Illness Changes Blood Sugar

When you are sick, your body sends out stress hormones. Think of them as messengers to your liver.

Your liver stores sugar for later. The messengers tell it to release that sugar into your blood. So illness can raise your blood sugar.

A large liver holds a glass jar of sugar cubes, above a Blood sugar bar. After a meal, two cubes from the plate go into the jar. Between meals, shown by a clock, cubes leave the jar into the blood and the bar holds steady. At night, under a moon, one cube trickles out. Under stress, a warning sign sends hormone dots to the liver, three cubes leave and the bar rises high.

Many people think blood sugar drops when they eat less. Illness can change that. Your numbers may stay high even when you eat little.

Wanting less food tells you about hunger, not blood sugar. So a check still helps, even on a day you hardly eat.

Vomiting and diarrhea can make it hard to keep food and drink down. Then a meal may tell you little about your numbers. So a check fills the gap.

The American Diabetes Association suggests checking every 2 to 4 hours during illness. Your care team sets the schedule that fits you.

A bedside table under a wall clock. Fluids shows a glass and a bottle of water. Check more shows a meter and a notepad, with ticks every few hours on the clock. Eat small shows crackers and soup. Call shows a phone, with four hours shaded on the clock.

Key takeaways

• Illness can push blood sugar up through stress hormones.
• Blood sugar may stay high even when you eat less.
• Repeated checks catch changes you may not feel.

Try it

Today, keep your meter and a notebook together, so you can write each number down on a sick day.