Some people are unlucky enough to develop diarrhea and vomiting while on holiday. For this reason, it is a good idea to ask your doctor to give you some anti-emetic and anti-diarrheal pills to take with you. At the first sign of trouble get yourself to a comfortable refuge with a bed and a toilet. Get a large supply of clean water – mineral water in sealed bottles is safe – and some liquid glucose such as Lucozade, Coca Cola or Pepsi Cola. Start checking your blood glucose level. Your glucose level will probably rise and you may need more insulin than usual. Be prepared to check your glucose very frequently, probably every one or two hours, if things start to go very awry, and take more frequent additional doses of fast-acting insulin. Get help early if needed.
If you are on oral hypoglycemic pills you may vomit them up or not absorb them because of the diarrhea. If you see recognizable pills in the vomit, try taking some more pills at the same dose. If they still do not stay down, or your glucose level starts to rise, you probably need some insulin to tide you over the attack. Seek medical help.
If you are vomiting and not managing to eat you may start making starvation ketones. If your glucose is low, try sipping your sugary drink, because even if you vomit you will have absorbed some glucose through your mouth. Alternatively, try sucking glucose tablets. When you feel like eating a little, try a few digestive biscuits, Graham crackers or something similar. During a diarrheal illness you may lose a lot of fluid and in some cases this may make you feel lightheaded. This may be more pronounced if you have autonomic neuropathy. Try to keep drinking small amounts of fluid all the time, to keep up with what you are losing. If you feel giddy, get up slowly, and call a doctor. When the worst is over, give yourself a day or two to recover gently.
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DIABETES
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