Steroids and diabetes - FYI

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-20-2004
Steroids and diabetes - FYI
Fri, 03-05-2004 - 9:19am
I was so happy on Wednesday. My numbers were fine (111 before breakfast and 130 after lunch). Then, I went to my rheumatologist because I'd been having problems with not sleeping due to leg pain, and losing my balance from weakness in my left hip. He said he was going to inject the bursa bilaterally. I asked him if the steroids would affect my glucose levels and he said I shouldn't tell my endocrinologist (joking) what the next two days would be. Well, I sure didn't know it was going to be as bad as it got!

Had a dinner with 4 carb exchanges (15 each), and 2 hrs later, my measurement was 257!

Ok, that didn't make me happy.

Thursday, it was 212 before my milk at 5AM, had a ShapeUp snack bar (my first one) at 8:30AM, and two hours later I was at 190. So, it was going down. That's fine. Had scrambled eggs with vegetables and a bit of cheese with a muffin (no dressing) at 1PM.

It went back up to 218.

Ok...now for the clincher! At 8PM my measurement was 410!!! My face looked like I had a third degree burn. I called the doctor on-call, and she said if in two hours it wasn't below 300, I should take 2mg more of Amaryl. I'd taken my regular 8mg at 4:30PM. She said or I could wait it out! So, 8:30PM 398 while I was talking to her, 350 10:15pm, and 289 at midnight. Ate 1 string cheese (protein), greased my face again for the third time with baby lotion, and went to bed.

This morning it was 253 at 5AM, and my face has just a faint redness to it.

One of my cats got diabetes because we were giving her steroid injections for a condition.

Of course, my vet says that's not the way it is with humans.

So, beware of steroids if you're diabetic. That means inhalers also.