Sick days and diabetes

It is important to remember that illness may cause blood glucose levels to rise.

What can you do when you are ill

• Always take your insulin or oral diabetes medicine. Do not stop taking diabetes medicine without advice from your doctor, nurse or diabetes educator.
• For people with type 1 diabetes, test urine for ketones if blood glucose is more than 250. If ketones are present, test blood glucose and urine ketones every 3 to 4 hours.
• If your blood glucose is more than 200, drink at least one-half to 1 cup of sugar-free liquid every hour. Examples of sugar-free liquids:
  • water
  • diet
  • unsweetened tea
  • broth and soup
• If your blood glucose is less than 200, some of your liquids should contain carbohydrate. Examples of liquids that contain carbohydrate:
  • regular pop
  • regular gelatin
  • juices
  • Gatorade®
• When you do feel like eating again, the extra liquids should be sugar-free. Start with carbohydrate containing foods that are easy to tolerate every few hours such as
  • 1/2 cup cooked cereal
  • 6 saltine crackers
  • 3 graham crackers
  • 1/2 cup custard, yogurt, sherbet or pudding.
• Test your blood glucose every 4 hours during the day and at least once during the night.
• Keep a record of the times and numbers of your blood glucose and urine ketones.
• Have someone at home with you or notify someone that you are sick so he or she will check on you.

When to call your doctor

• Your blood glucose is more than 250 for two tests in a row and urine ketones are positive for two to three consecutive checks.
• Your blood glucose is consistently very high (more than 300) even though there are no urine ketones present.
• You have questions about how much insulin or oral diabetes medicine to take.
• You are unable to eat or drink because of nausea and/or vomiting.
• You have been vomiting more than 6 hours or have had more than five episodes of diarrhea in one day.
• You have a temperature over 101 degrees Fahrenheit or a high temperature that lasts longer than 48 hours.