If you have ever been on Prednisone or other steroid, what is the best way to manage the very high sugars?

[Guest]

I have bolused more than normal insulin units with meals and blood sugar doesn’t go down below 300’s.

[Susan]

Definitely increase your basals significantly. I have had cortisone shots and it takes about 4 days to get back to normal. Everyone is different so you need to figure out what the % increase is for the first day (mine is 120%) and then lower it over the course of days.

[Vera]

Correction boluses alone aren’t enough - you most likely need to increase your basal, as well. When I had cortisone shots in my shoulder for bursitis, I needed 150% basal for about a week after the shot to stay close to normal, but I still spiked after meals until I figured out that I needed to manually add an extra unit to every meal or snack bolus to avoid the spike.

You will need to monitor your blood sugars to see how much you need to increase your basal to compensate for the effect of the steroids. 150% across the board worked for me. I’ve seen others commend that they needed significantly more (double or triple the usual basal rates). What did your endocrinologist recommend?

[Elizabeth]

Basal and bolus both need to be increased. This typically will last 2-6 days after you’re done taking it too.