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April 12, 2005

Hyperglycemia and DKA, Other

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Question from San Antonio, Texas, USA:

I am taking metformin at night to balance my blood sugar. Just today, I was given a shot of cortisone for allergies, plus Claritin. My blood sugar is abnormally high right now. Are these allergy treatments affecting my blood sugar?

Answer:

From: DTeam Staff

Many people get a temporary rise in blood sugar after a cortisone injection. It should clear up within a few days, a week at most. Some people increase their diabetes medicine to get them through that period (insulin or insulin secretagogues that make you make more insulin) but you are not taking either type of medicine. It won’t help to increase metformin or a TZD (such as Actos or Avandia) because they have a long term effect on your blood sugar, not short term. You can be extra careful of your carbohydrate intake and exercise a bit more to try to counteract the high sugar.

JS