Medication induced diabetes??

Hi everyone,

Hi Lion,

Welcome to the diabetes forum ! I don't know if prednisone can cause diabetes or not but my symptoms were extreme thirst, frequent urination, sudden weight loss, and blurry vision. You mentioned having 2 of those symptoms, so I think it would be good to have yourself tested. High sugar levels is what causes the symptoms, but if it's caused by medicine, maybe it will go away... you should ask your doctor. I have a family history of diabetes and previous hypoglycemia, so mine is here to stay, I'm sure. Maybe your symptoms will subside after the medicine gets out of your system... I hope so. Either way, maybe you can try the low carb diet that many on here are on... that has helped me tremendously! I eat mainly proteins and vegetables, with no WHITE veggies, like potatoes.... no rice, no regular pasta, only whole grain or whole wheat bread with low or no sugar added. There are lots of diabetes-friendly foods available at the stores, so it makes it easier. You just have to get used to reading labels. I'm sure you could look on the internet to see if high glucose levels is a side effect of prednisone... Let us know what happens and stay with us!

Bear

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"It's a jungle out there....." 

Any type of a steriod drug can induce diabetes. Did your doctor advise you to stop the pred or did you decide to do it on your own? You should continue to take it if the doctor has not advised you to stop. Once you know what is going on you will be able to make a better decision with the help of your doctor. You will most likely find that you are a type 2 diabetic.

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What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.  Shouldn't I be invincible by now?

Lion,
As a member of HealingWell you are allowed to post on any forum you please so of course you are welcome on the diabetes forum. I dug up an excellent article for you with your steroid-induced DM and hope it helps. It appears that it affects the insulin resistance of the cells so exercise along with the steroids will help if you need to continue on them.

Steroids Impact on Insulin

Another article I found is much more technical but says essentially the same thing with lots more doctor talk:
Worsening Hyperglycemia Due to Prednisone

In both artlcles it is is noted that steroid induced DM often is an indicator that you may develop it later in life. This would be a good time for some lifestyle changes to head this off at the pass, so to speak. If you can reverse this by stopping your meds (with doc's permission) then maybe you can prevent it going full blown in the future by following some of the methods of our pre-diabetic members and 'controlling with diet and exercise' peeps.

No matter what you choose to do we will help you all we can. If you don't have one yet it's time to get a glucose meter prescribed by your doctor (so it's covered by your insurance) and start testing. Doc may tell you that it's not necessary to get a meter but it's not his eyes and kidneys with hyperglycemia so push him for one. If you don't have insurance get back to us and I'll help you find an inexpensive one with cheap test strips.

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~ Jeannie, Forum Moderator/Diabetes & Fibromyalgia
~Please remember that 50% of all doctors graduated in the bottom half of their class! Yours may be one of them...
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"People are like stained glass windows: They sparkle and shine when the sun's out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is light within."
- Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

Thank you so much for your replies. You have some great info for me. I think because I know so little about diabetes it is a little scary. My testing is tomorrow. When I go I'll ask what the previous glucose level was and then maybe someone will know if this is just a little high, or maybe very high. My vision has been blurred for several weeks and I even had an appt with an opthamologist who wasn't much use. Basically he couldn't find anything major wrong, some tissue on the back of my eye, but he didn't think this would cause the blurring. I hope if I need anything like the meter you mention it will be provided free here in the uk. Thanks again and I'll let you know how the test goes tomorrow. x x

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Chillblain Pattern LE, possible SLE, tachycardia, proctal fugax, anismus, slow transit constipation.

Enjoyed reading the back and forth re steroid induced diabetes/high blood sugar. Kudos for the person mentioning NEVER go off steroids cold turkey. One must wean off them gradually, under doctor's control. I found lion00 on the lupus site but am glad it has carried over here. I've been a steroid-induced type 2 diabetic for about 10 years. It resulted from my retina specialist thinking it might help a retina inflammatory condition thought to be an autoiimmune response. It didn't help. I'm taking glucophage now, it isn't working very well (BS in 120-140 range) despite daily exercise and moderately good diet control.
Does anybody have any experience with byetta? I'm seriously thinking about taking it. I'm not excited about having to take injections (I have a daughter who is insulin-dependent diabetic and know well all entailed with injectible medications).
To switch gears, does anybody have any experience with insulin-dependent Type 1 diabetes onset after suffering through a rattlesnake bite and antivenin treatment?

Wow, Rosy, you have lots on your plate! There are lots of threads about byetta here and the general consensus is that it's the greatest thing since sliced bread! Me, for lack of insurance, I'm on Lantus insulin at night and glucophage twice a day. There is also a lot of good discussion about the injection technique, needle sizes and body site choices. Just read back in the posts or do a search of the site.

To do a search you can scroll up the page until you see the "Google Search" box under the pale yellow bar and type your key word in there. That way you can find most anything you need if it's been posted in the past. I don't recall seeing anything about snake bite induced Type 1 but it may be there.

Anyway, welcome to the diabetes forum.

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~ Jeannie, Forum Moderator/Diabetes & Fibromyalgia
~Please remember that 50% of all doctors graduated in the bottom half of their class! Yours may be one of them...
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"People are like stained glass windows: They sparkle and shine when the sun's out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is light within."
- Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

I have heard of type 1 diabetes coming after a variety of things.  Most often I have heard of it coming after some sort of a virus.  I have also heard of a case of it happening after a traumatic experience with an insect bite.  Since type 1 is an autoimmune disease it makes sense that something that affects the immune system could induce type 1 diabetes.  In my case I got the flu.  about two weeks later I developed the symptoms of diabetes and was diagnosed with a blood sugar level of over 1000.  Perhaps (and this is my own thinking here) part of the reason type 1 used to be thought of as mainly a disease that affected children is because children are in closer contact with each other and share more germs such as viruses.  Then those children that had the right genetic make up and a weakened immune system from a virus developed the disease. Don't know, but it's one thing I have thought about.  I have been in a research study to follow the complications of diabetes in type 1 diabetics since 1980.  It's been interesting to be a research subject for this many years. 

I'm a recent diabetic induced by prednisone. All I can tell you is my experience. I was put on prednisone after I found out I had Crohn's disease during a resection where I lost half my colon. Within 2 months I started showing signs of diabetes but didn't know what it was. I was back in the hospital 3 months after my surgery from a reaction to another med and that is when they told me I developed diabetes. My bg was in 300's. I started on lantus and novolog, then just lantus. I was then able to get off insulin and was put on 2 a day of metformin. That caused stomach problems, the last thing I needed with my Crohn's, so I'm now down to 1 a day. My bg has inched up slightly since then but still I think it's pretty good. Ranges from 90-130. I had lots of questions also about prednisone induced diabetes and had a hard time finding answers. I'm pretty sure I was pre-diabetic but no one warned me what could happen and what to look for.

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