Heart Medication and Blood Sugar Levels

[muttley04]

I've realised recently, through finally reading the data leaflets (!), that some heart medication can affect blood sugar levels (Atorvastatin) and operation of the Pancreas (Ramipril). Has anyone else noticed this and what has been done to mitigate the effects?

 

[ajbod]

Atorvastatin raises blood sugar levels slightly,
Ramparil has a slight lowering effect, i take 2.5mg Ramparil, and see a very small improvement in blood sugars since starting on it.

Edited by mod to comply with forum rules

 

[Antje77]

I've realised recently, through finally reading the data leaflets (!), that some heart medication can affect blood sugar levels (Atorvastatin) and operation of the Pancreas (Ramipril). Has anyone else noticed this and what has been done to mitigate the effects?

According to your profile you don't have diabetes, is this correct?
Or if you have diabetes, do you use a meter to check your blood glucose?

I haven't heard of ramipril (or other ACE inhibitors) affecting the pancreas. Can you tell us some more about this, I'm on enalapril myself.

I have been offered a statin when I was diagnosed with diabetes and I've used it for about 2 months only, my lipids have been fine ever since so I don't take it anymore.

 

[Antje77]

Quote removed by mod but advice left as it’s appropriate

They're also a possibly much needed medicine for those with familial hypercholesterolemia and/or a history of clogged veins.

 

[muttley04]

Atorvastatin raises blood sugar levels slightly,
Ramparil has a slight lowering effect, i take 2.5mg Ramparil, and see a very small improvement in blood sugars since starting on it.(quote edited by mod to remove mod edit in original post)

I've been on Atorvastatin since having a heart attack (birth defect) in 2016 and having a stent fitted. According to my GP the statin is prescribed as a 'precautionary measure'. I've never had high cholesterol diagnosed before or since the heart attack.

The Ramipril states that 'blood tests could show changes in the way the pancreas is working'. So I presume it could raise or lower blood sugar levels? I only developed T2D during the first lockdown in 2020 but changes in diet etc took me back below the threshold within 3 months.

 

[muttley04]

According to your profile you don't have diabetes, is this correct?
Or if you have diabetes, do you use a meter to check your blood glucose?

I haven't heard of ramipril (or other ACE inhibitors) affecting the pancreas. Can you tell us some more about this, I'm on enalapril myself.

I have been offered a statin when I was diagnosed with diabetes and I've used it for about 2 months only, my lipids have been fine ever since so I don't take it anymore.

I've been on Atorvastatin since having a heart attack (birth defect) in 2016 and having a stent fitted. According to my GP the statin is prescribed as a 'precautionary measure'. I've never had high cholesterol diagnosed before or since the heart attack. They don't support my suggestion to stop taking them.

The Ramipril states that 'blood tests could show changes in the way the pancreas is working'. So I presume it could raise or lower blood sugar levels? I only developed T2D during the first lockdown in 2020 but changes in diet etc took me back below the threshold within 3 months.

I don't have T2D but my blood sugar levels are rising again so I have some concerns. My GP tells me that all the alternative heart meds have the same side effects?

 

[Deleted member 475901]

I've been on Atorvastatin since having a heart attack (birth defect) in 2016 and having a stent fitted. According to my GP the statin is prescribed as a 'precautionary measure'. I've never had high cholesterol diagnosed before or since the heart attack. They don't support my suggestion to stop taking them.

The Ramipril states that 'blood tests could show changes in the way the pancreas is working'. So I presume it could raise or lower blood sugar levels? I only developed T2D during the first lockdown in 2020 but changes in diet etc took me back below the threshold within 3 months.

I don't have T2D but my blood sugar levels are rising again so I have some concerns. My GP tells me that all the alternative heart meds have the same side effects?

Where you say you have T2 but diet put you into remission I would still think you are probably T2.
I've been in remission for 5 years, but not cured. I still have all the annual T2 checks.

 

[lovinglife]

When we have other conditions other than diabetes we sometimes have to look at things as a whole, needing medication for one condition that may affect another condition is a juggling act and you have to weigh up everything, although Atorvastatin can raise your blood glucose slightly it may be more important for your heart that you take it.

My brother has cardiomyopathy after 3 cardiac arrests and more than extremely lucky to still be here, he wasn’t on any meds until then and now he’s on both of Atorvastatin & Ramipril so they are heart medication if that’s what you’re taking them for.

If your numbers are rising maybe look at your diet again, see if you’ve got room to reduce carbs a bit more or if you’ve got carb creep. Sometimes we just have to accept that we need the support of medication to manage our conditions, it’s not failure or bad it’s just necessary.

As a side my brother since his heart failure does lower carb with 1 meal a day and 1 snack which was prescribed by his heart consultant

 

[muttley04]

Where you say you have T2 but diet put you into remission I would still think you are probably T2.
I've been in remission for 5 years, but not cured. I still have all the annual T2 checks.

I still have 6 monthly checks because my blood sugar level went up last year (but still below the threshold). I don't understand why, if you're in 'remission', you're still classed as a diabetic?

 

[muttley04]

When we have other conditions other than diabetes we sometimes have to look at things as a whole, needing medication for one condition that may affect another condition is a juggling act and you have to weigh up everything, although Atorvastatin can raise your blood glucose slightly it may be more important for your heart that you take it.

My brother has cardiomyopathy after 3 cardiac arrests and more than extremely lucky to still be here, he wasn’t on any meds until then and now he’s on both of Atorvastatin & Ramipril so they are heart medication if that’s what you’re taking them for.

If your numbers are rising maybe look at your diet again, see if you’ve got room to reduce carbs a bit more or if you’ve got carb creep. Sometimes we just have to accept that we need the support of medication to manage our conditions, it’s not failure or bad it’s just necessary.

As a side my brother since his heart failure does lower carb with 1 meal a day and 1 snack which was prescribed by his heart consultant

Agree with what you say about looking at things holistically but my GP Surgery seems content with how things are going. I've gone back onto a largely 'low blood sugar diet' recommended by Michael Mosely so I'll see what happens at my next check up in Jan 24.

 

[catinahat]

. I don't understand why, if you're in 'remission', you're still classed as a diabetic?

I have managed to keep my Hba1c below 40 for over a decade. The only time it has been above the diabetic threshold is when I was diagnosed.
I am diet controlled and yes in remission but not cured, if I relax my diet even for a week's holiday I can see my average levels begin to rise. If I were to go back to my previous diet and lifestyle, there is no doubt that my Hba1c would be back firmly into diabetic numbers.
If remission = a cure, I should be able to eat pizza and pie's and sit on my backside all day. After all that's what a non diabetic person could do if they were so inclined .

 

[KennyA]

I still have 6 monthly checks because my blood sugar level went up last year (but still below the threshold). I don't understand why, if you're in 'remission', you're still classed as a diabetic?

Because remission isn't a cure. It's just a suspension of symptoms, thanks to keeping blood glucose at normal levels. The 48mmol/mol doesn't mean that much for me in practice - I had nearly the full set of symptoms at 43/44 mmol/mol.

I've been in remission for a number of years but I still have several (minor) diabetic symptoms not directly linked to high blood glucose. I expect, if I went back to eating the amount of starch that I used to eat, that my BG would start to rise and I'd soon be back where I was - with higher BG, painful symptoms etc etc.

 

[Oldvatr]

I take heart meds in the morning, and on the days I forget to take them my bgl levels drop by 2 mmol/l. i have used selective omission to identify which of my meds cause this effect, and found it was my BP med (Entresto) and my prostate med (Tamsulosin). These meds are necessary to my wellbeing, so I have adjusted my diet and lifestyle to compensate. My other heart meds seem to be fairly neutral in this respect. So my blood thinners, and heart booster are ok. I am not taking a statin, but they are well known to raise BGL levels.

 

[muttley04]

I have managed to keep my Hba1c below 40 for over a decade. The only time it has been above the diabetic threshold is when I was diagnosed.
I am diet controlled and yes in remission but not cured, if I relax my diet even for a week's holiday I can see my average levels begin to rise. If I were to go back to my previous diet and lifestyle, there is no doubt that my Hba1c would be back firmly into diabetic numbers.
If remission = a cure, I should be able to eat pizza and pie's and sit on my backside all day. After all that's what a non diabetic person could do if they were so inclined .

My diet and lifestyle have always been healthy (other than on military deployments when diet could be poor!), particularly following a very fit , sporting lifestyle and I showed no diabetic symptoms when I was diagnosed. My GP surgery seem to think my diet & lifestyle ae not the problem. As I'm in remission would I be expected to declare, for example, on travel and other insurance applications?

 

[lovinglife]

My diet and lifestyle have always been healthy (other than on military deployments when diet could be poor!), particularly following a very fit , sporting lifestyle and I showed no diabetic symptoms when I was diagnosed. My GP surgery seem to think my diet & lifestyle ae not the problem. As I'm in remission would I be expected to declare, for example, on travel and other insurance applications?

I would always err on the side of caution and declare on any insurance applications, if you ever need to claim they may well request your medical history and even if having diabetes has nothing to do with your claim they would probably decline claim.

Further up the thread I mentioned my brother having cardiac arrests etc. He was actually on holiday in Switzerland at the time and spent a week in hospital there, he had no other conditions before that but always gets bets belts and braces insurance. He ended up with a claim of £4000 but only received £2800 of it in the end (and many months later) by the time they’d picked holes in it. We were still in the EU then too. So always declare everything would be my advice

 

[Oldvatr]

My diet and lifestyle have always been healthy (other than on military deployments when diet could be poor!), particularly following a very fit , sporting lifestyle and I showed no diabetic symptoms when I was diagnosed. My GP surgery seem to think my diet & lifestyle ae not the problem. As I'm in remission would I be expected to declare, for example, on travel and other insurance applications?

As you have already mentioned, Remission is not equal to Cure. i am guessing here, but I suspect that once a diabetic, always a diabetic and hence at increased risk of cardio and other comorbidities that could affect insurance assessment of risk.

You should continue to advise them of your status since omitting this info could lead to a claim being rejected in the future on the grounds of pre-existing condition. in my experience, it is rare for insurance to increase even when the declaration is admited, and I found it made no difference to my pension in terms of annuity evaluations. DVLA still regards diabetes as a special case regardless of Remission. It also did not affect my Hospital Plan insurance. But it did affect my mortgage when I remortgaged and I had to get extra health cover insurance. (I finessed that by changing to another provider who were not so fussy). So look on it as being a pre-existing condition.

 

[KennyA]

My diet and lifestyle have always been healthy (other than on military deployments when diet could be poor!), particularly following a very fit , sporting lifestyle and I showed no diabetic symptoms when I was diagnosed. My GP surgery seem to think my diet & lifestyle ae not the problem. As I'm in remission would I be expected to declare, for example, on travel and other insurance applications?

Yes, absolutely. Officially there's no cure and no insurers I've dealt with had any idea of what "remission" means. So I'd decalare it, even if it seems irrelevant, because it seems that they will do anything to deny or reduce a claim.

Incidentally, the officially approved "healthy" diet in the UK is still based on large amounts of carbohydrates - cereals, bread, pasta, fruit, that sort of thing. Is that what you're eating and have eaten?

 

[muttley04]

Yes, absolutely. Officially there's no cure and no insurers I've dealt with had any idea of what "remission" means. So I'd decalare it, even if it seems irrelevant, because it seems that they will do anything to deny or reduce a claim.

Incidentally, the officially approved "healthy" diet in the UK is still based on large amounts of carbohydrates - cereals, bread, pasta, fruit, that sort of thing. Is that what you're eating and have eaten?

Never smoked, drank moderately, very little of what you list and even less of cereals. Lots of fish and vegetables and fruit with the occasional (very rarely) pie! Never over-indulged in anything to be honest. Since diagnosis we follow the Michael Mosely (and other) Low Blood Sugar diets. As I say my GP Surgery experts don't think it's my diet and it's just a faulty body system?

 

[KennyA]

Never smoked, drank moderately, very little of what you list and even less of cereals. Lots of fish and vegetables and fruit with the occasional (very rarely) pie! Never over-indulged in anything to be honest. Since diagnosis we follow the Michael Mosely (and other) Low Blood Sugar diets. As I say my GP Surgery experts don't think it's my diet and it's just a faulty body system?

Well done on having a GP surgery expert. Many of them are anything but. My take on this is that just as it's possible to have diabetes (ie a range of diabetic symptoms) at blood glucose levels well below the "official" diagnostic point of 48mmol/mol, it is possible to have zero symptoms at levels above the "official point". High blood glucose is supposed to be a symptom of diabetes - question is, can you have high blood glucose and not have diabetes?

The graph I'm attaching suggestes that only a few years ago medics were prepared to accept that a very few people had naturally occurring high blood sugar.