I have been having a quandary of sorts over the past day or so and I figured I would bring my concerns to all of you. I have been sick with a nasty cold over the past two days (I am feeling a lot better now though), and whenever I get sick I have the same dilemma, what medicine should I take? My doctors always tell me that diabetic cough syrup and sugar free cough drops are the way to go, but to be honest, I never have any luck with the diabetic cough syrup being effective. To be perfectly frank, NyQuil really is the one that does the trick for me. However, I know that there is added sugar and with already elevated bs from being sick, I am confused as to what I should do?
What has been your experience with being sick? What do you usually do or take or maybe not take?
Cheers,
Dan
P.S. I guess Mary Poppins never nannied diabetic children or the song might have been "just a basil of humalog helps the medicine go down"
First off - Thanks, I'm going to have that song stuck in my head all day now. :-D
When I am sick and take something, I find that if I take something that actually works I feel better sooner and can get back to my normal routine sooner. And the sooner I'm back to normal, the sooner my bs can come back down to normal also.
Theraflu is great. I think it has minimal sugar too. They even have strips.
I find echinacea drops to be the most effective. Dissolve two dropperfuls in lukewarm water (I just use tap). It tastes like complete ass, but I get over my colds with those two things in less than three days as a rule....
You should try DayQuil caplets. No sugar, but all the same benefit?
To be honest, I haven't really noticed spikes in my levels while taking medications for being sick. I get head colds quite a bit, and I find that Tylenol Severe Cold (or some name like that) works really well. I'm not a huge fan of the diabetic cold meds/cough drops. It's one thing to be sick, and another to deal with the horrible taste of sugar-free Robitussin. I tend to baby myself when I'm sick, and spring for normal meds or cough drops (the sugar free ones have a nasty aftertaste).
I know that I test more often when I'm sick, so I can see if the medications are wrecking havoc on my levels. I know some people use a temp basal while their sick, but I've never experimented with that before. Might help if you are taking sugar-loaded medications for sick days. But, that's something you should ask your CDE.
I hope you feel better soon!
Cheers,
Anna
P.S. Yes, that song is stuck in my head ... thanks lol There goes work on my thesis today :P
I tried Theruflu once a while ago, and it was the most awful stuff I ever tried. I had to dump about 4 packets of Sweet&Low into it just to drink it. But I don't like pickles either and my mom loves them, so to each their own...
The "diabetic" stuff didn't work as well for me either, I take regular stuff now. It may have more sugar, but I need to sleep. I haven't noticed a huge change in my numbers from it either, but I usually take it then go to bed, so it might be messing with me and I just don't know it.
I really like the DayQuil capsule things. They work pretty good for me and I can actually function. Plus they are easier to take with me than the bottle of medicated goodness. Haha.
I can't stand the diabetic cough meds. They taste so bad they make me gag. I just use regular cold medicine. I find that I eat less when I am sick so maybe that evens out the small spike that the cold meds might give me so I really haven't noticed much difference in blood sugars.
Thanks everyone. My idea has always been, take what works and then I will get better quicker. It seems as though a lot of you agree. I will check out some of the capsule forms as well based on all of your recommendations.
I usually just stick with Neocitran (talked to the pharmacist, I have the whole "dose"/package cuz it's not that much sugar) and this herbal chinese medicine (very sugary though, takes like syrup..yum!) that helps you by making you cough and isn't full of chemicals.
other than that, i just rest and keep warm. sometimes i will take a sinus pill to help me sleep, but with my recent cold, neocitran while i was laying on the couch before bed was enough.
I avoid "diabetic" medicine like the plague and I prefer to avoid chemical medicines. Instead of ColdFX, I take a natural vitamin called "Immu-Boost" (something along those lines).
I've had pneumonia for almost three weeks, finally starting to get better. I find that for some reason my blood sugar spikes around the time I take the antibiotic and then gets better throughout the day. I don't know why, even pills do crazy things to me! I've had a constant headache since taking the antibiotics and the inhaler they gave me. No fun! :(