Steroid hyperglycemia

[mikelaurey84]

Hi to all,

this time, I'm writing on behalf of a friend: he is 45 yo and he is an ex BB pro with at least 20 years of cycles. I guess he blasted and cruised for several years and used almost everything like testo, trenbo, deca, oxandrolone, winstrol and eutirox (this last one only for few times). He never used insulin.

He is using nothing for the past five years since he retired and he's only on TRT, 125 mg/week.

He started to have problems with glycemia two years ago. His glucose levels are not so high, but are always above the maximum value, i.e. 153 mg/dl while the reference range is 60-110 mg/dl.
Obviously, he reduced the intake of carbohydrates and sugar with no results.
Moreover, his insulin value are really high: 45 uU/ml while the range is 2.6-24.9 uU/ml.

All the doctors said him that they do not understand why his insuline and glucose values are high since all the other values are fine.
He now thinks that he should have some kind of genetic predisposition, but it is strange because he developed this condition only recently.

I've read some scientific papers about steroid hyperglicemia like this one: Steroid hyperglycemia: Prevalence, early detection and therapeutic recommendations: A narrative review

Has anyone experienced something like that? Do you think it can be related to all the steroid cycles during past years?
Is there any specific blood test that we can do in order to inspect this situation?
Can it be related to steroid-induced diabetes?

Thank you!

 

[Deleted member 134759]

If his doctor is doing nothing when it shows he’s clearly in diabetic/pre-diabetic glucose values he needs to see a different doctor.

 

[mikelaurey84]

The problem is that they said he is not diabetic and most of them agreed that it is a result of the abuse of steroids.

 

[Rido]

Typically steroid induced diabetes is related to glucocorticoids.

What about his family history? I am not sure of how his overall diet and other drug habits have been as well.

What's his bodyfat like? It is very well possible it could have fucked his system too.

Anabolic steroid use associated with impaired insulin sensitivity in men

Men who abuse or have abused anabolic androgenic steroids have lower insulin sensitivity and more visceral fat than controls, possibly mediated by long-term natriuretic peptide deficiency, according to study findings presented at the 52nd European Association for the Study of Diabetes Annual...

www.healio.com

 

[Mac11wildcat]

His fasted glucose and insulin are 153 and 45? He’s clearly overproducing insulin from insensitivity. What’s his A1C?

“You used steroids your fault can’t help” isn’t a suitable medical response. Find a new doctor.

 

[XTX187]

Hi to all,

this time, I'm writing on behalf of a friend: he is 45 yo and he is an ex BB pro with at least 20 years of cycles. I guess he blasted and cruised for several years and used almost everything like testo, trenbo, deca, oxandrolone, winstrol and eutirox (this last one only for few times). He never used insulin.

He is using nothing for the past five years since he retired and he's only on TRT, 125 mg/week.

He started to have problems with glycemia two years ago. His glucose levels are not so high, but are always above the maximum value, i.e. 153 mg/dl while the reference range is 60-110 mg/dl.
Obviously, he reduced the intake of carbohydrates and sugar with no results.
Moreover, his insulin value are really high: 45 uU/ml while the range is 2.6-24.9 uU/ml.

All the doctors said him that they do not understand why his insuline and glucose values are high since all the other values are fine.
He now thinks that he should have some kind of genetic predisposition, but it is strange because he developed this condition only recently.

I've read some scientific papers about steroid hyperglicemia like this one: Steroid hyperglycemia: Prevalence, early detection and therapeutic recommendations: A narrative review

Has anyone experienced something like that? Do you think it can be related to all the steroid cycles during past years?
Is there any specific blood test that we can do in order to inspect this situation?
Can it be related to steroid-induced diabetes?

Thank you!

Has he used a lot of GH in his days? This can cause high blood sugar/ pre diabetes. Only thing is you mentioned his insulin levels high which is strange or he wasn't fasted for this test and his insulin is higher to deal with the higher blood glucose. He may be resistant to insulin which is what gh will do if used over long period of time at a higher dose. There's many variables he need to do more testing perhaps

 

[mikelaurey84]

Typically steroid induced diabetes is related to glucocorticoids.

What about his family history? I am not sure of how his overall diet and other drug habits have been as well.

What's his bodyfat like? It is very well possible it could have fucked his system too.

Anabolic steroid use associated with impaired insulin sensitivity in men

Men who abuse or have abused anabolic androgenic steroids have lower insulin sensitivity and more visceral fat than controls, possibly mediated by long-term natriuretic peptide deficiency, according to study findings presented at the 52nd European Association for the Study of Diabetes Annual...

www.healio.com

His mother suffered of high levels of cortisol that caused her to have high blood sugar.
He is 172 cm, 113 Kg, 25% of body fat almost all concentrated in visceral fat.

His cortisol level changes a lot during the day:
- morning: 0.230 ug/dl (OK)
- midday: 0.020 ug/dl (BAD since it is too low)
- afternoon: 0.058 ug/dl (OK)
- evening: 0.012 ug/dl (BAD, too low)

DHEA: 211.65 pg/ml
Ratio DHEA/Cortisol: 0.09 (OK)

One of the doctors said him to use Glucophage which is based on metformina to control his glucose, but it didn't solve the situation. He took even up to 3000 mg/day with no results.

His GFR is ok.

 

[mikelaurey84]

His fasted glucose and insulin are 153 and 45? He’s clearly overproducing insulin from insensitivity. What’s his A1C?

“You used steroids your fault can’t help” isn’t a suitable medical response. Find a new doctor.

Yes, the reported values are related to fasted glucose.
He never had the A1C test, unfortunately.

 

[mikelaurey84]

Has he used a lot of GH in his days? This can cause high blood sugar/ pre diabetes. Only thing is you mentioned his insulin levels high which is strange or he wasn't fasted for this test and his insulin is higher to deal with the higher blood glucose. He may be resistant to insulin which is what gh will do if used over long period of time at a higher dose. There's many variables he need to do more testing perhaps

Yes, he used GH, but never above 4UI.

 

[mikelaurey84]

About his diet, in order to control the insulin and the cortisol, he doesn't eat until midday (no breakfast, no snack breaks).
He has the first lunch at midnight with only proteins, fibers and fats, then some fruits at afternoon and for dinner he has 120-150 gr of carbs, 150 gr of proteins (like fish or meat) and vegetables.

His diet is really very strict, but he has problems to lose his fat.

 

[Rido]

His mother suffered of high levels of cortisol that caused her to have high blood sugar.
He is 172 cm, 113 Kg, 25% of body fat almost all concentrated in visceral fat.

His cortisol level changes a lot during the day:
- morning: 0.230 ug/dl (OK)
- midday: 0.020 ug/dl (BAD since it is too low)
- afternoon: 0.058 ug/dl (OK)
- evening: 0.012 ug/dl (BAD, too low)

DHEA: 211.65 pg/ml
Ratio DHEA/Cortisol: 0.09 (OK)

One of the doctors said him to use Glucophage which is based on metformina to control his glucose, but it didn't solve the situation. He took even up to 3000 mg/day with no results.

His GFR is ok.

How did his mom get diagnosed?

so he has metabolic syndrome. sounds like he just needs to lose weight then.


glucophage is metformin.

He just needs to get down to a reasonable BF and re-evaluate.

 

[Evom1]

25% body fat and you say a high level of visceral fat? I would focus on correcting both of those issues and see how much it helps. He's in the diabetic range with those fasted numbers

 

[Mac11wildcat]

25% bodyfat! Dude wtf. You’ve got an experienced bodybuilder friend who can’t figure this out…? Feel like someone’s being lied to, and it’s either you or us..

 

[Rido]

25% bodyfat! Dude wtf. You’ve got an experienced bodybuilder friend who can’t figure this out…? Feel like someone’s being lied to, and it’s either you or us..

An ex pro

 

[Whopperflopper]

My A1c was 8.5 last week. Test took 8mins and a drop of blood. Gives a much better picture of glucose control compare to a single fasted reading.

Your "friend' needs to see a different Dr. Who will treat his symptoms.

 

[Rido]

My A1c was 8.5 last week. Test took 8mins and a drop of blood. Gives a much better picture of glucose control compare to a single fasted reading.

Your "friend' needs to see a different Dr. Who will treat his symptoms.

Jesus fucking Christ. I'm assuming you have t2 diabetes?

 

[mikelaurey84]

Guys, he knows that his body fat is high, but the main issue is that he is not able to lower it even if it is on a strict diet. He also tried the keto diet for few months but he wasnt able to go lower than 20% of bf. He workouts everyday and he still has good muscular volume.

He thinks that the difficulty with the weight loss is related to the insuline's issue and not the contrary. Almost all his fat is concentrated in the abdomen area. Really almost no fat on shoulders and chest.

His estradiol is fine and in the range.

 

[mikelaurey84]

25% bodyfat! Dude wtf. You’ve got an experienced bodybuilder friend who can’t figure this out…? Feel like someone’s being lied to, and it’s either you or us..

I have no reason to lie. I'm not a troll and I always posted serious messages here.

I just thought that in this forum there are lots of experienced users who can figure out how to solve the problem since he saw different endocrinologists with no results.

 

[mikelaurey84]

How did his mom get diagnosed?

so he has metabolic syndrome. sounds like he just needs to lose weight then.


glucophage is metformin.

He just needs to get down to a reasonable BF and re-evaluate.

She went to the hospital for other reason and there they did other blood tests and she got her diabete diagnosed.

The main problem here is that it is very hard for him to decrease his weight even on strict diet.

He has no problem to control his appetite so che never cheats on the meals.

 

[Mac11wildcat]

The math isn’t mathing.

He’s a retired pro bodybuilder but can’t figure out 25% bodyfat is most definitely the root of his issue? A doctor won’t discuss diabetes even tho he’s showing diabetic fasted glucose and fasting insulin levels?