Hello, my husband has recently been diagnosed with steroid induced diabetes, after an intensive 3 weeks of dexamethasone, treating hydrocephalus in hospital. He is home now and still taking the dexamethasone twice a day, and will be until further notice. He started feeling really unwell with blurred vision just before Christmas, and a trip back to hospital found his blood sugar levels were 30. He was treated at the time with insulin and fluids, and allowed home once his levels dropped below 20. He is now taking 1000mg Metformin twice a day, and 40mg glicazide once a day. I have been feeding him a low carb diet and making sure he has at least a gentle walk a day. Morning bloods are now in the normal range, which took a couple of weeks, but afternoon and evening are still 13 and 10 on average. Is this safe? It seems to have settled around this level. Vision is back mostly, but he is still exhausted. He has started having excruciating stomach pains for the last few days. We are waiting for a call back from the diabetes nurse, but it has been tricky getting hold of them. Is this likely to be a side effect of meds? His levels only started coming down once the glicazide was added in on top of the Metformin, about a week ago, and pains started three days ago (plus pretty dreadful flatulence). We are so new to this and have been given little guidance. Thank you!
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Steroid induced diabetes
- Thread starter wheelie
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That sounds sensible, some people tolerate a low dose of metformin but get problems when the dose is increased. I hope his stomach settles.
This link may help you with some low carb ideas.
https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/
Hi wheelie, welcome to the forum.
Glad to hear that the medication has been changed, it's a common side effect and many find relief following the right adjustments.
Your husband's body has been through a lot so it will take a bit of time for things to settle down. It sounds as though you're doing all of the right things so do keep reaching out and we'll do our best to help.
Glad to hear that the medication has been changed, it's a common side effect and many find relief following the right adjustments.
Your husband's body has been through a lot so it will take a bit of time for things to settle down. It sounds as though you're doing all of the right things so do keep reaching out and we'll do our best to help.
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