Question from Covington, Georgia, USA:

Last December, my husband was diagnosed with bronchitis and his doctor gave him a prescription for Dexamethasone with the following directions: one, twice daily for two days, one-half, twice daily for one day, then one-half daily for two days. He took them as directed until the fifth day when the pharmacist called and said he had not given him the correct amount of the pills. He then prescribed the pills again with my husband taking six the first day and then decreasing the amount daily. My husband took the pills until the third day when he became very ill and was taken to the hospital and had a blood sugar level of 1025 mg/dl [56.9 mmol/L]. I was told he was in a diabetic coma. His blood sugar was normal four months prior to this time. Could the method in which he took this medication have caused him to become a diabetic?