Weird effect of illness on BG?

Type 1 and LADA
1

I think I am coming down with a cold. Sore throat, runny nose, I feel a little warm, and a little fatigued.

What does surprise me though is that the BG is not elevated. That’s what I would have expected. Instead, the BG seems to be much “choppier”. It is normal that the BG rises and falls slightly during the day. This happens to everybody, diabetic or no. What doesn’t happen though is that there are frequent rises and drops of about 20 mg/dL in less than 5 minutes. It is tough to catch them using fingerstick readings, but I think I have observed these rapid swings with them too.

The result is that my BG curve looks like a saw blade, which is very different from other days.

Is it possible that illness, instead of increasing the BG due to cortisol and other stress hormones, somehow “destabilizes” the BG?

2

Yep. Unpredictable and/or high BG’s are pretty much a hallmark of colds, etc. with diabetes. Just keep an eye on it and it will probably resolve itself in a few days. It’s also possible that the CGM isn’t actually catching how high you are really going (I find that this happens when I’m having spikes in my BG), sometimes it just can’t keep up. Also since you are still honeymooning a little bit that may be why you aren’t staying as high as I would expect to be when coming down with something. Hope you feel better soon.