Is it possible to know or find out is one is glucose intolerant

[Parrothead]

or have in insulin issue without going to the doctor for blood tests?

 

And if one has either of these problems how does one go about fixing them?

[Momof3littles]

As far as I know, a 2 or 3 hour GTT with insulin levels will give you the info you are looking for, which means a blood test.

 

There are some indicators of IR (you don't need to have these to have IR, but they can be signs) that include things like skin tags and acanthosis nigricans (a velvety hyperpigmentation. Kinda looks like a "ring around the neck" that can't be washed off). A tendency to gain weight mostly in the middle is another (aka central adiposity). Again, you totally do not need to have those symptoms, but if you happen to have them, they can be good indicators. I don't have any of the above but my mom had them prior to moving to a LC diet. (i do have IR as part of my PCOS).

 

You may feel "foggy" after a carby meal or crash and burn tired a while afterward. Some people have reactive hypoglycemia.

 

Testing your sugar will give you part of the equation, but for IR, you need to know what the insulin levels are doing as a reaction to the sugar levels. I believe you really want to look at both when you are determining if you are dealing with IR.

[wapiti]

One could get a glucose monitor and test their blood sugar. There must be some guidelines out there for what is normal and what indicates a problem.

 

I think low carb helps a lot of people.

:iagree:

[Jean in Newcastle]

I got a free glucometer and 10 free test strips online (there are a number of offers out there if you just google free glucometer).

 

Take your bloodsugar first thing when you wake up. That is your fasting bloodsugar. In a normal person it should be 100 or less.

 

2 Hours after each meal, take your bloodsugar. In a normal person it should be 120 or less.

 

I tested for a couple of days and wrote down what I ate. It was really easy to see that meals with more carbs = higher numbers than normal.

[Parrothead]

 

Testing your sugar will give you part of the equation, but for IR, you need to know what the insulin levels are doing as a reaction to the sugar levels. I believe you really want to look at both when you are determining if you are dealing with IR.

How would one find out about the bolded?

[Parrothead]

I got a free glucometer and 10 free test strips online (there are a number of offers out there if you just google free glucometer).

 

Take your bloodsugar first thing when you wake up. That is your fasting bloodsugar. In a normal person it should be 100 or less.

 

2 Hours after each meal, take your bloodsugar. In a normal person it should be 120 or less.

 

I tested for a couple of days and wrote down what I ate. It was really easy to see that meals with more carbs = higher numbers than normal.

Thanks, Jean.

[wapiti]

As far as I know, a 2 or 3 hour GTT with insulin levels will give you the info you are looking for, which means a blood test.

 

There are some indicators of IR (you don't need to have these to have IR, but they can be signs) that include things like skin tags and acanthosis nigricans (a velvety hyperpigmentation. Kinda looks like a "ring around the neck" that can't be washed off). A tendency to gain weight mostly in the middle is another (aka central adiposity). Again, you totally do not need to have those symptoms, but if you happen to have them, they can be good indicators. I don't have any of the above but my mom had them prior to moving to a LC diet. (i do have IR as part of my PCOS).

 

You may feel "foggy" after a carby meal or crash and burn tired a while afterward. Some people have reactive hypoglycemia.

 

Testing your sugar will give you part of the equation, but for IR, you need to know what the insulin levels are doing as a reaction to the sugar levels. I believe you really want to look at both when you are determining if you are dealing with IR.

 

:iagree: with the caveat that if I wanted to check for IR, I wouldn't necessarily trust the opinion of just any doc on my insulin levels. I'd want a good endocrinologist (e.g., even my old RE got it wrong).

[Momof3littles]

How would one find out about the bolded?

 

Well, the only way to know for sure would be to actually get blood levels for insulin from a lab. I don't know of an at-home way to measure this.

 

I once had a 2 hour GTT done. RX said 2 hour GTT *with* insulin levels. The lab only did glucose levels (a more traditional GTT) and I had to have the entire test repeated (not fun!) as a result. That's because in order to determine IR, you need to see how much insulin your body is putting out in response to the glucose load. Just looking at sugar levels will only give part of the pic.

 

I think many general practitioners are not always great at figuring this out. That's why some PPs recommended an endo testing/interpreting the results. If a patient raises concerns about this topic, many docs seem to (IME) only test fasting blood glucose, or fasting insulin, etc. which really is not a great indicator.

[kokotg]

You can get a cheap glucose monitor at any drug store (the test strips get expensive, but if you won't need many if you just want to test for a few days/weeks). You can also buy a home AC1 test, which shows how your sugars have been over the past 2-3 months. Here's what I'd do (and what I have done): take the home Ac1 (or is it A1c? I can never remember) test. Then spend a week testing your blood sugar with the glucose monitor at various times--fasting levels, one hour after meals, two hours after meals, just at random. Keep track of those and pay attention to how what you've eaten affects the levels. You can look up numbers online, but, basically, your fasting levels should, ideally, be under 90, and your numbers after eating should be under 140 certainly....probably lower really. My husband, with the enviously perfect metabolism, pretty much never goes over 100 no matter what he eats. So that's really what you'll see in someone with completely normal blood sugar, I think. You would be able to handle big doses of carbs without the insulin spikes and falls.

 

If you do have trouble, low carb should definitely help. I've been watching carbs very carefully since March, and I NEVER have blood sugar crashes when I go awhile without eating anymore.

[Momof3littles]

YYou can also buy a home AC1 test, which shows how your sugars have been over the past 2-3 months. Here's what I'd do (and what I have done): take the home Ac1 (or is it A1c? I can never remember) test.

 

 

Hemoglobin A1C.

 

My DH's was creeping up a few years ago even though he's of normal weight. He has a family hx of type 2 diabetes. Between that and my PCOS/IR we decided LC had to be a long term thing for us. It has been a great help.

[Parrothead]

Well, the only way to know for sure would be to actually get blood levels for insulin from a lab. I don't know of an at-home way to measure this.

 

I once had a 2 hour GTT done. RX said 2 hour GTT *with* insulin levels. The lab only did glucose levels (a more traditional GTT) and I had to have the entire test repeated (not fun!) as a result. That's because in order to determine IR, you need to see how much insulin your body is putting out in response to the glucose load. Just looking at sugar levels will only give part of the pic.

 

I think many general practitioners are not always great at figuring this out. That's why some PPs recommended an endo testing/interpreting the results. If a patient raises concerns about this topic, many docs seem to (IME) only test fasting blood glucose, or fasting insulin, etc. which really is not a great indicator.

The bolded is the problem I have when trying to decide if I even need to speak to a doctor about it. The closest endo is over 100 miles away and when I went to him about my thyroid disease I found he is... well, "off his rocker" puts it nicely. The next closest is... well I might as well go to Mass Gen as I'd be so close. What is another hour.

 

Hence my wondering if IR or glucose intolerance was something that could be ascertained by watching/feeling etc.

[Momof3littles]

The bolded is the problem I have when trying to decide if I even need to speak to a doctor about it. The closest endo is over 100 miles away and when I went to him about my thyroid disease I found he is... well, "off his rocker" puts it nicely. The next closest is... well I might as well go to Mass Gen as I'd be so close. What is another hour.

 

Hence my wondering if IR or glucose intolerance was something that could be ascertained by watching/feeling etc.

 

I don't technically get a totally abnormal GTT test, but I have symptoms and have PCOS. My GTT isn't totally normal either, and I haven't had one done in a number of years. Now that I'm older, I might be more likely to get an obviously abnormal result. I'm sure if I did a longer GTT (not really practical) or a euglycemic clamp test, I think I'd see a definite result.

 

Do you have symptoms that you are wondering about?

[Parrothead]

I don't technically get a totally abnormal GTT test, but I have symptoms and have PCOS. My GTT isn't totally normal either, and I haven't had one done in a number of years. Now that I'm older, I might be more likely to get an obviously abnormal result. I'm sure if I did a longer GTT (not really practical) or a euglycemic clamp test, I think I'd see a definite result.

 

Do you have symptoms that you are wondering about?

No, no symptoms. I'm finishing up year five with hyperthyroidism and am gaining weight - rapidly. For a person with hyperthyroidism 20 pounds in 18 months is rapid weight gain. But 18 months ago I quit smoking too. Also my exercise level is increasing but I'm still gaining - actually faster now that I'm running.

 

I'm having signs of either it going into remission or that my thyroid is dying and I'm going hypo. But they've been all mixed up. It costs me $100 a pop for testing and with the price of gas about twice that much to get to the endo.

 

I'm slowly reading the American obesity 20+ page thread about IR and I am intrigued. I'm one of those people who diets and gains weight. I exercise and gain weight. I count calories and gain weight.