Yes, there are a number of medications used to treat other conditions that can affect your blood sugar control. Most of these effects are small, but can be quite dramatic, such as the effect of certain types of steroid medications. Examples of various drugs and how they can affect your blood sugar are shown in Table.
Examples of Medications in Common Use That Can Affect Blood Sugar
Medication Usual Use Effect on Sugar Amount of Effect
Antiretroviral drugs (some) HIV/AIDS ++
Antidepressants (some) Depression ++ to +++
Carvedilol Blood pressure or +
Estrogen BCP, menopause + to ++
Etanercept RA, SLE, psoriasis ++
Losartan Blood pressure +
Niacin Cholesterol + to ++
Octreotide Various or +
Pentamidine Infection but later + to ++
Pentoxifylline Arterial disease +
Pseudoephedrine Colds & allergies +
Ramipril Blood pressure +
Steroids Inflammation +++
Thiazides Blood pressure +