Diabetes and minor illness

2 posts, 2 contributors

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Adam Taylor
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals
1 post

I have been diabetic for about seven years now. In the past few years I have found that whenever I'm coming down with a cold or a minor bug, often a couple of days before any other symptoms, I'll find that I'm really tired - to the point of falling asleep at work or not being able to get up in the morning.

The first couple of times this happened I went to my GP and he said that my immune system was having to work harder due to the diabetes so fighting the bug made me tired.

Has anyone else ever experienced this?

marke Site Administrator
South East Kent PCT
675 posts

no never experienced this, but personal experience is that GP's know about as much about Diabetes as the general public :-( Mine was impressed by 'modern' insulin pens, which told me straight away that I would be staying under my local hospital for Diabetes support for as long as possible. I don't really see why Diabetes would make yoor immune system work harder. If you are well controlled your immmune system is pretty much like everyone elses, with the exception that it ate all your islet cells of course ;^)
I do find it can push up my BG's though which 'could' be what is happening to you, what are your BG's when this happens ? higher, lower ?