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Steroids for diabetes?

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nickm

Well-Known Member
I recently ran 5km in 20:20. I haven't run that fast since I was 19. That was 37 years ago. How? Doctors at the Medical Board have suggested I might be using prednisolone to manage my diabetes. No, this is not a misprint. After I suggested they amend or retract it, they chose instead to repeat it. Yes, they know I have Addison's.
Has anyone else had success using "prednisolone .. to manage (their) Type 1 diabetes."

 
That's just about the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

Prednisone was actually the reason I found out I had type 1 diabetes. I was on it for about a month before ending up in the emergency room with blood sugar levels above 28 mmol/l....and that was a week AFTER I stopped the prednisone. Based on what I know now, I'd guess my levels were 30+ when I was still taking the drug.

To say it helps manage diabetes is downright laughable and any medical professional should be embarrassed to have their name attached to that statement.
 
nickm said:
Has anyone else had success using "prednisolone .. to manage (their) Type 1 diabetes."
Click to expand...
No but use it to manage my Addison's as well as using HC and fludrocortisone, What level of intelligence has the person got that wrote that letter?
 
I think the effect of steroids on blood glucose can't be as well-known as we'd like to think amongst non-diabetes specialists. When I had to use steroids for a couple of months to manage a Crohn's disease flare-up, the IBD nurse asked permission to use me as a case study to illustrate their use with type 1 diabetes.
 
Thank you very much. I am sorry this happened to you. My daughter had similar really high blood sugars, ending up in hospital, and that's when they diagnosed Addison's too.
 
I took a second look at the letter and realized that this looks to be a RFI about why you SELF-prescribed prednisolone to treat your t1 diabetes.

The letter doesn't seem too worried about why you're taking prednisolone. It's asking for an explanation around why you're taking it to manage your t1 (which it seems we all agree that that wouldn't make sense). It would be no different than if they asked you to explain why you prescribed yourself an asthma inhaler to treat a sore knee.

Seems like all you need to say is that you don't take it for your diabetes, but you're the doctor, not us.
 
Hi - this is Pat's daughter - I'm really struggling since they diagnosed Addisons on top of type 1 diabetes, (and a bunch of other autoimmune conditions - thyroid, cholesterol, vitiligo, pernicious anemia, etc.... - I have polyglansular system failure) I wanted to know if anyone experiences "stacking" of insulin - my dr says that depending on how high I am, it takes about 3-6 hours for my insulin to kick in, and often, by bedtime, I'm close to hypo, as all the insulin I took during the day (desperate to eat) has suddenly started working.

Also, does any take prednisolone? It seems to be something different to prednisone.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Lea2 said:
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Also, does any take prednisolone? It seems to be something different to prednisone.
Click to expand...
My understanding is that they're the same thing, but have different names based on which country you're in.

I live in the US and was prescribed Prednisone. In the UK, I believe it's called prednisolone.

Side note: "Novorapid" is called "Novolog" here in the US even though they're the same thing.
 
Hello Lea, I'm a fellow Addison with type 1 diabetes and a load of other autoimmune conditions.

Have you asked for an insulin pump, this does so make life easier.
Also have you done any basal testing, this is your first priority once you have that sorted you can sort your carb ratio.
 

Great to meet you and I'm happy to share and learn from your experiences. I take 4 units rapid acting insulin (novorapid or apidra makes no difference) for each 15 g carb, and a whopping 38 units of lantus No wonder I've gained 36 pounds). I eat very little carbs, but have to count everything - lettuce, cucumber, literally everything - the only thing that seems to have no effect is egg white......

We're a bit scared to try the pump since there doesn't seem to be any evidence that it will prevent the "stacking" and since I've already been unconscious once and sugars <20 at least 2 other times we know of, I'd be interested to know how many lows you have. I do have a sensor which has changed my life in that my husband can get some sleep now as he's linked it to an earthquake app to wake up when my sugars hit 100, but the BG can drop 40 points in 5 minutes - by which time it's too late to try to eat to counteract the insulin. Sorry for whinging, but I'd love any advice from someone's who's been there
 
If you have a pump your insulin needs will go down quite a bit and you can also set how much insulin is delivered per hour which will stop you stacking insulin.

Have you actually tested your basal?, it could be that the Lantus is not lasting 24 hours so needs to be split. I use the Animas vibe pump with the Dexcom CGM and do not have insulin stacking or crashing hypos. Had diabetes for 51 years and Addison's for 14 years.
 
I never had my basal tested - how do they do that? We just used various formulae to work out that my basal/bolus is way off but that kept my numbers semi within range. I don't understand how a pump stops the stacking - the dr thinks that the pump will just release insulin every hour and at some point it will also all be released at once. I'd love some facts or experiences to take to the dr so we can ask for a pump.
 
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