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steroids

teddybear74

teddybear74

Well-Known Member
Messages
265
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
hi

I am recently getting over an asthma attack and have been on steroids for a week 40mg everyday. whilst in hospital I had glucose in my urine and elevating blood sugars which I was told to the steroids and all other medication they gave me levels are 13.0 and 15.0 once home I felt awful dizzy blurred sight headache and tired took blood sugar again and level was up again to 24.3 this time contacted drs and they still say it is all the meds. they are running a load of tests tomorrow to find out whats going on.my blood sugar normally is around the 6 mark could steroids have this much effect please can someone throw some light on it please
 
Dear Teddybear74,
I'm no expert on Steroids and diabetes, other than from my diabetic notes I know that these two certainly dont mix well together. Usually if a diabetic is put on steroids their medical advisor will try if it is possible to put the individual on a higher than normal dosage on alternative days, with the intermediatory days being a 'No Steroid Day' so things can best balance out and a compromise can be made to help stabilise any elevated rises in B/G levels.

There are however unfortunate times when this is not possible and steriods are used daily, but the decision needs to be made in consultation both between the medical professionals as well as the diabetic individual, so don't stop the steriods unless you are told to and only after everyone has agreed it's the best course of action.

Also different steroids can effect different diabetic indivuals in differing ways as they generally upset the bodies normal hormonal balance.

Sorry I can't be more specific - Please consult your GP/Medical Practicioner - All the best - Lazybones
 
I take 50mg prednisilone when I have an asthma attack or when my peak flow is down for few days. I was advised by GP only to take for 4 days - or less if breathing easier. Usually for and attack that inhalers won't clear I take one 50mg and that's it. For peak flow issues 3 days will do it for me.

Both taking one 50mg or the 3 day course will raise my levels 3 or 4 points the next day and then back to normal within a couple of days. Luckily haven't had any since last summer 8)

My personal experience but hope this helps
 
thanks im taking 40mg everyday for 7 days last day today have been on these before with no effect but this time I started feeling light headed and dizzy and couldn't get my words out some of the effects have subsided but still feel dizzy and light headed im not on any medication for my diabetes just diet control and for my blood sugars to go up that high is unheard of I don't sit here eating rubbish in fact I don't feel hungry at all but I try and eat coz I know I need to I have had a headache since Sunday which wont go and sleep well I sleep more than im awake at mo. I also been told that my potassium and phosphate levels are low which they treated whilst I was in hospital could that also be a reason for my elevating blood sugars. im due to go on holiday next week but my partner is saying if im no better then we are not going which would be a shame as we have a 5 yr old who is looking forward to going away
 
Hi Teddybear, prednisolone has a huge influence on blood glucose levels so it is not strange that your levels have been high on such a relatively high dose.

You say that your on the last day today so you should see a gradual decrease in your bg levels over the next week or weeks, if you need another course it might be a good idea to arrange for some diabetic medication to run along side the pred to keep your levels stable, or at least more stable than this time :)

Sadly even the best GP's dont seem to have much in depth knowledge of diabetes let alone the effects of high dose or long term prednisolone.

The blurred vision you have suffered should return to normal too but could take some weeks so dont rush out and buy new glasses or have an eye test until your vision has stabilised :thumbup:


Heres the Patient UK page on Prednisolone and even that doesnt mention raised bg levels in the side effects....
http://www.patient.co.uk/medicine/Prednisolone.htm
 
Hi
I had a cortisone steroid injection 10 days ago in my back and for the 1st 7 days post injection my levels were a nightmare - struggled to get below 20 despite frequent testing & adjusting. A corrective dose of 4 units only lowered my levels by 4. 10 days on things are much better but I'm still using higher carb to insulin ratios than I was pre injection. Oh & my fingertips are like pin cushions!


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
well they have just done a random finger prick test and level is no 9.2 still high for me though but not as high as 24.3 still waiting on long term blood test results which could be Monday if not this afternoon hopefully I wont need steroids again for a while but time will tell
 
My son was diagnosed with Nephrotic syndrome (as well as T1) in August and put onto Prednisolone.

I've studied steroids immensely, due to the fact that I'm not only Type 1, but also into bodybuilding, and the reaction to steroids is different per drug.

Prednisolone is a bad one. :( Basically, there's no way you can control your blood sugar in a regular manner. Before being on these steroids, if you were 7.2 in the morning, had a bowl of Shreddies with milk, then tested at 11am, you may be around 9.2 (giving the standard measure of your food vs your insulin giving a +2 bg reading 2 hours after the food was eaten). If you repeated this pattern every day, the results would (by and large) always be the same.

With Prednisolone, it doesn't work like that. It messes everything up, and there are no patterns to it. My son and I are both on Insulin Pumps, and when my boy was diagnosed with Nephrotic Syndrome, the hospital kindly got funding to put him on BGM sensors to continually test his blood sugar, as we were having trouble finding any kind of pattern by normal means. These sensors link directly to the insulin pump, and work like a 'manually operated artificial pancreas' (!), but even that hasn't found a pattern - his blood sugars are all over the place. :(

Obviously we've worked closely with the doctors to try to establish what we can do about this, but it literally seems there's nothing - Prednisolone wrecks blood sugar control, but not consistenly, which is the real issue.

Sorry there's not better news. :(
 
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