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Prednisone induced diabetes.

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 5/29/2013 6:13 PM (GMT 0)
Just got my blood work done...(was having frequent urination so decided to get blood work)...very disappointed.

My A1C used to be 6% before UC started few months ago.
Fasting blood sugar around 140.

Today's report says
Fasting Blood sugar is 284!!
A1C is 7.8%!!

I am guessing my doc (who is on vacation till tomorrow) will put me on insulin. There is a family history of diabetes so this was inevitable, just didn't want it piled on right now with all the UC bleeding and other issues.

I am sure this is Prednisone induced but it just put me to a new level into the world of diabetes. This should come down once I taper off but I am afraid a lot damage to organs may be done by then, as I am nowhere close to getting tapered off. Still waiting for the bleeding to stop and waiting to go into remission.

Need to cut off all sugar and carbs... having issues maintaining weight already (122lbs now) ...this will only make more difficult....

Sigh....
Posted 5/29/2013 6:24 PM (GMT 0)
You'll probably need to stop the colocort enema also. What a bummer. I hope that you get your sugar under good control very soon. Have you taken metformin? Would that just be adding insult to injury with respect to diarrhea?
Posted 5/29/2013 6:31 PM (GMT 0)
Haven't heard of metformin
but I have rowasa I'll use. Meslamine should be safe.
Posted 5/29/2013 6:35 PM (GMT 0)
It's a glucophage used to treat pre-diabetes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metformin
Posted 5/29/2013 6:54 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you I will discuss this with my GI.
Posted 5/30/2013 1:35 AM (GMT 0)
So I start on Glipizide to get the sugar under control.
Posted 5/30/2013 1:52 AM (GMT 0)
I had no idea pred could do this... I'm very sorry to hear. So frustrating, all the different things everyone has to deal with.

I do hope you see some improvement soon.
Posted 5/30/2013 1:57 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks Mark. They gave a test kit. Just measured my non fasting blood glucose is at 375.
I start this new medication tonight.

I do think others on prednisone should also get a Blood Sugar test at least once.
Posted 5/30/2013 1:59 AM (GMT 0)
Did they say if your sugar would normalize when you came off? I know that's been the experience of others. Might be worth trying a quicker taper if possible.
Posted 5/30/2013 2:03 AM (GMT 0)
GI does not want to taper just yet as bleeding is still there. But he is working with the primary care physician to come up with this plan. Since I was on the high sugar level (prediabetic) before UC I guess I was more susceptible?

Yes I did some online reading around this folks who are normal before... majority of them return to normal levels after the tapering off pred. But some become type II diabetic permanently. But folks like me with family history of diabetes would probably see a drop back to the old levels (depending on how long before you taper off perd) and then probably will have to continue with some of these medications.
Posted 5/30/2013 4:32 PM (GMT 0)
small update here... took the Glipizide last night...
this morning my fasting Glucose was at 143. And now 3 hours after breakfast I am at 269.
Posted 5/30/2013 5:11 PM (GMT 0)
Prednisone has all kinds of side effects, not just necessarily the temporary and nuisance ones. Some are long term and some can be very debilating and life destroying.
Posted 6/3/2013 5:26 PM (GMT 0)
How are you?
Posted 6/4/2013 5:01 PM (GMT 0)
Hi DMC,
Thank you asking. I was busy with my 6 yr. old's Birthday yesterday and couldn't respond sooner.

My sugar levels were still in the 300's and my doc just increased my Glipizide dosage to 10mg per day.

My bleeding has reduced 99% almost no cramping. I am continuing the nightly Rowasa and have stopped the nightly Hydrocostisone enema.

So today I start taking 1 Lialda tablet again to see if it causes issues and slowly increase the dosage over the coming days. Last time I tried for a week the cramping was intense when I switched from Asacol but I was in full flare then... probably is not a Lialda issue for me.


Next looking forward to Diabetic Retinal Screening as ordered by the doc as it is standard procedure. But I do feel prednisone and the glucose issues are giving me some vision issues when I read text off my smartphone... But this maybe temporary.

I also start stepping down on my Prednisone 5mg at a time starting today. So I am doing 35mg today.

I am now hoping this is my first step towards healing.



Thanks again.

Best Regards to you.
Posted 6/4/2013 6:26 PM (GMT 0)
The same thing happened to me during my last flare, my BGL topped out at a bit above 400 before my PCP caught it. She prescribed MetFormin, and it did wonders for me, I was actually feeling better within a couple of hours of taking my first dose.

The literature says that steroid induced diabetes usually, but not always resolves upon discontinuing the steroid. My PCP said it can take a few months to resolve, in my case it was more than a year. She is of the old school who believes that once a type 2 diabetic, always a diabetic, so even though my A1C and BGLs are in the prediabetic range I’m still classified as a type 2 diabetic.

The up side is that I was a bit over weight, and I went from nearly 220 pounds to 160 in just a couple of months (160 is my ideal weight), even though my UC had gone into remission. I have since been able to pretty much keep the weight off since, but I have crept up a bit (~5 lbs) in the last couple of months.
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