Coronavirus is a new virus, so nobody has immunity to it; but most cases appear to be mild. For people with type 2 diabetes, if you contract Coronavirus, the severity and duration of this illness may have a greater impact on you. This means NOW is the time to be diligent with social distancing, self-isolating if you have symptoms or feel safer.
A report from WHO (World Health Organisation), which studied cases in China, said people at the highest risk of severe disease are those with the following underlying conditions: high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, respiratory conditions like asthma and cancer.
If you’re not sick now, get prepared! This is the time to get ahead of the game. Your preparation for this should be just like flu season every year, although we acknowledge Coronavirus is not like the usual flu.
Everyone with diabetes should have a Sick Day Management Kit, which contains everything you may need when you get sick.
A Sick Day Management Plan is the plan you would prepare with your GP or Diabetes Educator and should have all the instructions on exactly what you need to do when you get sick.
When you’re unwell, your blood glucose levels will tend to increase, so you’ll need to take them more frequently, and may need your medication increased. It’s important to know which medications you should cease if you become unwell or can’t eat, as some can result in severe adverse effects.
If you’re requiring insulin therapy, it’s important you know how your insulin works and how to adjust your doses safely. Some people may need a change to their normal insulin regimen, including additional rapid acting insulin, if this isn’t a part of your usual insulin regimen. Rapid acting insulin will help bring down elevated BG as you can have a correction dose, Discuss safe dosage with your GP or Diabetes Educator), every 2-4 hours. Don’t attempt to increase your insulin dose without doing this as you could be a high risk of hypoglycaemia.
Also remember if your insulin dosage has been increased while you’ve been sick, it will need to be decreased again to your usual dose once you’re well again. This will help prevent hypoglycaemia.
You could become very sick very quickly, so go now and get your Kit and Plan ready.
Most people with diabetes we’ve discovered don’t have a plan of what to do when they get sick, so the situation becomes more frightening. This doesn’t have to be the case and is one of the reasons why we created Driving Diabetes. We want you to have the skills and knowledge to be the driver of your condition; not the passenger, and not knowing what to do when issues come up. Let’s get you in the driver’s seat.
Let us know any other questions you have on our Facebook page or send us a question on the home page of our website drivingdiabetes.com.au.
Amanda & Helen