I am a T2, dx’d in July. No meds, just diet and exercise. Been healthy ever since, and now its time for my early winter cold. Started up on me a few days ago.
Does getting a cold have a reputation for raising BG numbers? I don’t take medicine for colds, only lots of echinacea with goldenseal, and have been very successful at making them go away pretty quick.
Curious to know if such things as a cold or flu are known to affect BG numbers in and of themselves.
Thanks,
John
John,
The short answer is “yes”.
Watch your BG, monitor for ketones, call your Dr. if things get out of control, but don’t freak out if your BG is way out of whack for a while. Being sick almost universally raises blood sugar.
Brett
Thanks Brett. I kind of figured as much. My control is very good, and I have not had any issues with staying under 140 at all times, with AM in the 80-90’s, so I hope this is just a glitch while the cold runs its course.
I suppose the strips for the keytones are a prescription? Not sure if I should be concerned just yet or not. I am not soaring in the mid to upper 100’s or anything, just feel like crap, and probably a little more stressed out than usual when I see the AM numbers at 105 - 110. Just have to cut out some of the things I used to eat that were okay when I started out with lower numbers to begin with until this passes. (Pass the salad I suppose)
Much obliged for the quick reply.
John
Ketostix are not prescription. The only thing with them is once you open the bottle, you’re supposed to toss it after 6 months.
Hey John,
Not a problem. Like Marie says, the Ketone test strips are not prescription. You can usually find them at just about any pharmacy or walmart.
Hope you get to feeling better.
Brett
Yep. Colds, infection, surgery, sometimes allergies, or any kind of physical trauma will do it.
Re ketones. If you have them, drink a lot of water & keep testing. Unless ketones read persistently high for a good while, there’s nothing to worry about. People eating low carb & on diets have low-mild ketones frequently. They’re a by-product of burning fat for energy.
stress will raise your BG as well, I find that stressing even with a cold will raise it but it seems you are doing the best at controlling them so I would say keep doing that. the cold will pass it will not make your BG to rise to catastrophic levels.
This is an easy answer Yes to all the above. Check BG !! EAT and I useally get the comfort food out, chicken noodle soup, or Won Ton soup from my favorite restraunt.
Being ill ueally always raises your BG and then will play even more havoc if you don’t eat. I am not only worn out from being ill but from the roller coaster ride my numbers go on. In all I keep a sick kit in the house with some cans of soup and diet 7 up and diet ginger ale. Also force myself to eat even if it is only crackers ! I have a regular soda in the sick kit just in case of crashes and I don’t feel like going anywhere.
Good luck and get better !
ketostix are really cheap at Target! Hope you feel better soon.
Sure do want to thank everyone for the great help and words of encouragement. This is the first time I have been sick since I was dx’d. I figured it would mess me up, but I feel better knowing that its to be expected. Not too bad so far, so I will persevere and stay off the stuff that brings my numbers up the most, try to keep it simple.
If I was to go and buy ketostix, I am sure the way to use them would be obvious, but what would it tell me, in terms of whether I am doing okay or not. I never used them when I was healthy and doing well, so if I was to be having issues, how would I know, not having something to compare it too. Obviously, I don’t know much about what they do, and how to read the results.
Always grateful for the support and kind words.
John
Please don’t worry about ketones. Unless your BG is way high, you won’t have high ketones. Only time to be concerned is if ketones read high & BG is high. Drink lots of water & keep testing BG. Your BG is great, so nothing to be concerned with.
Mild ketones are normal on low carb diets & on weight loss diets. Mild ketones are present when fasting, like in the morning from no food & no liquid.
Ketones & diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) are different.
Ketostik are strips for testing urine. Like glucose test strips, use clean, dry hands to handle strips, keep container closed & they expire.
Directions are on the package. It reads certain colors & comes with a chart. Dark purple means high. Pink is fine. Again, nothing to worry about & you don’t need to test for ketones like you check BG.
My thanks to everyone for all the advice and sharing of experience and wisdom. I seem to only get sick once a year, and this is the first time I have been sick since being dx’d, so I was a bit taken aback at the higher fasting numbers. Kind of limits what I can eat, which seems difficult since I have to eat to get better, so now I understand all the stories I have read about folks who get really sick, and then have a horrific time getting things back to normal.
The only bummer is all the OTC meds have warnings on them, and I use Mucinex D when I get like this, but right there on the back of the box is a warning if you have diabetes. Don’t usually see the D word on the box. I suppose it does something to the BG levels? but I sure would like to give it a try because not only does the illness mess with my numbers, a totally rotten night’s sleep does much the same thing to them and it would be a big help to just fall asleep and wake up seven or eight hours later like normal. Mucinex is the only thing I have found that really helps. The rest of the stuff is snake oil… Gotta love all this new information we have to take in
John
Every once in awhile a good nights sleep is worth a little blip of high BS. I load up on the zinc and vitamin C as well. Many cough drops have zinc in them now. I’ll admit that last time I got sick my endo recommended Tylenol Cold and Sinus - didn’t do a thing for me - so one night I hit the Nyquil cause I just NEEDED SOME REST!!! The little spike was worth it. I’m always A1C below 6.0 so I wasn’t in my mind making a bad trade. My pharmacist knows me by name now cause he always helps me find stuff - There’s alot of OTC stuff sugar free now - but that good night sleep . . .
Lots of soup to get nutrition, keep you hydrated & to loosen the yucky stuff. Most soups, without noodles, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, shouldn’t have too bad an effect on BG.
Last cold I had I took extra Vit D3 & it was gone in a flash. Don’t know if it was coincidence. If you take large doses of Vit C, it will effect meter readings. Meter will read falsely lower.
I don’t take cold meds to know how they effect BG, but here’s two old-fashioned remedies that help me.
Mustard Plaster (works fast to help chest colds & is warm & comforting)
Mix dry Coleman’s mustard with water to make a thin paste (powdered mustard is in the spice section of any supermarket)
Spread on a paper towel. Put another paper towel on top.
Sandwich the paper towels in a bath towel.
Put on your chest or back.
This stuff is hot & loosens up mucus.
Tea Tree Oil–Vaporized
You can get pure tea tree oil in any health food store.
Put a few drops of tea tree oil in a large bowl of boiling water.
Breath in the vapors. You can tent your head with a towel to keep the steam from cooling off it too quickly.
Your nose will start running like crazy & you’ll be breathing better.
Hope you’re feeling better soon!
Colds always raise my BG even though I am on Diabetic meds.
Ever since my Type 2 dx, I almost always know I am going to get sick a day before symptoms appear because my BG goes high. Often I try to figure out what it was I ate or did or didn’t do, or what stress I was under, then the next day symptoms appear, and then I know why I had the high BG. It is helpful and at the same time, I feel helpless. By then, there is nothing I can do to prevent getting sick, since I have already been infected and can just let the cold take its course. hope you are feeling better.
Binky, that’s exactly how it is for me. Unexplainable highs = about to get sick. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have a crystal ball! 
Janet