Pain meds and high sugars

Reply

Theresa Posted: Sun, Mar 22 2009 8:28 PM

rated by 0 users

Hi, My name is Theresa. I have type 2 diabetes. I take Humilin R insulin and metformin 1000mg. I have a severe back injury that means I have to take pain meds. I find that the higher dosage of pain med the higher my sugar goes (but not all the time). I have been told that the pain meds slow down digeston so therefore more sugar and calories are absorbed. My new diabetes Dr. said that is not true. He said the stress of living with pain ( on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the worst) I live with a 7-8. My new Dr. said to get stronger pain meds because dealing with all the pain is making my diabetes worse. Stress raises blood sugars I have been told. I can't find any info on the computer concering this matter. I injured my back  (ruptured 5 disc) while working as a nurse and now I am on disability at 46 yrs. old. Any info. would be greatly appreciated. Theresa

Reply

RobertIA replied on Mon, Mar 23 2009 9:46 AM

rated by 0 users

Theresa,

In my non-medical opinion, I believe your new doctor is on the right track.  While the following links lead you to information on diabetes pain stress connection, most are not written by doctors or backed by any studies.  It is sad that most web sites will not publish information from studies.  They dance around the issue and mention studies, but never specific studies.  I am beginning to conclude that if we were able to read the data in the study and the conclusions drawn, that we would not find a direct connection to what they were writing about.

That being vented, the links do provide some valuable information on the relationship between stress and diabetes.  There are many sources using the search engines for Diabetes stress connection and Diabetes stress pain connection.  Use more than one search engine as each will yield different results.

http://www.mendosa.com/stress.htm

http://www.livestrong.com/health-article/the-diabetes-stress-connection_0ae51640-ff51-fa9d-26d2-baf82ea8e7bb/

http://type1diabetes.about.com/od/managingtype1diabetes/a/stress_glucose.htm

http://www.heattreat.ca/importantsymptoms.php

http://www.nationalpainfoundation.org/MyTreatment/MyTreatment_GuidedImagery_Rossman.asp

The above links should get you started and may lead you to other sites that will more specifically answer your questions.  Continue to question your new doctor and get him talking about this.

Good luck and happy searching.

Reply

Spirit replied on Mon, Mar 23 2009 7:53 PM

rated by 0 users

Theresa:  I can't give you studies to support this, only my own life experience. I have found that pain/illness/infection/stress are by themselves a reason for higher glucose levels.  When any of these have happened, my readings rapidly rose.  When the treatment finally kicked in, they dropped.  So, from my perspective, your new doctor seems to have the straight goods.  I have found that emotional stress (absent any physical problems at all) can also cause blood sugar levels to shoot up.  So, it appears to be the stress itself that is the root of the problem.  I'm not sure why, even if the pain meds slow digestion, that would cause a different rate of absorption of carbs.  I can see where it might cause timing of higher glucose levels to be noticed (that is, you might peak later than usual).

Have you asked your pharmacist about this issue?  I have found that pharmacists are a walking encyclopedia of info about medications.  And they are often overlooked as a resource for our questions.  If I were in your place, I would ask the pharmacist (NOT the pharmacy technician) this question about your specific pain medication and its reported effect on blood glucose levels.  I have gotten amazing information from pharmacists since medications are indeed their specialty and they keep up with this even more than doctors do.  Might be worth a try, anyway, to put your mind at ease about what direction to take about increasing the meds.

Spirit

Reply

kat replied on Mon, Mar 23 2009 8:13 PM

rated by 0 users

Theresa,

My experience mirrors Spirit's.  I'd also strongly second her suggestion that you contact a pharmacist.  As she said, they are an amazing and often overlooked resource.

Reply

Ron AKA replied on Wed, Mar 25 2009 1:05 AM

rated by 0 users

The only meds I have seen evidence of causing BG increases are steroids. Is that what you are on?

Reply

zrebiec replied on Fri, Apr 10 2009 11:50 AM

rated by 0 users

Another resource is the workbook: Managing Pain Before It Manages You by Margaret A. Caudill, MD, PhD., Guilford Press, New York, 1995. It's full of helpful ideas about how to reduce pain.

John Zrebiec, MSW, CDE

Moderator

Reply

Spirit replied on Fri, Apr 10 2009 6:30 PM

rated by 0 users

Thanks, John Z for chiming in on this issue.  Professional input is a real plus on this board.  It is one of the things that sets it apart from other boards where "urban legends" can reign unchecked and unchallenged.  Please drop in as often as you can with professional guidance.  We will all appreciate it.

Spirit