• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

HELP I'm scared! Steroids.

P

paula1974

Well-Known Member
Messages
114
Location
West Sussex
I started steroids today (40mg daily, 7 days) for chest infection and brittle asthma.
My bs levels have been a bit high all day, 8-10 but 1hr after eve meal were 24.8. I took a correction dose of insulin and now 2hrs 15mins after meal bs is still 22.8.
What do i do? am scared to take extra correction dose incase i go hypo in the night (i go to bed about 1030pm)
PLEASE HELP!! im scared.

Paula
 
Hey Paula.
Steroids can cause mayhem with Bg levels and this should have been discussed with you.

Do you know what your pre-meal level was ?

What exactly did you have to eat ?
 
I see. Personally sweet potato is a no no for me, in whatever quantity and it really all depends what sort of /veg you had ........root Veg is not advisable in quantity when low carbing.

Well, not an Insulin user Byetta is my jab. I was kind of hoping that somebody who does would be along .... :( Anyway when I was put on anti-Cancer drugs and treatment my Bg levels frequently went way above 24 etc.......after a chat with my Endo it was suggested that I take a Gliclazide when this happened as it would help to reduce the Bg levels. It did, quite successfully.

I think what you need to do is monitor your levels and if they are still going up then you probably need to do a correction dose, keep monitoring and see if it starts to level out. Do not inject too much. You could just sit it out as I did many times. Drink plenty of water and regular monitoring.

I f things start to go down because you have injected too much then small carby snacks should help keep the levels higher.
 
Thanks for your reply ken
Have spoken to out of hrs gp as was very scared, this has never happened to me before. he is ringing me in half hr and i will test then. If still as high or higher will discuss what to do next. he wanted me to test for ketones but i do not have the equpment. he will give a dose of actrapid(??) if needed. thanks for your help

Paula
 
Cheers Paula.

That sounds good, at least now you have some actual help to hand. Hope it all settles down for you. Try to stay calm, stress will up the levels as well.

Let us know how you get on....... :)
 
I use insulin but didn't want to comment as it might be different for different people. personally, with readings like that I would defiantly take a correction dose.

Paula your profile mentions novorapid, what's the problem with using that for a correction dose? Do you only have Novomix? Actrapid is a fast acting insulin, I don't know how it compares to novorapid with speed.

Don't worry, the out of hours GP will be able to help. I had readings of ~30 once, just before I started insulin, and the out of hours doctor was very helpful.

Edit: NovoRapid acts quicker than Actrapid, so I assume it would be more suitable for a correction dose.
 
Thanks for your replies. The dr phoned back and asked me to go to surgery for ketones testing, which I did. Had ketones so was sent to A+E. After a LOT of testing and another correction dose my bs came down to 10.2 so was allowed home. I have to go see my DSN in the morning for discussion and also to get a ketone testing kit. Apparently all insulin dependant diabetics should have one but I never knew this. Alos getting hypo kit too. Have just tested again and bs is now 8.1 so am happy. However, I have to take the steroids again in the morning and for another 6 days so am a bit worried.
BUT, the hosp was going to keep me in because of my chest infection!!! Luckily, didnt happen.

A very relieved Paula x
 
paula1974 said:
However, I have to take the steroids again in the morning and for another 6 days so am a bit worried.
BUT, the hosp was going to keep me in because of my chest infection!!! Luckily, didnt happen.
Click to expand...

Hi Paula it was long term prednisolone use that caused my diabetes but thankfully I was finally weaned off it around this time last year (I think), it probably took a good six weeks or more for my bg to stabilise after stopping taking the steroid which may have been because of the length of time I had been taking them but you should be aware that your bg may still run higher than normal for a period after stopping the steroid.

But don't worry they will come down and stabalise :D
 
Thanks sid.
Bs up to 25 after brekkie. :oops:
Saw the diabetic dr at my surgry today. He has put me on a 'sliding scale', testing and injecting every 4 hrs. He says to aim for a bs of 10-13 while on the steroids. A bit high, but a safe high. Of course if I can get it even lower, great. he did say it'll be a few days before everything back to normal.

Paula :)
 
Hi Paula.
Glad to see that things are being dealt with now. :) When I was having anti-Cancer drugs which also screwed up my Diabetes control for several months, my Endo said to me......"Sometimes Diabetes has to take a back seat. Once you are better then get back to that good control"

So, deal with what you have at the moment and don't worry too much because the numbers aren't perfect. You will get back to good numbers again, as I did. No harm done. :D
 
Thanks everyone. Am still wary about these bl***y steroids, although they maybe saving my life as I nearly died from a chest infection 3 yrs ago :( Will have to put up with hi bs for a while x
 
As well as raising blood glucose there are other well documented side effects of corticosteroids



Side effects of oral corticosteroids that are used on a short-term basis include:

* an increase in appetite,
* weight gain,
* insomnia,
* fluid retention, and
* mood changes, such as feeling irritable, or anxious.

Side effects of oral corticosteroids used on a long-term basis (longer than three months) include:

* osteoporosis (fragile bones),
* hypertension (high blood pressure),
* diabetes,
* weight gain,
* increased vulnerability to infection,
* cataracts and glaucoma (eye disorders),
* thinning of the skin,
* bruising easily, and
* muscle weakness.

Source http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Corticoste ... fects.aspx


Prednisolone is a wonder drug when used to combat respiratory problems and I have no doubt that it saved my life, and I am happy to view my diabetes as an acceptable trade off for the quality of life it has given me.

I found another side effect that I suffered whilst taking Pred was night cramps but they stopped after I was prescribed Quinine tablets, I also took Adcal-D3 to offset the possible osteoporosis risk which I seem to have evaded thankfully, obviously the osteoporosis risk is not a problem with short term steroid use.

Chin up Paula, you know there working for you and you will soon get your levels to stabilise when you finish the course :D
 
Thanks sid.
Luckily I dont seem to have had any of the side effects and am only on them for two weeks.
My appetite has actually reduced, which is probably from feeling ill with the chest infection!

Again, thank you everyone for your replies :D I was so scared, but now know high bs for the short term wont kill me. Sometimes diabetes does have to take a back seat for a while.

Paula
 
Back
Top