What should my illness action plan include if I have diabetes?

Before your next illness, decide on an action plan with your health care team. Include the following:

•  How often to monitor your blood glucose.

•  Whether you should test your urine for ketones. Ketones are
    produced when fats instead of glucose are used for energy. Most
    commonly, this is a sign that not enough insulin is available to help
    your body break down glucose. (Less commonly, when carbohydrates
    are very restricted, ketones can appear in the blood. This is called
    starvation ketosis.) When blood glucose levels are high during illness,
    ketones can appear if extra insulin is not given.

•  Medication changes that might be needed. You need to know how
    much extra insulin to take to bring down unusually high blood glucose
    levels. If you take oral diabetes medications, you need to know
    whether you should continue taking them or increase or decrease the
    dose.

• Whether you need to have anti-nausea suppositories or over-the-
   counter cold or flu or cough medications on hand, which ones are
   good choices, and when to take them.

• How to choose foods and fluids during your illness.