Drug Lowers Cholesterol but Raises Blood Sugar

Q. I have been taking Crestor. It lowered my cholesterol very well, but my blood sugar went out of control. My HbA1c went from 6.8 to 7.3 in just a short while, and my morning blood glucose numbers went from 110 – 130 to 161 – 217.
I stopped taking Crestor a few days ago and my numbers are already starting to drop. This morning the reading was 144 and my mid-morning blood sugar was only 96 instead of in the low 200s.
I think I am going to stick with niacin instead of other drugs. Niacin does not affect my blood glucose.
A. Others have reported similar problems with statin drugs (www.peoplespharmacy.com). A large clinical trial (JUPITER) noted that patients taking Crestor were more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than those on placebo (New England Journal of Medicine, Nov. 20, 2008).