[SlimMoeDee]

Well, i'm another new type 2. While I have a family history of diabetes, I had never had any signs of the nasty disease. During chemo (breast cancer) they give you massive amounts of steriods which can increase blood sugar levels. My oncologist says since it has been 6 months since last chemo, he doubts it. (I reviewed my pathology reports before chemo and the numbers were normal.) But it doesn't matter. I've got it now.

Long story short - Major headaches, nausea, dizziness, major thirst, hunger, can no longer see out of new and old glasses and general bad feelings for several days. Sister is diabetic and we test using her equipment. The numbers came out to 599! Number at hospital is 612! One of the first questions the ER doctor asked was did I have steriods during chemo. Who knew that steriods caused an increase in blood sugar?

To me this is scarier than the diagnosis of breast cancer. I am an avid reader (3-5 books per week at a minimum!) and the loss of my eyesight would do me in. Could I have prevented this by making changes in diet and exercise as soon as I got the breast cancer diagnosis? I have all the risk factors: overweight, smoker, family diabetes. I think this might be the one to finally force me to make changes in my life.

I've managed to stay on a very low-carb diet (less than 10g per day) and have got my numbers down to normal. After less than 2 weeks my numbers range between 85 - 125. (Told you I was scared. No cheating at all! I'm a fried chicken junkie and it's killing me!) The next step is to implement an exercise program. I've already lost 10 lbs. However, I don't know how long i'll be able to maintain the very low-carb diet. Already bored. ER doctor put me on 10 units of Lantus daily and Humulog based on sliding scale.

QUESTION: Are you supposed to take the Lantus in the moring or at night. I wanted to get out of the hospital so bad I apparently was not listening to the doctor carefully. My primary care doctor asked me what their instructions were and I had no idea.

I've been taking it in the morning and as my numbers show, it has been working. Before going to bed last night my number was 127 and I was afraid it would go too low. I haven't taken any meds today. BG was 119 (am), 98 and 132 (2 hours after eating) (see I have been reading the posts here.) Based on the sliding scale provided, I do not take any Humulog until the number hits 131.

Doctor wanted to prescribe pills - I said "No Thanks". I've had enough side affects. (You wouldn't believe what chemo does to you. Loss of hair and throwing up is the least of your worries!)

I have already learned alot by reading the postings on this forum. I have no intention of letting this control me. It is time to take charge. (Sorry for the long post. I'm a talker!)

Thanks.


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[BlueSky]

I am not a doctor, but I don't think you can blame it all on the steroids. The blood glucose increasing effect normally stops when the steroid treatment is over. Steroids apparently can precipitate T1 or T2 diabetes that was already developing. With you, the onset seems to have been very sudden,the blood glucose has been very high, and you are already injecting insulin. Have they tested for the T1 antibodies?

Welcome to the forums .

[Cloudedbrains]

How long were you on steroids for
They can cause diabetes but they usually only do that after along period of time
My diabetes is steroid induced but I was on high doses (and still am) for 16yrs for another condition

Its good you got straight on to insulin, its the best way to get very high numbers down quickly
Lantus can be taken morning or night depending which suits you best, and can even be split to twice daily on the advice of a Dr

Have you seen an endo yet

[BrianSCohen]

Steroids are demonstrated to be correlated with both hyperglycemia and the emergence of diabetes. Whether they cause diabetes or just complicate an existing condition is not clear. You can make the same statements about the acne treatment accutane. I think in most cases, the medical establishment realizes steroids may cause transient blood sugar problems, and they will treat them in a transient manner. Should you then get full blown diabetes, then that is just too bad, you were predisposed to diabetes anyway.

I would suggest that if someone has diabetic risk factors, family with diabetes, PCOS, or insulin resistance then extreme caution should be used with drugs like steroids or accutane. But that is just my opinion.

[fgummett]

Seems to me that if we look at Type 2 D being a progressive disease; that starts with dysregulation of the body's blood sugar control mechanism... leads to high BS, pancreas working overtime to combat it, pancreas gets worn out, body becomes resistant to insulin and so on in a vicious cycle... if that is the case, then surely steroids, which are known to cause abnormally high BS levels, could kick off that progression

[mrDiabetic]

I had a swimming accident and nearly died. During the treatment I was kept on high steroids for 4 days and that gave me my new life. Sometimes I think the steroids would have aggravated my diabetes somewhat. I was diagnosed as IGT back then.

[Cloudedbrains]

When I was diagnosed my endo did tests and said I was steroid induced, then again after 14yrs of steroids (now 16yrs) it was expected, the steroids had finally done the damage to my pancreas (and also my adrenal gland)
So from the moment of diagnosis we knew it was steroid induced and tests backed that up, and it isnt very easy to control steroid induced diabetes when you have to live on steroids, there are many more people out there with diabetes induced by longterm steroid use (I know many of the people with the same illness as me have the same issues with steroid induced diabetes).

Steroid induced diabetes is out there and is recognised by some endo's, I just wish it was recognised more

[verynicebecky]

I was diagnosed with type II diabetes in 1996, after eleven yrs of taking prednisone after having a liver transplant. I took myself off of the prednisone three years ago (was on it for 20 yrs). I am still a diabetic. Steroid induced diabetes is very common in liver transplant recipients.