Looking after yourself if you’re not well.

Ignoring illness is rarely a good way of ensuring a speedy recovery!

If you have diabetes and develop another illness then it is particularly important to ensure that you look after yourself properly in order to make sure that a ‘minor inconvenience’ illness does not progress to something more serious

Do’s

DO keep a check on your glucose levels (see section 'Monitoring when unwell')

DO make sure you try to eat as normal a diet as possible with regular meal-times

DO make sure you drink plenty of simple clear fluids (water or squash)

DO make sure you get plenty of sleep (you may need as much as twice as much as usual when you’re unwell

DO make sure you take your medications as usual

DO make an appointment to see your GP or Diabetes Nurse if despite sensible actions such as these your symptoms are worsening OR your sugar levels have risen significantly

DO arrange to see your GP or out of hours support urgently if you are unable to keep down fluids (especially if this has lasted more than 12 hours)

Don’ts

DON’T stuff yourself full of painkillers and carry on as if nothing has happened – it will result in your illness being more severe and prolonged than is necessary

DON’T drink ‘lucozade’ and similar high sugar drinks all day – this will result in very high sugar levels which will make you feel worse (and will not keep you properly hydrated)

DON’T stop taking your usual medicines – even if your appetite is lower than usual you’ll still need them

DON’T ignore sugar levels that are rising (rule of thumb is that levels more than 1.5times usual or greater than 15 need some action) they’ll rarely settle on their own when you’re unwell and will prolong your illness

DON’T forget that the things that work during this illness will (generally) work for you during a future illness – you can make your own illness plan for the future based on what works well now.