Illness and elevated BG

[DeusXM]

One of the 'perks' of having diabetes is that you can always tell when you're going to be ill in a couple of days because your BG decides to rocket up for no apparent reason. I was just wondering if anyone knew precisely why this happens.

As far as I'm aware, the raise is caused by liver dumping - is this true? I was also wondering if anyone could shed any light on why the body reacts in this way.

[am1977]

I think I'm getting ill too :thumpdown. I've been exhausted lately...and I'm having some truly awful sugar levels :frown:. Not enjoying this at all! :(

[EdnBama]

I have been ill, to various degrees, over the past few days. (Don't ask about Tuesday morning.)

I don't know what my bg levels were like ... because I was too weak and achy to get up and test. :(

[jen_slc]

As far as I'm aware, the raise is caused by liver dumping - is this true? I was also wondering if anyone could shed any light on why the body reacts in this way.The net effect is a liver dump, yes, but what causes the liver dump is the release of stress hormones. When you are exposed and subsequently infected with an organism, your body mounts an attack before you even know it. It's a form of stress on the body and it activates a hormonal pathway that results in high BG: high stress hormones (adrenaline, cortisol) act against insulin and signal the liver to dump glucose. Other stressors (work, family) activate the same hormonal pathway, which is why acute stress can send your levels up suddenly and chronic stress can elevate your levels for long periods with difficulty in bringing them down. The bright side is, at least you know your body is fighting, before you actually show symptoms! :ridinghor

[DeusXM]

Cheers, thanks for the explanation!

Mind if I ask another question then? Why is it that whenever I get a cold, I get really hungry and seem to need to eat much more frequently? Usually when I'm ill, the last thing I want to do is eat, but colds seem to be different.

[Harold]

Cheers, thanks for the explanation!

Mind if I ask another question then? Why is it that whenever I get a cold, I get really hungry and seem to need to eat much more frequently? Usually when I'm ill, the last thing I want to do is eat, but colds seem to be different.Don't know why the difference, but have noticed it as well. "My father use to tell me feed a cold starve the sick." He said to fight a cold the body needs more food, but food feeds the sickness. Which was what he was taught when young at the beginning of the last century.

As for your first question on why bg's rise before we notice getting sick. The only thing I have been able to come up with is one of the first things the body does after it senses loosing the antibody war with antibodies is to increase the bodies temperature. Always thought the rise was to fuel the fever response.

[Belinda]

IS it feed a cold starve a fever??????


When I get sick the BS rises so I know...I also check more often and bolus more for the highs.....

[jen_slc]

Why is it that whenever I get a cold, I get really hungry and seem to need to eat much more frequently? Usually when I'm ill, the last thing I want to do is eat, but colds seem to be different.I dunno... maybe you just need more fuel to fight whatever virus is causing the cold than a bacterial infection that makes you feel a different kind of 'ill'. The 'feed a cold, starve a fever' has long been rejected by the medical community, but a group of scientists did a teeny weeny tiny study on 6 volunteers a few years ago and in these people they found that eating a meal boosted the immune response directed at viruses (the level of gamma interferon increased), which are responsible for colds, while fasting stimulated the immune response directed at bacterial infections (the level of interleukin-4 increased), which are responsible for fevers. A 6-person study is nothing to draw conclusions from, but it's possible this is what is happening in the average human - maybe your body just knows that eating/fasting has these effects and kicks you into action? Though they break down and give us grief, our bodies are pretty amazing machines. :rolleyes:

[RBmumsie]

I just wanted to jump in here and say that I, too am one of those that feels the need to eat more frequently when I'm catching a cold-type virus.

[DeusXM]

The wierd thing is that it's almost like a craving I get in that my hunger is very specific. When I've got a cold I get this massive uncontrolable urge to eat anything that is particularly high in fat and salt but the thought of eating anything with carbs in it makes me feel ill, with the exception of white bread.

For instance, I'm starving right now but if you put a chocolate cake in front of me I just wouldn't want to touch it, yet if you put a cheese and bacon sarnie in front of me it would be residing in my stomach by the time you finish read this post!

[jen_slc]

The wierd thing is that it's almost like a craving I get in that my hunger is very specific. When I've got a cold I get this massive uncontrolable urge to eat anything that is particularly high in fat and salt but the thought of eating anything with carbs in it makes me feel ill, with the exception of white bread.

For instance, I'm starving right now but if you put a chocolate cake in front of me I just wouldn't want to touch it, yet if you put a cheese and bacon sarnie in front of me it would be residing in my stomach by the time you finish read this post!I was curious about your cravings, so I've been doing a little searching on it (I'm thoroughly bored at work), and it turns out there's a neuropeptide called galanin that's been found to stimulate fat intake in animals and humans. Levels of galanin seem to increase a) when fat stores are low, b) under stress and c) when insulin is high. Your body is definitely stressed when you're sick and insulin levels are probably high (you might be taking more insulin to cover food and to bring your BG down for the reasons mentioned earlier in this thread). In terms of depleted fat stores, it's possible that you are burning fat for energy (b/c the stress of infection inhibits insulin, causing your BG to rise), thereby producing 'sick-day' ketones and depleting your fat stores. Maybe it's not a drastic reduction but maybe it's enough to upregulate levels of galanin and voila! Cheese and bacon sandwich sounds awfully good! Brain chemistry is so complex but it's sooo cool! If you're sick just now, are your levels still high, are you taking a lot more insulin, do you have ketones?