question about sickness with diabetes...

[johnnylol]

last november long before i knew i had diabetes..i caught the flu from my brother...usually i thought it would be over in a week or 2..but this time was different..never got better in fact i ended up in hospital with pneumonia...never had that before....got treated took me a few months to finally feel good again...then in late february.i caught a cold..and it took a month to finally get over it...my question is..why it seems that diabetics are susceptible to illness that takes longer to heal...

[allend]

Having high blood sugar also affects your immune system. This is probably why you are sicker longer.

[HeatherP]

Taking longer to heal/get well is just one of the many wonderful aspects of Diabetes. Aren't we all lucky?

Seriously, the better your b/s control is, the faster your body will deal w/ germs and heal faster. As a bit of a catch 22 however, stress on the immune system, such as the flu will cause your b/s to be higher.

You should have a set of sick-day instructions from your dr or CDE. This will give you some parameters to work with as well as listing circumstances under which you should contact your doc immediately.

[johnnylol]

amazing even though i had a parent who dies of diabete's complication's..did not learn a lesson from that..since i found out i probally had diabete's i been doing my best to take care of myself...it's a shame i did not try to take care of myself year's before i had the disease...i guess sometime's it take's a disease to get you to try....

[HeatherP]

Hindsight is 20/20, eh?

Either way, you can't go back and change the past so it's a waste of time to sit around having regrets. You can only go forward and strive to do better, which you CAN do.

[Lorna]

Yea retrospect is a great thing! Just sort of speculation, but is the fact we are more suseptable to feeling ill to do with the fact diabetes is an autoimmune disease as well? (ie fighting things our bodies do not have to so feeling ill for it)- This is probably something I am making up though.

[HeatherP]

I'm sure it's all tangled up together somewhere along the way.

[Belinda]

The best defense is good communication with your body (knowing the signs when you start feeling ill), good bs control and communication with your doctor (GP or Endo preferably). I try not to stress when I am sick only knowing this will hamper the healing process. The best thing you can do (I teach school so I am around germs constantly) is wash your hands!

[johnnylol]

yeah i think in retrospect i could have at least prevented diabetes for years at least..if i changed my lifestyle year's ago..i don't know how type i get diabetes..but type 2 like i am was all about eating right and excersizing something i did not do year's ago..i have a twin brother he doe's not have it..cause he always take's care of himself darn..

[HeatherP]

Johnny, while I'm sure there are probably a few factors that you may have been capable of changing, from what I've read recently T2 has a strong genetic link. Best not to blame yourself.

Us T1's have had our pancreas' destroyed by our immune system. T2 is an inability to produce enough insulin and/or a resistance to what is produced.