Prednisolone make blood sugars increase

[Sarah0291]

Hi my son was recently in hospital and increased his prednisolone from 10mg-40mg for 3 days, his blood sugars were increased and he had glucose in his urine, does this happen as he has been on this amount of prednisolone before and never had this

[elanaoali]

Hi It happened to me the first time I had to use prednisolone I had no idea about this side effect and I only found out when I had a dip test on a urine sample. It made my doctor tell me to stop talking it for 2 days and had a blood test to recheck my blood sugar which was normal. I was on 40mg at the time. It is a known side effect. After I stopped taking it my blood sugar was normal.

[Sarah0291 in reply to elanaoali]

He is on 10mg every day and been on 40mg a lot of previous times and never had this

[EmmaF91 Community Ambassador]

Hi I've been on pred on and off (more on than off to be honest) for the last year, normally at the higher end of the dose spectrum (30-40mg). Whenever I've been admitted to hospital they do blood sugar tests on me regularly as diabetes can be a side effect of the steroid when used long term and so should be looked for. That being said mine usually come back ok and I've never done a urine stick test for it. It may be worth speaking to your GP/consultant about it, if it's just a one off, it could be a case of stopping and restarting the steroid or lowering the dose, however they may want to look at alternative treatments.

Let them know the situation but try not to worry too much about it especially if he's never had the issue before. Hope that helps x

[elanaoali in reply to EmmaF91]

Urine dip test was for something else I have painful bladder syndrome hard to distinguish from uti. That's why I knew otherwise would have been none the wiser.

As for your son this was his experience. I presume the hospital knew. What did they say. Ring asthma UK help line gold standard advice.

[Bevvy]

I am type 2'diabetic and always told / warned that steroids WILL affect my blood sugars and they will increase. Advised to not test too much whilst on steroids because I could panic!

[Peldypix in reply to Bevvy]

Good advice!I was very anxious when I got recent blood tests back..most likely result of meds.The important thing is to ask about it and voice your concerns.

[Peldypix]

Yes that happens..try not to worry but talk to the doctors about your concerns.My blood sugars affected by meds.