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Steroid-induced diabetes while on treatment for esophageal cancer
Esophageal Cancer | Last Active: May 6, 2022 | Replies (9)Comment receiving replies
My elderly mother's blood sugars spiked in the mid-250's on prednisone. My young daughter, way back, spiked in the 400's on prednisone and it turned out that she actually had type 1 diabetes.
Since she has had type 1 for many years now, we can say reliably that steroids may triple blood sugars (though 6-8mg is a lowish dose). Any chance he can go down, or any chance there is another med to help him?
Blood sugars in the 400-500 range are dangerous, again, in our experience. Look up diabetic ketoacidosis. If the values don't come down I would seek emergency care. Do you have ketone sticks? Pharmacies sell them. If ketones are high it can be quite urgent.
Have you called the doctor?
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Thank you for your reply. We are seeing the Dr again today. We will get a testing kit. I will also ask about ketone strips. I have asked if my husband could now try weaning off of the 6 mg of dexamethasone. We will discuss that today. We have outstanding medical care, locally and at Mayo. However, I do believe one can learn a lot from actual patient experiences, all the while realizing each person is different. This new blood sugar component is very new to us!