Diabetes and cancer

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lori12946
lori12946 Member Posts: 10
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Hello. I have recently finished chemo and radiation for my cancer as of sept. 3 ,2004. I have started taking tamoxofin. Now all of my bloodwork in the past couple months indicate that I have develpoed type II diabetes. Even though I have a family history of diabetes has this happened to anyone else as the result of the chemo treatment or know if the chemo can make it look like I have developed this. I have so many doctors now doing their own bloodwork I don't know who I should follow this up with. Thanks for any info. Lori

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  • DeeNY711
    DeeNY711 Member Posts: 476 Member
    #2
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    Two suggestions: 1. Before your next lab draw, be sure that you consume plenty of water. 2. Before your next blood draw, do not eat any food or beverage except water for 18 hours. If you were on dexamethazone during chemotherapy, it can take you into the territory you are now in, but the effect will subside as you get weeks and months away from the end date of chemotherapy.

    In all of the time I was having lab draws for oncology appts, no one ever told me not to eat or drink anything but water for a substantial number of hours before the lab draw, but I overheard a lab technician answering another person's question about how many hours he ought to fast prior to lab work. The part about drinking LOTS of water water water is the most important aspect of having the blood reflect what is actually there rather than the fact that the blood is a little concentrated for lack of hydration. One indicator to compare with an elevated blood sugar is the BUN. If the BUN is on the high side of normal or above in combination with a blood glucose level on the high side of normal or above, it could very well be that you just need to drink more water. Not juice, not soda,not coffee, not soup... water.

    You are not the first person who has asked the question on the message board. If you type in the words "blood sugar" or "blood glucose" or "diabetes" into the SEARCH box at the top of the page, you may be able to pull up other questions similar to you own along with the responses.

    On one occasion, my blood glucose level was 116 along with an elevated BUN and one doctor jumped on that with such zeal, it seemed that he would really rather focus on the possibility of diabetes than deal with the cancer. That lab value had occurred months earlier, which I pointed out by asking, "Isn't that from several months ago?" and redirected him to all the normal values forever after once I discovered the water secret.

    Yes, it should be watched, but also they ought to know that dexamethasone during chemo can affect blood glucose levels for a long while. It takes quite a bit of time for all of the dexamethasone to clear your body gradually even after you stop taking it.
    Hugs,
    Denise
  • BBK
    BBK Member Posts: 53
    #3
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    I am a year and a half out of Chemo...and I'm taking Tamoxifen. I've been on that for a year and a half. And, I developed Type 2 diabetes, too. This is interesting. My doctor says that I've gotten all the side effects of the chemo/tamoxifen. If I'd known about the potential for diabetes beforehand...well, maybe I'd have still gone the chemo/tamoxifen route. I'm now testing my blood 2-4 times a day, and watching my diet. I've lost 30+ pounds (which is extremely hard to do on tamoxifen!), and my sugar is now averaging 125 or so. My doctor believes it's well controlled...I wonder, though, if drinking tons more water would help to lower my sugar even more. I'll have to try that for my next office blood test. And, I'll have to try drinking more water in general. It would be interesting to see how many others have developed diabetes as a result of chemo and/or tamoxifen. I was not pre-disposed to the disease, and I didn't have any family history of diabetes. I'm a bit overweight...but, that's my only warning sign. Of course, I didn't have any family history of breast cancer either... Go figure. It'll be good to see what others have to write on this topic. (Oh, I'm also taking Metformin once a day to help keep my blood sugar in check).
  • inkblot
    inkblot Member Posts: 698 Member
    #4
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    Hi Lori:

    My suggestion is that an Endocrinologist would be the doc you need to see.

    There is another, more obscure type of diabetes, called Diabetes Insipidus. If you urinate frequently, with a large volume of urine and are often thirsty, it could be a possibility also. It involves too much water loss via the kidneys (and I thought it was just those pesky night sweats! LOL) from the body because the kidneys, when filtering, cannot retain enough water in the process...has to do with disturbances in the body's use of naturally occuring vasopressin.

    It's often referred to (by non professional lay people like us) as Water Diabetes, as opposed to the more common, insulin type of diabetes.

    This type of diabetes is often genetic and found in infancy but can be caused by or exacerbated by drugs. An endocrinologist would know what specific tests you need in order to isolate what's going on, the cause and precise treatment. As I understand it,
    the two types of diabetes can sometimes be confused and therefore, improperly diagnosed.
    Specific tests are necessary. Often, simply drinking more water can control it though. I don't recall all the specifics but if you go to:
    www.merckmanual.com and click on the Manual of Diagnosis and Treatment, then click "proceed to table of contents" and click on Endocrinology, you'll find reliable, solid info about it which should be detailed. You can also research the more common Diabetes Mellit. (which may be helpful to you) while you're there as it will likely be in the same section of the manual.

    Hope that may help some.

    Dee??? Wondering if this Diab. Insipid. could possibly be what you had going on? I've gained knowledge about this subject only because I've been seeing a nephrologist for about a year and a half now. The chemo damaged the tubules in my kidneys somewhat and I was dx'd with Renal Tubular
    Acidosis. There is the more complicated condition of Metabolic Acidosis and thank goodness I've not got that one! Anyway, docs say it's directly due to the chemo. Who can prove that, was my thought at the time.
    Not that it matters very much. Anyway, early on, I had to also see an endocrine. man and he did all the tests for the Diabetes Insispidus to rule it out before I saw the neprhologist who now treats it. It's not a big deal and I take a pill every day to keep my system normal and it's important that I protect my bones with diet and calc. supplements, which I was already doing prior to that anyway. There are worse things to happen for sure, so I don't complain but I do not like having this extra doc visit twice yearly!!! Wah, wah, wah!

    Best wishes for getting to the bottom of the problem Lori and I'm hoping that it goes away as mysteriously as it came!!!

    Love, light and laughter,
    Ink
  • lori12946
    lori12946 Member Posts: 10
    #5
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    inkblot said:

    Hi Lori:

    My suggestion is that an Endocrinologist would be the doc you need to see.

    There is another, more obscure type of diabetes, called Diabetes Insipidus. If you urinate frequently, with a large volume of urine and are often thirsty, it could be a possibility also. It involves too much water loss via the kidneys (and I thought it was just those pesky night sweats! LOL) from the body because the kidneys, when filtering, cannot retain enough water in the process...has to do with disturbances in the body's use of naturally occuring vasopressin.

    It's often referred to (by non professional lay people like us) as Water Diabetes, as opposed to the more common, insulin type of diabetes.

    This type of diabetes is often genetic and found in infancy but can be caused by or exacerbated by drugs. An endocrinologist would know what specific tests you need in order to isolate what's going on, the cause and precise treatment. As I understand it,
    the two types of diabetes can sometimes be confused and therefore, improperly diagnosed.
    Specific tests are necessary. Often, simply drinking more water can control it though. I don't recall all the specifics but if you go to:
    www.merckmanual.com and click on the Manual of Diagnosis and Treatment, then click "proceed to table of contents" and click on Endocrinology, you'll find reliable, solid info about it which should be detailed. You can also research the more common Diabetes Mellit. (which may be helpful to you) while you're there as it will likely be in the same section of the manual.

    Hope that may help some.

    Dee??? Wondering if this Diab. Insipid. could possibly be what you had going on? I've gained knowledge about this subject only because I've been seeing a nephrologist for about a year and a half now. The chemo damaged the tubules in my kidneys somewhat and I was dx'd with Renal Tubular
    Acidosis. There is the more complicated condition of Metabolic Acidosis and thank goodness I've not got that one! Anyway, docs say it's directly due to the chemo. Who can prove that, was my thought at the time.
    Not that it matters very much. Anyway, early on, I had to also see an endocrine. man and he did all the tests for the Diabetes Insispidus to rule it out before I saw the neprhologist who now treats it. It's not a big deal and I take a pill every day to keep my system normal and it's important that I protect my bones with diet and calc. supplements, which I was already doing prior to that anyway. There are worse things to happen for sure, so I don't complain but I do not like having this extra doc visit twice yearly!!! Wah, wah, wah!

    Best wishes for getting to the bottom of the problem Lori and I'm hoping that it goes away as mysteriously as it came!!!

    Love, light and laughter,
    Ink

    Thanks for the info . I also was hospitalized at one point with an extremely low potassium level.and the docs asked me if I was taking a diuretic and I didn't really understand why they asked me that. Do you think this could be another indicator of this type diabetes rather than Type II diabetes. Lori
  • inkblot
    inkblot Member Posts: 698 Member
    #6
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    lori12946 said:

    Thanks for the info . I also was hospitalized at one point with an extremely low potassium level.and the docs asked me if I was taking a diuretic and I didn't really understand why they asked me that. Do you think this could be another indicator of this type diabetes rather than Type II diabetes. Lori

    I have no idea Lori. Just wanted to put that info out there for you to consider since your situation seems confusing. A solid dx is very important with anything, as you know. It's interesting that when you were in hospital, they asked you about whether you were taking diuretics.
    I'd be sure to mention this incident of low potassium to whatever doc you see to get this all resolved.

    I'd definitely get to a good Endocrinologist. It's unpleasant having anything going on in which the docs can't give us specifics along with tests to prove their conclusions. Hang in and keep pushing!

    Love, light and laughter,
    Ink

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