Hi, I am fairly new to diabetes, was diagnosed as a T1 in the honeymoon phase. I am pretty sure the honeymoon is ending. I am wondering how much blood sugars usually increase with a cold virus. I have been on Lantus for a little over a month and was doing pretty well but lately my numbers have been getting much higher. I am not sure if it is the end of the honeymoon, a cold I have had or a combination of the two. Any information would be helpful. BTW I really love this site and have found many answers to questions and feel a strong sense of support when I read discussions, etc. Thanks.
It could be either. Getting sick definitely affects your bgs because of the ongoing immune response. But a cold does not affect me as much as the flu. With the flu, I need to double my basal rate (your lantus) and will barely stay below 200 if I’m lucky. With a typical cold, I keep my basal the same or maybe 10-20% higher, and issue correction boluses every few hours. This is not ideal but my head is pretty cloudy when I’m sick and I have more difficulty than usual telling when I’m low so I don’t like to get too aggressive.
My numbers don’t go up with a cold, unless the cold has me so miserable that my activity level has decreased significantly. My numbers will go up if I have a sinus infection. I think each person is different, though. Keep in touch with your doctor, and don’t ever worry about calling too often. My first endo. was incredible, and gave me the tools to increase my lantus dose as needed, after seeing a pattern of high bg.
Good luck!