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Monitoring

You ask a very important and frequently asked question. Generally, antibiotics do not interfere with a glucose meter’s ability to accurately read the blood glucose. The FreeStyle® and Precision® monitoring systems are unaffected by antibiotics.¹

Instead, infection is a common cause of high glucose. Any type of illness, infection, stress (emotional or physical), surgery, dental problem, or injury will cause stress on your body. When this occurs, your body needs more energy to "fight" this stressor, so it releases hormones (they're called "counter-regulatory hormones") that tell the liver to release extra glucose to provide you with this energy. These hormones also inhibit the effect of insulin--which means you become somewhat insulin resistant. As a result, blood glucose rises; then it can become a vicious cycle because high glucose can delay healing. Depending on the extent of the infection, your blood glucose might be more difficult to control for a while.

Treatment:

• If you are diet controlled and the glucose elevation is temporary, your doctor may just advise you to check your glucose more frequently and notify your diabetes team if the glucose reaches a certain level.
• If you take diabetes pills or insulin, your doctor may advise you to temporarily increase the dose.
• Regardless, it is very important that you contact your doctor to report the elevated glucose, as well as to learn about sick day rules.
• You should also have a plan for the future regarding when to call your doctor.

Reference:

1. Data on file at Abbott Diabetes Care.