1. Community
  2. Skin and nails
  3. Steroids

Prednisone and high blood sugar?

Posted , 3 users are following.

sky87001
sky87001

Hi everyone. I was on Loratadine for fluid in my ear, but was told to stop after my blood sugar went to 154. Took allegra instead and my sugar went down to normal. It was in the 88-91 area. I went back to the doctor today because I wasn't feeling better, and he gave me sudafed with prednisone. Last night my blood sugar was 102. I checked it again just now (took my medicine a few hours ago) and my reading was 175! I googled it and saw articles saying prednisone can spike blood sugar. Is that true? Has anyone else experienced this? Diabetes runs in my family and I'm afraid of getting it. I don't want my blood sugar to go up anymore. What should I do?

0 likes, 1 reply

1 Reply

  • EileenH
    EileenH sky87001

    Posted

    Corticosteroids can trigger your liver to release spikes of glucose into the bloodstream so one-off measurements of BS when on pred are unreliable. Once you stop the pred it will go back to normal. In the meantime, cutting carbs, especially simple sugars and processed foods, will help keep your BS more stable because if your liver releases a spike of glucose at the same time as your body is processing carbs you ate in a meal it will look very high. If you are to be on any of these medications longer term then monitoring your Hba1c is much more useful and you need to discuss it with your doctor.

Back to top

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.