Welcome. I'm the same as
@JohnEGreen in terms of taking steriods daily, however I differ in that I'm insulin deficient and taking 7mg per day. So, in my case it's insulin, doesn't mean I can't low carb and I do to a degree.
The main thing is understanding that being T3c and taking pred means you are carb intolerant even more so then type 2's are. Pred makes you less tolerant of carbs. It's tough work but with time you can get to understand what foods really drive up your glucose. I find cheese sure does and it's a low carb food, but there are differences, not everyone who is T3c will respond identically to the same foods. Keeping a food log is a good idea to start with.
Testing is important, pred can keep driving glucose numbers up past the 2hr post meal so keeping a log helps a lot also. So, you most certainly need a blood glucose meter and don't listen to anyone who tells you not to test. Get one, this is part of how you will take control of your levels or data collecting to show what is happening. You cannot manage this condition without one, it would be a bit like driving a car without the steering wheel.
When it comes to diet, below is a good guide on diet for anyone looking to low carb and what to avoid.
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/
And one again, welcome!
Hello Kathleen,
I’ve been on prednisolone for about 14 years. It was originally prescribed for polymyalgia rheumatica. About 7 years ago my a new rheumatologist decided I had rheumatoid arthritis, and switched me to methotrexate with the intention of getting me slowly off the prednisolone. I didnt have much success with getting off the pred.
About the same time I was diagnosed with steroid induced diabetes. , and having found this site started on a low carb diet. The effect was amazing, I’d been obese for years, and fat which had defied all previous diets dropped off, and I lost 8 stone. Meanwhile I was still on the prednisolone, and actually went back up the pred dosage to cope with flare ups, and a nasty dose of temporal arteritis. Getting down the dosage was always a struggle.
Then I got complacent, and weight started creeping back on. I put on about 4 stones in 6 months.
I had a attack of shingles in July 2019. This sent all sorts of things haywire, and at one point the rheumatologist decide to up my methotrexate. This made the rheumatoid arthritis worse, not better, and I had to come off the methotrexate. The rheumatology nurse suggested a steroid injection would help. (Despite my saying that I had steroid induced diabetes). I didn’t know what had hit me, I felt terrible, but my blood glucose level stayed at between 4.5 and 5.5. I only tested once a day before breakfast.
But I felt so Ill that I decided to test more frequently, and realised that although my first test of the day was fine, and so was the pre lunch one, from then on all the readings were in the teens, even if I didn’t eat. I worked out that my blood sugar level started rising 3 to 4 hours after I had taken my morning drugs.
I saw one of the practice nurses, who said to go back on metformin. She said a lot of other things like don’t test, it’ll just hurt your fingers, but the least said about that the better.
It’s taken me a good 3 months to get the blood sugars down, by a combination of metformin and a very low carb diet. The weight I had put on is finally starting to come off, it it is really hard work this time.
So, my conclusions
*. Prednisolone started the diabetes in the first place, and kicked off the relapse.
*. Predisolone causes the rise in blood sugar levels each day
*. Weight loss when I first started prednisolone was easy and dramatic.
*. Weight loss after the recent relapse following the prednisolone injection is possible, but much slower than the first time.
BUT. We are all different, and can react quite differently.
I hope this helps. Good luck with it.
Margaret
