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Is Chromium Supplement Advisable While On NovoLog And Levemir?

Posted on Fri, 4 Nov 2016

Question: I am a type 2 diabetic with poorly controlled blood glucose levels (vary widely from 500+ to 40). I am on both short (Novalog) and long (Levemir) acting insulin. I recently started taking a multi-vitamin and supplement which contains high levels on chromium (167% RDA per pill - two pills per day. Based on the color change in my urine (bright yellow the color of a chromic acid solution) I susplect I am urinating out most of the chromium. Is the level of chromium in the supplement harmful? Am I getting any benefit from it?

Answered by Dr. Mirjeta Guni (45 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Yes, the chromium supplements may be harmful.

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Regarding to the effect of chromium in lowering blood glucose there are some studies that approve it but it is not approved by FDA as a treatment for Diabetes.
Side effects of chromium supplements are rare but it may cause liver, renal, nerve and eye damages.
So, you should not expect chromium to do ''miracles'' in your Diabetes and we can not say that chromium supplements do not have side effects.
I would recommend to stopp taking it and try to correct your insuline doses in order to prevent low and high glucose levels.
Hope the information will help.
Kind regards,
Dr.Mirjeta

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T