Strategies for Managing Diabetes When Your Child is Sick
Managing diabetes can be challenging when your child is sick. An illness (such as an infection or flu) often causes high blood glucose and ketones, even if your child is not eating. Or sometimes loss of appetite, vomiting or diarrhea can result in low blood glucose. When a child with diabetes is sick, insulin doses often need to be adjusted temporarily to account for their bodies needs during illness.
Articles on Managing Diabetes During Illness
This section of Waltzing the Dragon outlines all the essential information needed to safely manage diabetes when your child is sick, and to avoid trips to the emergency room whenever possible: the warning signs that tell you that your child needs to see a doctor; how to minimize blood sugar swings; tips on low-carb and high-carb food and drink to help manage symptoms; and how to adjust insulin doses temporarily during sickness. Click on one of the titles below to read that article.
Articles are categorized in terms of your Readiness Level:
Beginning articles act as an introduction to the basics of managing type 1 diabetes, written for families with a child who has been recently diagnosed (within the last 6 months or so), and for those who feel there may be gaps in what they remember from the early days. Beginning content represents the basic building blocks for what follows in Intermediate and Advanced levels.
Intermediate articles add another layer of information, expanding upon basic skills. They are designed for families who experienced a type 1 diabetes diagnosis several months (or years) ago, have the Beginning concepts mastered, and who are feeling that they want to do more than just “get by”. Intermediate topics will provide you with the skills to better manage blood glucose.
Advanced articles are designed for those type A’s in the crowd (you know who you are!) who feel that, after all the regular information out there, there must still be more to learn. You can live well with the diabetes dragon without exploring these Advanced topics, but if you are in the pursuit of excellence, and want to further refine and tweak things, the topics in this level are for you.
I sincerely hope the information on these pages helps you focus less on the dragon and more on life… Let’s dance!