'Fast' treatment of Hyperglycaemia

[Meady74]

Evening all,

I suffer with hyperglycaemia when I have to take steroids (prednisolone) normally 40mg a day used to combat issues with my asthma. I'd asked my GP how high is high, when I should ask for help and was advised anything over 20mmoL/l and that I should consult NHS 111. Well I hit 20.8 so filled out the online form which gives you the following choices:

No problem, they did phone back around 3am and I finally had a clinician call just now but missed it as my phone automatically blocked the call. The message left was that they were going to close the case. Ok, fair enough but, in am still in hyper land. Therefore, my question is this;

As a Type 2 on insulin (Humulin), metformin and dapagliflozin if, my sugar levels are high as advised by my GP, is there a short term 'fix' to bring down levels quickly (I don't think there is)? Or what should I be doing? The current medication works fine and generally keeps things in order but the steroids create mischief.

 

[Pipp]

I would suggest you phone 111 and explain about the missed call.

 

[Meady74]

I would suggest you phone 111 and explain about the missed call.

Hi, Thanks for the reply. Probably a bit late for that now sadly. Will keep an eye on things to see how they go.

 

[EllieM]

Have you been given any "sick day rules" for high blood sugars @Meady74 ? I would have thought that they might also apply to blood sugars high because of steroids.

In any case if this is a reoccurring issue I would have thought your team should give you guidelines for future reference.

And I agree you could call 111 again.

 

[jjraak]

Hi @Meady74 .

Can't advise on the high BG, but wish you well finding a speedy answer.


Not wanting to side track the post, but felt I should mention something.

I have suffered from asthma since 11, reasonably well managed ...and now I'm over 60.

No one mentioned ways to improve it except meds

Yet when I went low carb, almost unnoticed my asthma almost evaporated.

I wasn't coughing every morning & generally breathed a whole easier, no chesty rattle or wheezing every night.

Sure it's not guaranteed to be the same for everyone, but thought it worth a mention.

I presume with insulin in use, it's a case of eating as you can & dosing for the carbs ?

So likely not as low in carbs as LCHF might mean.

Might be worth a little investigation or mention at docs.
IF the steroids create such a problem, maybe being able to lower the amount or even being able to not need any at all further down the road, would help give better control ?

I was and remain shocked that lchf made such a difference to my asthma when none of the doctors or health care professionals ever suggested a change in diet MIGHT help.

Add in the advice is to avoid dairy, and lchf means I eat more of that, then I ever did.

The effect of lchf then becomes astonishing.

Anyway food for thought for a later time.

Good luck finding the help you're looking for.

 

[searley]

Depending on whether your care team has given you the ability to adjust your own doses..

If they have then more insulin will have an effect

If you have 2 insulins the long acting will help prevent highs in the first place, and the rapid will bring you down faster for a correction

If you are on a mixed insulin then an increase will help overall but there will be not fast option - I find a brisk walk for 10 to 15 mins can have significant effect

I personally would suggest talking to you gp about options to cover these situations

BUT if I were to call 111 every time my bg was over 21 I’d forever be on the phone

There is little risk of DKA if you’ve had insulin as the body is getting the energy it needs.. the only real risk is longer term damage from the higher BG but this can take months/years to happen.