High HbA1c after chemotherapy

[JSBr]

Hi everybody,
I tried searching the forum for anybody with similar experience but no luck.
About 16 months ago I was diagnosed with colon cancer. Before that my previous HbA1c result had been 36.
I had surgery, an ileostomy to allow the resected colon to recover and then chemotherapy too because the cancer had spread to my lymph nodes.
The chemotherapy, over 7 months made me feel grim most of the time but with so many side effects it was difficult to spot anything that might not be directly related to that treatment.
So when listing my side effects to to the oncologist every 2 weeks, I hadn’t mentioned my raging thirst every second Saturday when I went to get my chemo pump removed.
When I finally did mention it my HbA1c was measured and was 53 so that got referred back to my GP.
I got Metformin and although I was never formally told I had T2 diabetes, I must have been put on “the list” as I got invited to a diabetic eye screen test and also got a couple of phone calls from diabetes nurses.
I wasn’t offered any dietary advice and nobody seemed to know if this ‘diagnosis’ was likely to be permanent.
To get to the end of a long story, my HbA1c went down to 48, then 45 and the latest was 37!
I have been advised that I can stop the Metformin and will be retested in 3 months.
I’m posting this in case anybody else is in a similar situation. It looks like my raised BG levels were temporary and were affected by all the steroids given with the chemo, although the oncologist said it could also be caused by stress as chemo does put a lot of stress on the body.
Meanwhile none of my scans have shown any metastasis or cancer recurrence so things are looking good for now.

 

[barrym]

I had chemo a few years ago, and the steroids I had to take hit my BG into the stratosphere. My regime was a number of monthly cycles with 3 or 4 days of steroids and the start of each cycle. I was finger stick testing so could see the rise and fall easily, but don't recall there being a noticeable change in HbA1c.

HTH

 

[JSBr]

Hi @barrym , in retrospect, I was surprised that HbA1c was not being tested at least occasionally bearing in mind all the other blood tests being done every 2 weeks. The chemo nurses all seemed to know that the steroids could raise blood sugar.
My fortnightly regime consisted of blood tests 2 days before each treatment cycle, an appointment with oncologist the following day, then on day 1 of treatment, the first solution injected was a hydrating fluid containing glucose as well as other stuff. Then steroids injected, then the first chemo, then the second chemo was attached to my port for 2 days and I got steroid tablets to take for those 2 days. So plenty steroids and glucose.
Interesting to see that the steroids had such a direct reaction to your finger prick tests.

 

[barrym]

Hi @barrym , in retrospect, I was surprised that HbA1c was not being tested at least occasionally bearing in mind all the other blood tests being done every 2 weeks. The chemo nurses all seemed to know that the steroids could raise blood sugar.
My fortnightly regime consisted of blood tests 2 days before each treatment cycle, an appointment with oncologist the following day, then on day 1 of treatment, the first solution injected was a hydrating fluid containing glucose as well as other stuff. Then steroids injected, then the first chemo, then the second chemo was attached to my port for 2 days and I got steroid tablets to take for those 2 days. So plenty steroids and glucose.
Interesting to see that the steroids had such a direct reaction to your finger prick tests.

A massive reaction! I spent those 'steroid days' in the low thirties <gulp>.

 

[JSBr]

A massive reaction! I spent those 'steroid days' in the low thirties <gulp>.

Wow!

 

[barrym]

Wow!

Still here to tell the tale!