosed just makes it harder, and in my experience the extra insulin required varies a lot, so it's impossible to pre-plan.

Continuous glucose monitors are a real boon here, as you'll know if you do seriously high. Do you have a way to test ketones as well? (A good idea if your bg starts climbing into the high teens.)

Have you been given any information about correction doses? All the sick day rules I can find online seem to assume you have background knowledge that you won't have unfortunately.

If you are sick, you could try phoning 111 or the UK diabetes charity helpline

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/about-us/contact-us
0345 123 2399, Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm

Good luck

 

[In Response]

Is this likely to start early on at the first sign of an immune response, or can it take a while for this to start happening?

In my experience, the BG rise/higher insulin needs start BEFORE any symptoms. It has become a warning that a cold may be on its way.
I assume this is because my body starts fighting the germs as soon as they arrive before they get a chance to cause symptoms. Sometimes the symptoms never come. Just the higher BG for 24 to 48 hours. I assume this is because my body has fought them off and won.
If the symptoms do come, a higher BG can exaggerate them. So bringing down BG really helps me feel better.
Fingers crossed this is just a dust problem and you have a great Glasto.

 

[SimonP78]

Yes agreed, I'd tend to see higher numbers before I feel rubbish so it acts as an early warning system - one advantage at least hey?