I was just prescribed Fostair and read the warning and there was one about taking it with diabetes and so I looked it up and found that there are studies that show asthma inhalers can increase risk of T2 by 35% which seems huge to me. It also seems no coincidence perhaps that I was diagnosed with T2 about 6 months after ss
diagnosed with asthma and prescribed daily inhalers….
has anyone else got any knowledge/ experience of this?
Hi,
I’m a type 1 and also asthmatic and I use the fostair inhaler as part of my asthma management.
I’ve just had a look through the information leaflet and it does say it can increase blood glucose levels.
However, it doesn’t explicitly mention that it leads to the development of diabetes, it simply says if you have diabetes you may need to check blood glucose levels more often due to the fact that it can increase blood sugar levels.
I’ve heard that long term use of steroids can in some instances, lead to the development of type 2 diabetes. However, my guess would be that it would have to be high doses over a long period of time and therefore, probably unlikely that after only 6 months, it would have lead to type 2, especially as inhaled doses are typically lower than steroids taken in tablet form (which I’ve had to have on occasion during severe asthma flare ups).
However, please don’t take this as definite, as I’m not a medical professional, simply another diabetic giving my thoughts on the matter. If you have concerns about this inhaler regarding diabetes, please do talk to a medical professional.
Hope you found that helpful!
