With 35 years of T1D, I have only once had to take a steriod and that was a one time shot. I was just prescribed 7 days of 20 mcg of prednisone twice a day (which from what I read, seems like a high dosage). I was wondering if anyone can share their experience with taking a course of prednisone and if, in your experience, you found consistently high blood sugars and continuing hunger or any other negative (or possibly positive) effects on blood sugar control as the warnings state may happen. I am on a closed loop Tandem system and this wonderful system helps to keep me in excellent control.
Welcome back, Beth @parkerbe .
I’ve had two experiences with prednisone and, yes is did cause my BGL to rise some. The Tandem IQ with a Profile that has slightly hirer basal rates worked well for me - I was using the higher-rate basal Profile one of the times because the heavy dose of prednisone was injected while during surgery and I required more insulin. The other time was 2 eyedrops twice a day and I managed that time with CIQ and careful watchfulness.
If you have upgraded your pump to the new CIQ+, my experience has shown me that you may not need to do any adjustments - but be watchful.
Thank you, Dennis. This is helpful. I just increased my settings and I will remain watchful.
@parkerbe I took a rather high dose for a neck injury. The secret is basal rate. I have a pump so a 300% increase in basal rate (2.8 to 3.5 units per hour, for me, based on my existing basal rate) and my blood sugar was fine. There is no way for CIQ to compensate like that, so this was more of a manual adjustment for me. Now I do not recommend doing anything without checking in with your doctor, Good luck.
Beth @parkerbe & @joe, the updated Tandem CIQ+, at least for the t-Slim model, has added “temp rate” as high as 250% to the Activity menu.
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Thanks @Dennis I use it. It’s not enough for steroids though (for me).
Joe, I agree in needing consultation.