Hi everyone,
I have been diagnosed with insulin resistance. I do not know where to begin. Doctor said to watch my sugar and carb intake. I have polycystic ovarian syndrome which is caused by insulin resistance. I get really sleepy sometimes and have panic attack like symptoms, doctor saids this isdue to the highs and lows in my blood sugar, when I get the hypo symptes I check my blood sugar and it will be fine like around 80's or 90's, so why the symptoms? I am overweight and have recently started an excercise program which involves weight training. I want to get this under control before it turns to diabetes. my gtt wasfasting 101 1 hour 246, 2nd hour 145 and 3rd hour back to 101 my hemeglobin test was well within range. Any suggestions!!! Also are there any natural alternatives that would help. Doctor refuses to put me on medicine, scared it will make me go to low!!
Thank you

sunflower1, get a copy of "Protein Power" by Dr. Eades (about $6.00 at any bookstore). The book explains the bodies reaction to carbohydrate intake. Your doctor's recommendation to cut back on or eliminate sugars and refined carbohdyrates is the right path to take. This should be all that you need to do to control your insulin resistance and lose those unwanted pounds.

Alan

HI!

From my reading I thought I saw that they are treating PCOS these days with metformin (glucophage) I read that it does not cause hypoglycemia in people who do not actually have diabetes. One of the side effects of the drug is resumption of ovulation so I guess they use that to overcome infertility which results from PCOS. There is a forum exclusively for PCOS- go to http://www.obgyn.net and then click on forums, scroll down to the bottom and you will find the forums dealing with PCOS. I got the impression that this is a relatively new idea in treating the problem so you want to be sure your doctor is up on the latest treatment.

Chris

Getting rid of that extra weight is one of the most important thing you can do to decrease your insulin resistance. Many doctors recommend a low fat diet coupled with an exercise program (aerobic type). Weight lifting is an isometic type exercise, and while it is not prohibited in your case, it should not count as part of your exercise program to get rid of the extra weight. Weight lifting will burn more glucose rather than fat. It is recommended in order to reduce weight you exercise for about a half hour at a time minimum with any particular type of exercise lasting at least 10 minutes. Of course, any exercise program should be cleared first with your doctor and perhaps you have already done that. Examples of aerobic exercise would be brisk walking outdoors or in a mall setting, or exercising on a treadmill and/or exercise bike with movable handles.

Everyone's low level can be different. For some people a glucose reading as high as the 80's or low 90's can be too low for them. I assume you are aware of the symptoms of low blood sugar, which can come on you quickly which include, but may not be limited to, inability to think or act, feeling clammy, feeling weak, confusion, etc. If you start to go into a cold sweat, this is the sign you need a source of fast acting sugar immediately which preferrably should be a liquid such as orange juice, a regular soft drink or any liquid high in refined sugar. If these are not available, hard candy or glucose tablets, sold at most drug stores, can be used.

Ken

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Hi sunflower, I have found several things helpful: 1. following a low carb diet 2. becoming familure with the glycemic index (mendosa.com) 3. regular exercise, in regard to weight training Dr Bernstein's book (normalsugars.com) says to exhause the muscles with higher weights,less reps or slower reps. to increase muscle mass and burn fat and loose weight. Aerobic exercise and getting you heart rate up can actually increase you sugar. So I walk my dogs every day that I can, about 30 min.
I keep trying to educate my self and change my lifestyle to get healthy. Barb

Hi Barb, Use heavy weights. The bending of the bones, (they do bend under the strain)helps prevent osteoporosis. Walking does not. God bless,,,Oldguy

hi Old Guy:

Why do you say that walking does nothing to prevent osteoporosis? I thought weight bearing exercise was the right kind.

Smithy

Hi Chris,
I mean relatively...walking is better than sitting, weight training is better than walking. Notice, I left out running?? Too many people run on concrete...the impact on the heel is as high as 7 G's. This runs up the backbone and raises hob. Lifting heavy weights increases muscle mass which is needed for burning sugar, and it bends the bones. In two clinical studies that caught my eye, strain guages (electronically tell the magnitude of bending) were attached to living bones in volunteer human patients. The patients were subjected to heavy weight training and bone flexure was measured. As training advanced, it was found that the bones became stronger, denser, and the walls of the shaft became thicker. The cellular sinus areas of the bone that look like sponge developed smaller cells with thicker walls. The greatest increase was in the most strained bones. The heart and respiratory system can also be caused to labor thru weight training. Just think, no impact. Now going back to the seminar by Dr. Rosedale (thanks to Arkie6) note that the doc mentioned taking in calcium and it went everywhere. In high protein, low carb and low fat diets, despite the calcium and magnesium intake, calcium moves out of the bones and deposits in the tendons near the inserts. This causes stiffness and pain, and at times is aggravated and produces tendonitis. Walking is good, but it's so much easier to bend the old bones by haveng a pair of 20 pound dumbells. (My wife says she already has one and doesn't need another.) Oh, the reason I was so interested in osteoporosis is my wife has a bad case of it. We work on it by giving her two 5 gallon buckets filled with water...then squat and lift. God bless,,,,,Oldguy