How much do Steroids increase BG & for how long?

[JontyW]

I asked a similar question back in Aug 2014, and just wondered if anyone has got any more information on this. I am currently on 15mg Prednisolone to treat a rare autoimmune disease called vasculitis (inflammation of the blood vessels) & want to know how much this might increase my BG and for how long it could stay raised during the day/night. Because this disease causes variable BG increase due to inflammation on a daily basis, it is very hard to actually measure the possible increase.

I found this as a guide ... http://blog.joslin.org/2014/02/how-prednisone-affects-blood-sugar/

"One of the most difficult things about taking prednisone is that it doesn’t elevate BG consistently throughout the day. Prednisone taken in the morning usually doesn’t cause BG levels to start to rise until lunch time. BG usually stay high through the early evening and then decline over night. Many people have normal or low BG in the morning while taking prednisone."

 

[AlisonM]

It's impossible to predict because we're all different in our reactions. While it's almost certain that BG levels will rise, it's difficult to say how much. I was on steroids for some time, both before and after diagnosis (cortisone for Addison's and RA) and my BGs were raised but it was impossible to figure out how it worked as I was having trouble with other meds as well. Not very helpful I'm afraid, sorry about that.

 

[Pumper_Sue]

I take pred and find that my blood sugars spike at midday, the pred effect has worn off by about 4pm.

 

[JontyW]

Pumper_Sue,

What pred dose are you on and what is BG increase due to this amount .. thank you?

 

[Pumper_Sue]

I take 5mg pred and 5mg hydrocortisone in the morning. There's no actual BG increase because I use a pump thus my basal is set to make sure I stay in range. My first post wasn't written that well sorry. I have been told by an endo that as a general rule 1 mg of pred needs 2 units of insulin.

 

[JontyW]

"I have been told by an endo that as a general rule 1 mg of pred needs 2 units of insulin."

So for me that would be 15 x 2 = 30u"
That clearly doesn't work for me since this morning I did 24u to cover Correct (6u) + carb bolus (18u) = 24u .. and I wnr down to 3.0 :-(

 

[Pumper_Sue]

When I was given the info it did include basal and bolus amounts not just the bolus 🙂 I very rarely ever have any more than 5 units for a meal bolus and some parts of the day I use 1 unit to drop me by 6.
I do notice a massive difference though if I need extra steroids for any reason. I take less than 30 units a day in total, so your doses are massive compared to mine. 🙂

 

[khskel]

"I have been told by an endo that as a general rule 1 mg of pred needs 2 units of insulin."

So for me that would be 15 x 2 = 30u"
That clearly doesn't work for me since this morning I did 24u to cover Correct (6u) + carb bolus (18u) = 24u .. and I wnr down to 3.0 :-(

For me that would have been too soon as the steroids wouldn't have affected my levels until after my evening meal. I would then test hourly and correct gradually but then again I would not normally have more than 15 units a day including basal and I don't particularly low carb.

 

[trophywench]

Just shows that we ARE all different! LOL (as if we didn't know that by now ....)

So in conclusion - and to precis the replies - it seems you need as much insulin as you need, at whatever time of day you need it ! LOL