I am on day 3 of the Medpak and my fasting blood sugar this morning was only
108 thanks to Byetta. The dose is rapidly tapering down and only 3 days to
go on the prednisone, so my blood sugar should be back to normal when I go
off it. I don’t think the short course of steroids did any real harm to my
blood sugars. And it sure did help in clearing the gunk out of my lungs.
Janet

I was then referred to a pain specialist who was supposed to do an
injection in my neck for the pain. I went to outpatient surgery, got
the IV and they did a blood sugar and it was 353!! He said he could not
give me the shot since it was that high and that I needed to talk to my
doc. I was stunned as I had NEVER had a blood sugar over about 115 or
so until the Medrol Pack and Predisone.

That’s my story. So now I have lost 15 lbs and am on Byetta and
watching what I eat. I have not had a reading over 144 in well over 2
weeks so maybe those cells that were affected by the Steroids are dying
off? One can only hope…

““““
No, not seven days. As my original post stated, 13 months . . .

********************************************************
I only have to take the steroids for 6 days. There are 21 tablets in all
and they are 4 mg each. Yesterday morning before I started the steroids my
fasting blood glucose was 103. I took 6 steroid pills yesterday. This morning
my fasting blood glucose was 133, an increase of 30 points. But I only have
to take 5 pills today and then they are tapered down to only one on the 6th
day. So, hopefully they won’t raise my blood glucose too much. I was hoping
to get a lower number on my next A1c test so I hope the steroids won’t make
the number higher. Janet

Several years ago I was put on Prednisone and hospitalized for a few
days due to pericarditis and other problems which eventually were
diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis disease. I believe the initial dose
was 60 or 70 milligrams, which was gradually reduced over time as a
substitute medication was tried which one could stay on longer and
with less possible side effects. Anyway, I had to start taking
insulin on a sliding scale to try and offset the greatly increased BG
readings I experienced on the Prednisone, as my doctor predicted.

FYI, once you start taking Prednisone you can’t just stop taking it,
but very gradually have to decrease it over a period of many, months,
otherwise there can be some severe reactions, maybe even possible
death, though I don’t recall for sure now, it’s been many years back.
I recall reading on some website at the time a recommended schedule
for reducing the Prednisone which was something like 14 pages long,
IIRC. The bottom line in my case is that I was on Prednisone for
something like 13 months before tapering off was complete, and on
insulin for about two years before I could go back to just meds alone.
My rheumatologist said he had never heard of anyone coming off of
insulin once they had started taking it.

As you may or may not know, you cannot stay on Prednisone long term as
it can(will?) cause bone deterioration and blindness. Luckily, I
never had the weight gain problem while on it.

I don’t tell you these things to scare you, just passing along what I
had learned and experienced. Poke around on the web and see what
other info you can discover that will help you.

Hope this is helpful.

Paul Kossart, Type-2
Metformin, Glyburide & [Now] Byetta

““““
>I have been trying to get my blood glucose down and keep it down and
had
>been doing fairly well. I take Metformin (1000 mg twice a day) and
Byetta (2
>shots of 10 mcg a day). This morning my fasting blood glucose was
103.
>However, this morning I started on a Medpak of prednisone given to me
by my doctor
>to clear congestion out of my lungs and to bring my voice back after
fighting
>a virus for nearly 2 months and not coming out on top. The doctor
said the
>steroids would raise my blood sugar and that we’d just have to tolerate
>increased blood sugar for awhile until I am done with the steroids.
Has anyone
>had experience with having diabetes and taking steroids? Or with
taking
>steroids while on Byetta? I was wondering how much I can expect my
blood sugar to
>go up and if there is any way to avoid the increase, like eating
less carbs?
>I was also wondering if Byetta will lower blood sugar caused by
steroids?
>Any information would be helpful to me. Thanks! Janet

Several years ago I was put on Prednisone and hospitalized for a few
days due to pericarditis and other problems which eventually were
diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis disease. I believe the initial dose
was 60 or 70 milligrams, which was gradually reduced over time as a
substitute medication was tried which one could stay on longer and
with less possible side effects. Anyway, I had to start taking
insulin on a sliding scale to try and offset the greatly increased BG
readings I experienced on the Prednisone, as my doctor predicted.

FYI, once you start taking Prednisone you can’t just stop taking it,
but very gradually have to decrease it over a period of many, months,
otherwise there can be some severe reactions, maybe even possible
death, though I don’t recall for sure now, it’s been many years back.

I recall reading on some website at the time a recommended schedule
for reducing the Prednisone which was something like 14 pages long,
IIRC. The bottom line in my case is that I was on Prednisone for
something like 13 months before tapering off was complete, and on
insulin for about two years before I could go back to just meds alone.
My rheumatologist said he had never heard of anyone coming off of
insulin once they had started taking it.

As you may or may not know, you cannot stay on Prednisone long term as
it can(will?) cause bone deterioration and blindness. Luckily, I
never had the weight gain problem while on it.

I don’t tell you these things to scare you, just passing along what I
had learned and experienced. Poke around on the web and see what
other info you can discover that will help you.

Hope this is helpful.

Paul Kossart, Type-2
Metformin, Glyburide & [Now] Byetta

““““
>I have been trying to get my blood glucose down and keep it down and
had
>been doing fairly well. I take Metformin (1000 mg twice a day) and
Byetta (2
>shots of 10 mcg a day). This morning my fasting blood glucose was
103.
>However, this morning I started on a Medpak of prednisone given to me
by my doctor
>to clear congestion out of my lungs and to bring my voice back after
fighting
>a virus for nearly 2 months and not coming out on top. The doctor
said the
>steroids would raise my blood sugar and that we’d just have to tolerate
>increased blood sugar for awhile until I am done with the steroids.
Has anyone
>had experience with having diabetes and taking steroids? Or with
taking
>steroids while on Byetta? I was wondering how much I can expect my
blood sugar to
>go up and if there is any way to avoid the increase, like eating
less carbs?
>I was also wondering if Byetta will lower blood sugar caused by
steroids?
>Any information would be helpful to me. Thanks! Janet