Karen: Hi! My name is Karen. I am in Austin, Texas, and I was just wondering what female hormone replacements are dangerous for diabetics?
Dr. Satish Garg: Hi Karen! Very good question because this is a big issue whether oral contraceptives can be safely used in people with diabetes.
The only hormones that are specifically not recommended for people with diabetes are higher dosages of some sort of the progesterones because those hormones can antagonize the action of insulin. Thus patients' glucose control might worsen and there might be more insulin.
Other than that, most of the oral contraceptives can be safely used. However, small changes in the insulin dose is usually required when patients take some sort of oral contraceptives.
If you do take those drugs, you still may want to check with your OB/GYN person, so that he or she is well aware of the fact that you're going to start oral contraceptives, which might be important and how it might impair the glucose tolerance in your case.
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