i was diagnosed with insulin resistance last december and also hypothyroidism im a little confused with the diff beween insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes my levels are very high 19 so my doc put my on metformin and they went down to 4.7 and are stable atm im also on the low Gi diabetic diet to see if it will kick start my cells if anyone can shed light on this confusion it would be greatly appreciated
With blood sugar levels of 19, you ARE diabetic. It is now being controlled by the metformin and, thank goodness, your blood sugars are running in the normal range now.
Insulin resistance is a cause of T2 diabetes, although the terms "insulin resistant" and "Type 2 diabetic" are often used interchangeably. In T2, the cells for some reason become resistant to insulin, so your body then can't use the glucose from food, and the glucose floats around in your blood stream causing all kinds of problems. Metformin acts by reducing the cells' resistance to insulin and allowing your body to use glucose for fuel.
Conversely, in T1 diabetes, the body's immune system actually destroys the cells that produce insulin, which is why T1's have to be on synthetic insulin right away.
Ruth
Last edited by SamQKitty; 08-24-2011 at 09:52 PM.
The Following User Says Thank You to SamQKitty For This Useful Post: aussie mummy (08-24-2011)
thanks Ruth for ur great reply u have told me alot more than anyone ever has should i be checking my levels or the metformin working is enough?? ive had them checked at the drs but he never told me to do anything else iim just really confused sometimes with him saying insulin resistant and then u ready other things saying type 2 is the same then other things its not arrrhhhhh lol
I am a big believer in monitoring one's own blood sugar levels. While the A1c test is a wonderful tool for the doctor to monitor overall blood sugar levels, it doesn't tell the patient what's happening on a daily basis...what works, what doesn't.
When you're not on insulin, you don't have to test as often, but it's a good idea to occasionally test at the 2-hour post meal mark (timed from when you start eating, not from when you finish). This gives you an excellent idea of how different foods affect you, and this information can help you with meal planning. For example, I've learned that if I'm eating pasta (which I rarely do anyway), I need to measure it AFTER cooking, and I need to make sure I don't eat more than a half cup, AND I need to keep the rest of the meal extremely low carb. On the other hand, while I need to measure rice as well, brown rice doesn't affect me nearly as badly as pasta does.
Also, as your blood sugar levels come under control, you may experience some lows. If you don't have a meter and don't test, you're liable to overtreat the low. The rule of thumb for a low (anything BELOW 70) is to ingest 15g of carbs (4 oz. juice works well), and wait 15 minutes, then retest. If your blood sugar is up to the mid-high 80's, then you're fine, but if it's still under 70, you need to take another 15 g of carbs. If you get serious lows and don't test, you're quite likely to just start eating everything in sight and end up with a rebound high.
Testing is knowledge and knowledge enables planning and good diabetes management.
By the way...the problem with the terms "insulin-resistance" and "T2" and "pre-diabetic" is that they can all be used somewhat interchangeably. But insulin resistance is a CAUSE...of both pre-diabetes (which is pre-T2) and T2 diabetes. For diagnosiing diabetes, A1c's in the 5.7 to 6.4 range are considered pre-diabetic, and anything 6.5 or higher is definitely diabetic. I'm guessing that the numbers you listed in your first post (19 and then 4.7) were fasting blood glucose levels, rather than an A1c. But even then, a fasting bg of 19 (equivalent to USA 342) would be enough to diagnose diabetes, as a non-diabetic's bg would never go that high, even if they ate nothing but straight sugar the day before.
