Study of COVID-19 concerns among PWDs

Share
1

ETA: I participated in this study! :smiley_cat:

12 Likes
2

And here a nice free Nature Reviews Endocrinology article:
COVID-19 and diabetes mellitus: from pathophysiology to clinical management

8 Likes
3

Thanks, @CatLady and @Boerenkool. The Nature Reviews article is long but the Conclusions section at the bottom has a few nuggets like this one:

ā€œDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, patients with diabetes mellitus should be aware that COVID-19 can increase blood levels of glucose and, as such, they should follow clinical guidelines for the management of diabetes mellitus more strictly, as described here.ā€

Every illness I have ever had has increased my insulin requirement, but they say it could be a very large increase for COVID.

And elsewhere they say ā€œWorse outcomes in patients with T1DM and COVID-19 (defined as tracheal intubation or death up to day 7 of hospital treatment) seemed to be confined to patients aged ā‰„75 yearsā€

Ouch for me.

5 Likes
4

My mealtime insulin requirement went up 2-2.5 times normal. My basal did not require much of a change.

7 Likes
5

Interestingly, for the first 2-3 days my BG levels ran lower (which happens for me with colds), but then after that I became extremely sensitive to carbs. Basal was fine, but my mealtime boluses were sometimes 3-4x higher, depending on what I ate. Iā€™m now almost a month past first symptoms and Iā€™m still more sensitive to sugar (like honey in my herbal tea) than I was prior.

6 Likes
6

Sounds very similar!

7

@Eric and @Pianoplayer7008 whoa ā€“ I feel completely out of the loop here ā€“ I did not realize that you had covid?! Is there a link where you discussed your experiences? How are you both doing? xo

1 Like
8

Hi @JessicaD
I posted mine in the FUD Lounge. Are you able to access it?

If not, ask @Chris. There is a formula for Lounge access. You have been here a while and have plenty of posts and likes, but it might be the number of visits to the site that is too low. I am not sure.

The Lounge is kind of a place where we can post a little more personal stuff, because it is not as accessible as the public site. Like someone might not want to give away stuff or email a total stranger on the public site, but if someone is in the Lounge they have been around long enough and it is safer.

Check with Chris and see about Lounge access!

As far as my C19 experience, I was diagnosed in July. My whole family got it. It started with my son, then my other son got it from him, then my wife, and then me. It was kind of too late once we realized he had it. It just went through the house one after the other!

I did fine. I had a sporadic fever, on and off. It was not constant, but it just kept coming and going. It lasted about 2 weeks.

I felt pretty good. Not great, but just a little worn down, like not 100%. I ran easy, cut down my mileage and did not do any hard runs.

I did not have any coughing or aches or loss of taste or anything. Just sporadic fever. And I couldnā€™t go anywhere, so all the food had to be delivered.

Once the fever was completely gone for about 5 days and it had been 3 weeks since I was diagnosed, I celebrated by going out to dinner and drinking a bunch of stuff. That was fun because I felt safe, like I could not get it again for at least a few months!

Here are notes from my C19 post in the Lounge:

10 Likes
9

@Eric - thank you for sharing this! And I will reach out to @Chris :slight_smile: :slightly_smiling_face:

3 Likes
10

My COVID concerns are probably less relating to my having diabetes and fear of how the acute infection phase might go and more just that Iā€™ve now seen numerous people in their 30s and 40s like myself get the virus, never need hospitalization or anything, but then have persistent symptoms for months. Some of them still have symptoms and didnā€™t seem to ever fully recover, yet anyway. At least one had a spike in blood work values suggesting autoimmune activity was elevated during her worse symptoms, which I guess is a diabetes related concern since I wonder if long haul type issues might be more likely in people with autoimmune disorders or vulnerabilities.

4 Likes
11

Sounds an awful lot like when Lyme disease first came on the scene. Hopefully with time they figure out a great treatment regimen.

2 Likes
12

It actually sounds strikingly like Lymeā€”some of the symptoms are very similar. Unfortunately, for a lot of folks with chronic Lyme, itā€™s still like that (and I know the existence of chronic Lyme is highly controversial in medicine, but thatā€™s a whole other thingā€¦). Iā€™m wondering if understanding whatā€™s going on with COVID could shed light on Lyme and other chronic disorders that might have an infectious origin. Maybe they all share mechanisms underlying chronic post-infectious symptoms, especially symptoms that are possibly inflammatory and neurological in nature.

2 Likes
13

Well at least this time around there will be plenty of subjects to study which should help out with things. It would be very cool if something positive like this was discovered due to the Covid mess we are in.

2 Likes
14

I am still getting over it - almost exactly a month post start of symptoms - so I hadnā€™t written up anything. My experience was mild, compared to what I expected - started with severe fatigue, then headache, congestion, and nausea followed, and all were fairly constant for about 2 weeks then slowly became less constant. I did experience a dulled sense of smell/taste but never lost it fully. Chest pain off and on with lots of PVCs (I have those with any illness). Never any shortness of breath and barely coughed at all. My husband fared more poorly than I did, and heā€™s the healthier one (but heā€™s bouncing back faster).

Iā€™m curious to see what tests my doctor orders when I ā€œseeā€ her (virtually) next week. I feel like covid flared up all of my health issues (autoimmune), more acutely during illness, but even now I am extremely fatigued/intolerant to almost any exertion, have headaches nearly every day, more joint pain, etc. I expected it to be this way, but I still donā€™t like it. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

10 Likes
15

Ugh @Pianoplayer7008. Iā€™m so sorry you have gone through all of this. I hope you are feeling much better a week out from when you wrote last. Iā€™m glad that it never got too horrible, but it sounds like it was bad enough. I hope youā€™re continuing to rest and take it very easy. Wish I could bring you a glass of warm tea! thanks for sharing your experience. xoxo - Jessica

4 Likes