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My blood glucose is rising

Welsh devonian said:
I'm currently taking steroids for another health condition, my blood glucose is now 18.7, its normally around 6
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Welcome to the forum
It is a well known side effect of steroids and can be problematic if it is likely to be long term when medication or increasing medication may be needed.
If it is just short term then depending on what meds you may be taking paying attention to diet may help but speaking to your GP asap would be a good idea.
It would be wise to get some ketone urine dip stick to check for ketones.
When you say your blood glucose is 18.7 have you double checked and how long has it been at that level or it is just a one off related to what you have just eaten.
A bit more detail of meds and situation would help people make some suggestions.
If you feel at all unwell then call 111 for advice.
 
Welcome to the forum. I was diagnosed a year ago. Since then i have had two cataract ops. Because I have uveitis flares i was given steroids for a week before and after the op. Both times my BG increased but it was short term. If it is high dose or longterm you need advice as to how to handle the two conditions. Was your BG under control before you took steroids?

As far as the suggestion of keto strips etc. I take an SGLT2 and was warned ketoacidosis is a rare side effect. I was warned to test if I felt unwell. I've tested twice on one occasion it was curiosity on other i was unwell but not seriously so. I have ketostix which is a bit like peeing on litmus paper. There is a colour chart and both times I was the palest no problem colour. I got them on prescription but having discovered you are supposed to chuck once open 6 months I will buy my next one, they are about £5.00 and no prescription required.
 
Leadinglights said:
Welcome to the forum
It is a well known side effect of steroids and can be problematic if it is likely to be long term when medication or increasing medication may be needed.
If it is just short term then depending on what meds you may be taking paying attention to diet may help but speaking to your GP asap would be a good idea.
It would be wise to get some ketone urine dip stick to check for ketones.
When you say your blood glucose is 18.7 have you double checked and how long has it been at that level or it is just a one off related to what you have just eaten.
A bit more detail of meds and situation would help people make some suggestions.
If you feel at all unwell then call 111 for advice.
Click to expand...
 
I'm taking just 1 x 500mg Metformin SR, the steroids are only short term, have done 111 online, had a call back with an appointment for later tonight if things don't improve
 
saffron15 said:
As far as the suggestion of keto strips etc. I take an SGLT2 and was warned ketoacidosis is a rare side effect. I was warned to test if I felt unwell. I've tested twice on one occasion it was curiosity on other i was unwell but not seriously so. I have ketostix which is a bit like peeing on litmus paper. There is a colour chart and both times I was the palest no problem colour. I got them on prescription but having discovered you are supposed to chuck once open 6 months I will buy my next one, they are about £5.00 and no prescription required.
Click to expand...

Probably an unnecessary warning as you obviously didn't have DKA on those two occasions, but SGLT2is can block the kidneys from passing ketones into the urine (so they can build up in the blood but wouldn't necessarily be detected on a pee stick). I'd want to test blood ketones just to be absolutely sure. The strips are far more expensive than ketostix, the ones for my meter are about £18 for £10.
 
One problem with ketone blood test strips is that they have a very short shelf life.
If you are like me, you don't want to waste them because they are expensive so you don't use them and they expire.
 
helli said:
One problem with ketone blood test strips is that they have a very short shelf life.
If you are like me, you don't want to waste them because they are expensive so you don't use them and they expire.
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I agree. It would be nice if they sold them in packs of 4 or 5.
 
I use keto sticks for urine initially, and only if I am ill for a while, or things are going very awry do I switch to blood ketone testing. I had not picked up the the info about kidneys blocking ketones from the urine as being a reason for using blood ketones, I had thought that it was just that it was more accurate (thanks @debs248 )
 
SB2015 said:
I use keto sticks for urine initially, and only if I am ill for a while, or things are going very awry do I switch to blood ketone testing. I had not picked up the the info about kidneys blocking ketones from the urine as being a reason for using blood ketones, I had thought that it was just that it was more accurate (thanks @debs248 )
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Sue I think @debs248 is saying that the SGLT2 medications ie Flozins block the kidneys from removing ketones. I don't know if this is correct but unless you are on a flozin, the Ketostix urine sticks should work fine for you as an initial screening option.
 
rebrascora said:
Sue I think @debs248 is saying that the SGLT2 medications ie Flozins block the kidneys from removing ketones. I don't know if this is correct but unless you are on a flozin, the Ketostix urine sticks should work fine for you as an initial screening option.
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Yes. Thanks for clarifying. As far as I am aware it is only if taking SGLT2 meds that ketones in the blood would not also show up in the urine.
 
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