Evening my latest blood test have revealed I am pre-diabetic.....I have never suffered with diabetes, so have been told it is due to Predneslone, and the hope is it will right itself once my levels of Prednesolone comes down.I am on 47mg now, go down to 45mg from Monday , my aim is to get down to between 5/10mg, but that will take weeks as the GCA kept flaring when I reduced over a 2 week period, so now doing it over 3 week period and it seems to be OK
Has anyone else experienced high sugar levels on Predneslone?
I have been very careful with my diet, eating mainly Mediterranean olive oil, very few carbs have cheated on occasions since my journey started in August 2023, no cakes or sugery thingsno alcohol fkr the past 18 months, so I was surprised at the bloods.
Any valued advice would be much appreciated.
Thank you.
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Den73
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Many show pre-diabetic levels especially on higher doses, but they usually return to normal levels as you reduce the Pred. Plus pre-diabetic doesn’t always become diabetes… especially when it’s Pred induced.
On another note, can I ask when you post, you insert a title that refers to the question you are asking - and not use your name as the title.. it will then bring up related posts as well as also helping others if they wish to search same topic. Your name will come up automatically at the end of your post.
Just to add re GCA -my taper from 60mg [having been there for 8 weeks after 2 weeks at 80mg] down to 20mg was at 3 or 4 weekly intervals - once only 2 weeks… but when at 20mg definitely only every month. In 2.5mg steps down to 15mg, then 1mg a time to around 7mg or 8mg - then only 0.5mg a time, and using my slow taper plan.
Pred triggers the liver to release random spikes of glucose from the stores in the liver and muscle - and that raises the average level which is reflected in the Hba1c blood test. As your pred dose reduces, it is likely the excess glucose spikes will fall, You have done well to remain pre-diabetic so you are obviously doing the right thing.
Do I understand this correctly?
"... go down to 45mg from Monday , my aim is to get down to between 5/10mg, but that will take weeks as the GCA kept flaring when I reduced over a 2 week period, so now doing it over 3 week period"
Pred has CURED nothing, this isn't a condition where you take a short course of high dose pred and then reduce to nothing. It lasts YEARS, not months, Even if this is just a flare, it is likely to take a lot longer than 3 weeks to get to 10mg. As long as the underlying autoimmune disorder is active you will need pred - and in GCA that is a lot higher than for PMR.
This is a typical reduction approach for GCA - just as an example:
I was also suddenly prediabetic on high doses of pred...keep cutting the carbs and of course no sugars (watch out for fruits...and of course no fruit juices). Look up a diabetes meal plan and stick to it!!
Thank you agingfeminist, thankfully I am only drinking water as I dont really like too sweet foods, yes I have explored diabetic meals and going to try stick to it, carbs is my downfall! Love potatoes and bread🤭 but determined not to add diabetes to my list of our life changing conditions if it can be helped.Reassured by the comments received, so thank you all.
if you must have the odd potato...boiled or baked with a high protein meal is allowed...I didn't indulge but now I am on 1mg (yes 1mg after having bugun with 4 eeks on 60 mgs , 4 years ago) i do enjoy potatoes (in moderation and not fried) and even a slice of homemade bread. Living the life!
Oooh I did like your reply ....did not know that...and yes in moderation that will just be good enough for the 'fix' I prefer baked not a fan of chips, so thank you for that!Have a fab day.
Hi, Yes I was told I was pre diabetic last year and was offered an nhs program with a dietitian to support not becoming a diabetic ( time will tell). It was called Diabetes Prevention Programme. I have made quite a few changes, wholewheat pasta and whole grain rice, portion sizes and cut back on snacks are just a few. Generally I already knew I should eat differently but it gave me the push to make and stick to changes. Sounds like you were already eating healthily but I would recommend the course if you have the same or similar in your area. The dietician was supportive and on the plus side I have managed to lose some weight too. Fingers crossed my levels will be back to normal but next blood test is June so will have to wait to see.
Thank you Abcd123455 the GP gas referred me to a diabeteic nurse so will enquire about this programme, thank you very much sounds very useful.Yes i already eat wholewheat pasta, dont eat too much pasta, and brown rice so hopefully we win out.
Yes! Lots of us. It took me 8 weeks if diet (I followed the keto diet) to get mine back to normal. This year mine are a little elevated, but the surgery has marked this as expected, due to steroid intake. I am due to start dieting again once this freezing cold period ends next week!
I was diagnosed with type 2 after my PMR diagnosis. I was put on gliclazide and decided to change my diet and exercise more.
6 months later I got my diabetes into remission and 6 years later I am still 8n remission.
I drastically cut my carbs and walk 10,000 steps each day. I have kept to the low carb diet and I lost over 3 stones. The downside was I had to donate my clothes to the charity shop and buy new.
If you are prediabetic I am sure you will be able to get your hba1c down.
Thank you Koalojane for your encouraging comment.Losing weight is also a priority, I have been very aware so been eating a very sendible low carb no sugar diet so havent put on anybweight but not lost either, but still in 47.5 Pred, decreasing niw so hopefully I will lose weight.
Ha ha bet your local charity were pleased with you too!
I also went into pre diabetic due to the high dose of steroids. I went low carb for a few months until the steroid dose reduced and everything normalised. Good luck with your journey
I got a blood test kit on line and measured my blood sugar levels after various meals to find out what worked, bit of a faff but enlightening. Made me realise how much I didn't want to be diabetic. Even my GP was impressed.
I believe you can self refer for the diabetes prevention programme. Here is a link to the NHS website to help get you started. england.nhs.uk/diabetes/dia...
Aha, my specialist subject. I went into prediabetic when I was on higher doses of Pred for GCA. Went low carb and it went back to normal range. This coincided with pred going from about 15 to 7. If you are not prone to diabetes then all the methods suggested in replies to your post will help avoid the problems while you are on high dose, and it will naturally improve as you get to lower dose.
However, unlike you, I was prone to diabetes and even on low level of pred I went back into prediabetes because I had let the healthy eating slip.
I have now invested in a continuous glucose monitor and it has been a revelation. I can tell you that my glucose at this very minute is 5.6 mmols two hours after a low carb meal and that is fine. It literally allows you to look at which food is causing a problem and how you can redress through exercise.
Anyway, I'm going to post about this separately, and I'm not suggesting you need to do this, and I wonder how useful it would be at high levels of Pred, but it is there as a brilliant tool should you need it.
Also, as PRO pointed out, please read the posts about reducing Pred. You need to get the symptoms stabilised at the high dose first, then do a sensible reduction. It's going to take a long time. Everyone is different but if you rush your reduction you are likely to flare - I did. It has taken me 3 years because I had a complication with PMR for a while but now I am on 1.5mg a day. Most of the time with GCA, once I was under 20mg I felt reasonably ok, so be patient and things will settle.
Thank you Viveka, yes I will monitor the sugar levels, I am a fitm believer in prevention isbetter than cure, if it can be achieved.
As for the tapering of preds, that was very valuable to me, I realise, after all the helpful comments, I just want to get off them.....but...patience is needed, so I am going to definitely take it on board and take the length of time necessary however long it tàkes,because I am battling with symptoms, like my eyes, and when I reduce they get worse, so I fully undetstand about the flares...patience!
I so trust everyones advice, because it stems from experience and not just a textbook.
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