Diabetes and hot weather

While it's not technically summer yet, my city has been experiencing some record-high temperatures over the last few days, and these temperatures are expected to last till the end of the week. When hot weather comes, there are some precautions I have to take when dealing with my diabetes.

One concern is dehydration. Dehydration is a concern for everyone, of course, but people who have diabetes have to be even more concerned. High blood sugar can cause dehydration, and some diabetes complications, such as certain forms of neuropathy, can impair the body's ability to sense dehydration symptoms. So I have to make sure I drink plenty of fluids on hot days.

I've discovered that the symptoms of low blood sugar seem to be pretty similar to the symptoms of heat exhaustion -- sleepiness, lightheadedness, confusion, etc. This causes me to check my blood sugar a lot more often when the weather is hot. Unfortunately, this means I use a lot more test strips than usual! Unfortunately, heat exhaustion is harder to treat than low blood sugar is. I'd rather have low blood sugar.

Heat also seems to lower blood sugar fairly quickly. I've noticed that I have to lower my insulin dosage on days when the temperature is abnormally high. There have been hot days when it seems like no matter what I eat, my blood sugar refuses to go above 4 mmol/l. While it's kind of nice to be able to eat anything I want, it's rather frustrating to have to be constantly treating myself for low blood sugar. I'm also sure it's not good for my weight to spend the day eating anything I want.

Then again, on hot days my appetite is diminished, so then I don't want to eat a lot. This means lowering my insulin dosage even more! Unless, of course, I decide to get a double-chocolate-chip frappucino from Starbucks. It's a lovely, chocolatey, cool drink, and Starbucks has lovely air conditioning, but it's going to wreak havoc on my blood sugar if I'm not careful and don't bolus appropriately for it.

And I'm probably not going to feel like exercising off the carbohydrates in that frappucino if the weather is hot. Exercise plus hot weather can equal dehydration and heat exhaustion, which brings us back to where I started this post.

So I will enjoy this hot weather while it lasts, but I'll also have to keep an eye on my diabetes while I do so.