Hi
Has anyone had steroid induced diabetes??
My daughter went for a routine check up this morning and I mentioned shes had a few problems and the gps alarm bells rang. To cut a long story short (much of the day with dr's today!) her blood sugar level has come back elavated.
We have to go back for a fasting test on Wed.
Has anyone any experience of this??
Sounds like me when blood test showed up raised sugar levels. My feet didn't hit the floor as the GP signed me up for further tests, podiatrist, diabetic nurse, opthalmologist, uncle tom cobbley and all. Apparently our Health Board has made diabetes their 'thing'. Have produced thick booklet named My Diabetes with loads of information and in which all appts will be marked and notes made. Its a lot to take in.
Sometimes steroids can make you have higher sugar levels than normal but you are not diabetic, sometimes if on steroids for a long time at a very high dose then you can get diabetes. My sugar levels were around 25-30 when i got diognosed. But i was taking 40 -50mg of prednisolone for over 2 years everyday. It all depends really. I hope she does not have diabetes - you can send me a personal message if you have any more questions you think i might be able to help you with!! Good Luck!!! 
I have steroid induced high blood sugars, they don't actually know if it's diabetes because of the way steroids play with your body.
Fasting tests could just be a fasting blood test, or it could be the glucose tolerance test, which is a set of bloods after fasting, giving something like lucozade etc, then more bloods and that is a good way of determining.
Hope she's OK, let us know how she gets on x
I have been warned for years about diabetes. Don't mean to sound pessimistic but my consultant put it quite bluntly and I was grateful for her honesty. She said that steroids are unlike other drugs where the side effects are possibilities and maybes. Apparently with steroids it is less about if and more when. You do tend to get a lot more thourough testing in various ways because of it though. Optician does every test under the sun for free because I have already had temporary loss of vision because of steroids, dentist does x-rays and some other test every 4 months, bone scans, organ function tests and blood sugars. I feel like an old banger, I get MOTd every few months!!!
I am sure though that the higher end of the side effects are afte rvery long term, high dose use and I hope she will be fine. Best of luck
Hi I have steroid induced diabetes.... For about 18 months I was having high blood sugars with random testing but fasting sugars where always normal..... Then last April I had all signs of diabetes and fasting sugars came back and confirmed it. Tho i tried to control it by diet this didnt work, so i started on tablets for it. The diabetes hasn't been as bad as I thought it would and I was a chocoholic !!!!
I have steroid induced diabetes. Mine is treated Like type 2, I iniatally tried altering diet, but ended up on tablets that's work a treat. I had been getting blood test done every 6 months ... Random blood test showed high blood glucose tho fasting tests where always normal. My astaire causes more problems than the diAbetes... Just gotta watch blood sugars when raising and lowering prednisolone as this effects the sugar...
hi- i constantly get told that because of the steroids that i have to take have caused me to have raised blood sugars and very low magnesium as well as other problems. the steroids seem to cause a lot of problems but its definately better to take them when they are needed.
Ugh, aren't steroids a bore?!
I've got steroid-induced diabetes, but thankfully am able to control it with diet and regular monitoring (I have a blood sugar machine at home). It seems to get out of control when I get infections, so I quite often need insulin infusions in hospital for that, when I've been in anyway with asthma.
I agree that it can be a lot to process, but if you're already used to taking regular medications and doing regular monitoring (e.g. peak flow) for asthma, then in my opinion, adding another medication or another type of monitoring is not too scary.
I hope that your daughter feels better soon, and that you have great support as you face this possible diagnosis. Let us know how you get on!
thank you all sooo much for your replies.
They are all really useful.
Thank goodness but maddies fasting finger prick test came back within normal limits. However weve been told that they may peak again. I will certainly be keeping an eye on them!
She goes really hyper after food. Is this a sign to watch out for? She has always drunk alot and has always got a drink on the go! Is there anything i need to watch for specifically?
Thanks once again and I hope you are all doing well.
Emily.x
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