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Prednisone and diabetes

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Posted 9/18/2010 5:40 PM (GMT 0)
Can prednisone raise blood sugar and can it raise WBC count and how long can this stay in your system?
Posted 9/18/2010 7:16 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, prednisone will raise blood sugar.  I don't know the answers to the other two questions but others may and respond here.  In the meantime, you can Google for the answers online and also ask a pharmacist or your doctor.  Are you diabetic? 
Posted 9/18/2010 10:27 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, And my numbers have went through the roof after taking prednisone.I mean in the 325 range which never occurred before.Now I am learning that this med stays in your system for a very long time.Next time I get poison ivy I will avoid taking it.
Also my latest blood test done 1 day after taking med shows I have elevated white blood count which appears to be another side effect of prednisone. I will keep you updated after I visit dr. this week. Thanks.Great Forum.
Posted 9/19/2010 5:42 AM (GMT 0)
Other members here have been on (or may still be on) prednisone and they can probably give more information about their experience with the effects, but if you took it for poison ivy, it must have been for a very short term, right?  When I had a shot of cortisone for bursitis in a hip, my doctor told me it would raise my blood sugar so I didn't test for a few days.  Of course it was only one shot, not a dosage of pills.  Good luck.
Posted 9/20/2010 10:24 AM (GMT 0)
Yes. Yes. Varies on how long, usually a few hours within dose. Doctor thought of putting me on insulin because of what my sugars were with prednisone, but I decided to teach them a lesson. I made sure to check myself faithfully every few hours. At meal time, I'd adjust my carbohydrate count accordingly.

IE:

Bloodsugar at 375 (normal range 96 to 120)

A tad high there, lets go eat 1 unit of carbs (1 unit is 15 carbohydrates)

But I'm really hungry..

Ok, I'm going to also have a big green salad, no tomatoes or fruits with garlic salt for flavor and oil and vinegar for dressing.


So if I was hungry, I'd eat carb free stuff til I was full.

I am probably one of the few diabetics you will come across that controls strictly by diet as well. Its possible, but I will tell you flat out, it is hard work, and you have to be really strick with yourself. If you are at a party and there is cake and you know your bloodsugar is high, you cant eat it. I have a lot of discipline though, most people would give in, but I stick to my diet and it works for me.

Just start checking y ourself like crazy, and get to know your body, it helps.
Posted 9/27/2010 8:48 PM (GMT 0)
I have ulcerative colitis, for which one of the standard treatments is medium to high dose of prednisone for weeks to months (some are on permanent low prednisone therapy). During my last UC flare-up, I was taking 60 mg/day of prednisone for months. I have been pre-diabetic (fasting BGL 100-120) for years, but the prednisone raised my blood sugar to the 300-400 range. I couldn’t figure out why I was feeling so bad, so I went to my PCP, and she had me do a fasting BGL and A1C, they were 332 and over 12%. She immediately put me on MetFormin and ordered a meter for me. When the nurse was teaching me to use the meter my BGL was over 400.

I took my first MetFormin later that day and was beginning to feel better within an hour, and steadily improved throughout the next week or so. While discussing it with my PCP, she told me that prednisone can raise BGL as well as WBC, and that the prednisone tipped me over from pre-diabetic to type two. The good news was that it usually (but not always) resolves in a few months. After a few months, my diabetes had not resolved and I began to resolve myself to the not always category. But happily, after 10 months of being steroid free, it seems to have finally resolved and I haven’t taken any MetFormin for several weeks now with twice/day meter readings of between the high eighties and 120.

I also had a urinary tract infection during that time, and the prednisone induced high WBC was masking the diagnosis for that, but when a urine test finally showed that, and was treated with Cipro, I got rid of that too.

The bottom line is the answers to your questions are YES and YES, and both can mask diagnoses for other issues. And when/if I have another UC flare, I don’t know what I’m going to do. Take the prednisone and go back on the MetFormin or try other treatments for the UC flare.
Posted 9/29/2010 1:47 AM (GMT 0)
I finally went to drs. today and found out my WBC was now normal but my blood sugar was still near 360. He has now put me on insulin and metform. He will see if that lowers my blood sugar toward 200. I have now had my blood sugar elevated above 300 for a month since starting prednisone.If you are a diabetic or pre diabetic I would recommend you tlak to your primary care dr. before you embark on prednisone. I sure wish I did.
Posted 9/29/2010 7:10 PM (GMT 0)
I agree, as I said previosly, I have UC which is treated by a Gastroenterologists (GI), usually with Prednisone. My GI doc should be very aware of the side effects of Prednisone, but he had no clue.

My PCP finally diagnosed, and confirmed my type 2 and took action. I fired my GI doc over that.
Posted 10/4/2010 3:24 AM (GMT 0)
I use pred on and off for both Crohns and Asthma...my boyfriend is a type 2 diabetic. He also has Asthma and CoPD...he as a last resort was palced on a 15 day taper of pred for his severe asthma while suffering from a cold. For my Crohns Knowledge I was informed that even a year later traces of pred can be found in your blood. It can affect your WBC however I am not sure how long. I on high doses of pred do have to check my sugar and I have needed Insulin in the past while on it I just have been a lucky one that when off the meds (at least so far) the insulin dependancy goes away...it can stay though.
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