Albuterol Inhaler...effects on BG?

[hold48398]

Has anyone had to use Albuterol inhaler on their child? Mia's bronchitis doesn't seem to clear up with just the antibiotics alone, so we will try the inhaler first before having to resort to the (dreaded) prednizone.

What has been your experience as far as effects on BG goes?

[Amy C.]

The sugar skyrockets with an albuteral inhaler. Just be prepared.

[cydnimom]

We used the albuterol inhaler with Ryan - no effects to bs. The thing that affected him was his inability to breathe. So, if he had an asthma attack his body would signal the stress relievers which did cause his bs to rise, but there was no direct correlation between administration of the inhaler and a rise in bs.

The dreaded oral predisone, I feel, should be avoided if you can. It does horrible things to bs. If they think steroids should be used, try asking for an inhaled steroid. It takes a bit of time to build up in the system, but definitely worth it for us anyway.

Just my personal opinion - ask your ped/endo for all options, what ifs, plan of action. I found that when they put Ryan on the oral prednisone they totally way undershot how aggressive they should have been with counteracting it with insulin. They were saying 20% increase on everything - I would have said at least 30% but closer to 40%.

Anyhow, every child is very different.

[georgia]

Amalia was put on this inhaler in the fall. Our CDE wanted to up our lantus because she said her numbers would go up on it. We held off upping the lantus because well, she was sick and not eating and didn't want to fight the lows, and once lantus is there you have all day to deal with it. Well, we never saw an increase in her sugar, so I am glad we held off. I hear both from people, no affect and raises bg. So I am not sure what to tell you to expect, but I would suggest watching closely. Goodluck, I hope she feels better soon!

[Deannas mom]

Hi Marisa..Im so sorry you are going through this.. Deanna is, was,(she hasnt had any asthma problems for over 2 years now) an asthmaic since she was 1 years old, every time she used her inhaler, she would get very jumpy,and her heart would race. and this was before D, I know it will rise her sugar, what did the endo's office say about increasing her Insulin while she is on the albu.?

[mom2a]

Hi Marisa,

We have to use albuteral on Alana when she gets a cold. She had pnuemonia last year and every time she gets sick it goes straight to her lungs. We see an increase in blood sugar for a few hours after she uses the inhaler.

I hope everything goes well. We will be thinking of you.

[WestinsMom]

We aren't on an ialbuterol nhailer anymore, but as I recall, no real affect on Westin's bs. We went on Singulair and Pulmicort and it actually made him more sensitive for a while. The pulminologist was surprised.

Predisone...We were in the hospital for a few days with that. BS through the roof!

[Twinklet]

Ugh, Prednisone and Albuterol! I developed pneumonia 2 years ago and was hospitalized. I couldn't take the Albuterol, it shot my heart rate into the mid-100's and I was shaking like a leaf. And the Prednisone shot my non-diabetic blood sugar into the 220's! :eek: It also dropped my potassium through the floor.

Here's something to think about if your child is prescribed Prednisone: Not only does it increase blood sugar dramatically, it also depletes the body of potassium, which is necessary for normal cardiac function (and a host of other physiological functions). Insulin carries potassium into the cell, which could deplete the bloodstream even more. So feed your child food high in Potassium, and consider asking the Endo if he/she needs a prescribed Potassium supplement while taking Prednisone.

[Mama Belle]

Samantha never experienced much of a rise in BGs from it, but she didn't use it regularly (I imagine that would make a difference). It seems to be an individualized thing. My dad has used one in the past for asthma and has no BG issues. But he is 63 years old, much more stable than a kid.

[s0ccerfreak]

I haven't noticed any problems with the Albuterol Inhaler itself, but stress on her body could be causing the rise. It doesnt cause my daughter bg to go up. It causes her to shake and feel low. Get your doctor to try everything else before putting her on Prednisone. My dd is currently on Prednisone, because of another bad asthma attack, and her numbers are horrible upper 100's to 300's with basals doubled. She is correcting every hour with little results, doesnt have ketones, but is very miserable.

[hold48398]

Thank you all for your replies. We had an entire change in course of action... In fact, we just got back from 5 hours in the hospital :(.

After coming home from the pediatrician, I never even had a chance to fill Mia's prescription for the inhaler this afternoon. Mia was completely lethargic and kept spiking fevers into the 104s despite Motrin. Her BG sailed well into the 300s and her ketones went back up to moderate. She would just lay there and cry..it broke my heart :(. Her cough continued and seemed to get worse, and I all the sudden started to worry that we could be looking at pneumonia rather than bronchitis. Long story short, I called the pediatrician back, and we agreed that it would be best to rule out any sort of flu, pneumonia and/or strep. We packed our bags and the 3 of us (the two girls and I...hubby was stuck in a meeting at work) hit the roads to travel down to the hospital by our endo (about 45 min to an hours drive).

After a long series of tests, everything came back negative but Mia did need some IV fluids to rehydrate and help get rid of her ketones. Also, the fever and high BGs (200+) continues, so we were told to will give her Tylenol and Motrin alternating every 3-4 hours.

We are finally back home now and exhausted but Mia is feeling better since the IV, and I hope that this "virus" or whatever this is will pass soon...after all, we are having an egg hunt in our yard on Saturday and are expecting 20 kids!! Nevermind the fact that I am EXHAUSTED lol.

I will hold off on filling the albuterol prescription as the ER doc didn't think it was necessary... Thanks again everyone for your useful comments and get well wishes!!

[jpb286]

I dont know if I would hold off on filling the albulterol prescription, particularly if everything else hasn't helped.

Albuterol is a Beta-2 agonist, that is, it acts directly on the lungs and respiratory system to reduce inflammation. It does have some Beta-1 crossover, which causes a temporary increase in heart rate, but this wears off, and the benefits of albuterol outweigh the minor HR increase. It has no effect on blood glucose levels.

Prednisone, particularly if it is the standard 4-day treatment, I am not keen on taking unless in a hospital under a supervised, controlled environment. Prednisone is a steroid, which increases insulin resistance manyfold. I had to take prednisone due to a severe asthma attack, combined with DKA at the same time, and it caused me to require 400% more insulin. I was receiving 60-unit boluses for meals, and an IV insulin drip at 10 units/hr. I NEVER knew I would need THAT much insulin. I would never recommend taking prednisone at home unless you have done it before and have coordinated this with your endo.

[hold48398]

Thank you for your suggestions, Paul. I really appreciate your feedback and medical expertise. We will be following up with our pediatrician in the next day (he has Easter weekend duty) and I will confirm that we should be filling our prescription still. There is no way I'm going to make it to the pharmacy today anyways.

Thanks again!!

[hold48398]

http://forums.childrenwithdiabetes.com/showthread.php?t=4395

Just to finish off this thread LOL.

[jpb286]

I posted a reply on the linked thread about the breathing treatments.