It’s a known fact that it’s harder for diabetic patients to recover from illness. Even the mildest, common illness like a cold can hit them worse.
That’s because the disease lowers the immune system, making them more susceptible to illness.
An added problem
Illness puts a certain amount of stress on the body and that causes the body to react to ward it off. One of the common reactions the body has is to produce more hormones to fight the invading illness.
While that is fine for most people, an overproduction of hormones causes glucose levels to rise. That affects their diabetes and could cause other short-term and long-term complications stemming from high blood sugar.
It Can Be Serious
The changes in hormones can put your insulin into overdrive to offset the raised blood sugar. If there isn’t enough insulin to control glucose, the body burns fat. This results in ketones and that can make your blood
toxic if it gets high enough. The result is diabetic ketoacidosis, which is life-threatening.
Handling Illness with Diabetes
Diabetics must look at illness differently and focus on keeping their blood sugar regulated even while sick. That means taking all your medications as prescribed and sticking to your diabetic diet. Avoid sugary drinks and test your blood sugar more often.
Talk to Your Doctor
All diabetic patients should have a conversation about things like wounds and illness with their doctor before anything happens. Then, you will know more about how to handle it so you don’t end up sicker or in an
emergency room.
Conclusion
There are extra considerations to manage when you are a diabetic patient and not feeling well. The key is sticking as close to your normal routine as possible without overdoing it even though you aren’t feeling well. That will help your glucose remain closer to normal.
