Sick Day Care

• Nausea or vomiting
• Infections or a cold
• Cavities
• Injuries or operations

All of these can cause your body to work extra hard. Being sick may make your blood sugar go up.

Prevention is the Best Policy—Talk to Your Provider About:

• Yearly flu shots (unless your allergic to eggs or egg products)
• Pneumonia vaccine

Be Prepared...Make a Sick-Day Plan:

• Prepare a sick-day plan with your provider or diabetes educator when you are well.
• The plan should include instructions on when to call your diabetes team, medication use, monitoring blood sugar and urinary ketones, and what to eat.
• Write the clinic phone number on your sick-day plan.

Monitor, Measure and Write it Down!

• Measure blood sugar 4 times daily.
• Call the clinic if your blood sugar is greater than 300.

Diabetes Medications:

• Continue all diabetes medications while you’re sick, even if you’re vomiting and not eating because illness cause blood sugar to rise.
• Your doctor may prescribe short-term insulin.

Eating and Drinking:

• Stick to your regular meal plan as much as possible. If this is difficult, choose mild foods or carbohydrate-containing fluids.
• Drink at least 8 oz of calorie-free fluids every hour while you are awake. Examples include water, diet soft drinks, broth, and sugar-free Kool-Aid or Crystal Light.
• Try to eat or drink 45-50 grams of carbohydrate every 3 to 4 hours (Breakfast, Lunch, Supper).
• Sick-Day Snacks (10-15 grams carbohydrate):
  • 1 Popsicle stick
  • 1 cup Gatorade
  • 1/2 cup fruit juice (dilute with water for extra fluid)
  • 1/2 cup regular soda (non-diet)
  • 1 cup soup
  • 1 cup milk
  • 6 saltine crackers
  • 5 vanilla wafers
  • 3 graham crackers
  • 1 slice dry toast (not light)
  • 3/4 cup cornflakes
  • 1/2 cup cooked cereal
  • 1/2 cup low fat ice cream
  • 1/3 cup frozen yogurt
  • 1/2 cup sugar-free pudding OR 1/4 cup regular pudding
  • 1/2 cup regular gelatin (not sugar-free)
  • 1/2 cup mashed potatoes
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce OR 1/4 cup sweetened applesauce
  • 1/3 cup cooked rice
  • 1/4 cup sherbet
  • 5 Lifesavers candies
  • 6 oz artificially sweetened or plain yogurt
  • Milkshake (1/2 cup lowfat milk and 1/4 cup ice cream)

Don’t Overdo It!

• Avoid strenuous exercise.
• Get plenty of rest to help your body recover and restore.

Cough and Cold Medicines—Consult with Your Pharmacist:

• Choose sugar-free medicines (including cough drops) when possible.
• Try to avoid medicines that contain alcohol or caffeine.
• Some medicines can affect blood sugar levels:
  • Pseudoephedrine (decongestant) may increase blood glucose
  • Aspirin may decrease blood sugar

When to Call your Provider:

• Sick or fever for 2 days and not feeling better
• Vomiting or diarrhea for more than 6 hours
• Moderate to large amounts of urinary ketones
• Temperature over 101
• Blood sugar higher than 300 that is unresponsive to increased insulin and fluids
• Blood sugar higher than 240 for more than 24 hours despite diabetes medications
• Blood sugar less than 60
• Difficulty breathing or chest pain
• Symptoms of dehydration: muscle weakness, fatigue, dry or cracked lips or tongue, weight loss
• “Fruity” breath
• Uncertainty of how to take care of yourself or your illness
• Changes in vision
• Changes in mental status

November is American Diabetes Month®
American Diabetes Association calls for greater awareness to the growing epidemic

Every week during November, the ADA will raise awareness about the importance of knowing the risk factors and symptoms associated with diabetes, as well as its serious and life-threatening complications such as heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney disease and amputation. To help prevent this epidemic from growing further, ADA is highlighting some of the many faces affected by diabetes and the resources are available from the ADA to the public.

• Caregivers (November 1-3) Supporting a loved one with diabetes can present its own unique challenges.
• Employees (November 4-10) Promoting healthy lifestyles in the workplace can help to prevent type 2 diabetes and its complications, saving companies thousands of dollars a year.
• Diabetes around the world (November 11-17) Worldwide over 246 million people have diabetes. By 2020, that number is expected to rise to 380 million.
• At-risk populations (November 18-24) One in two minorities born in 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime if current trends continue.
• Youth and Type 1 Diabetes (November 25-30) Youth diagnosed with type 1 diabetes have the most urgent need for care. The new ADA Planet D campaign will provide resources and networking to those youth and their families.

For more information, please visit www.diabetes.org or call 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2382).