Re: fasting glucose and cortisol, maybe Val can help?

[Guest guest]

>I try my best to eat well, I have cut down carbs very much, but I have to eat a

lot and all the time because I am ALWAYS hungry. I eat much more than my mates

(my boyfriend says I eat like a real man), and do not gain weight easily. Being

always hungry is no fun because I can't concentrate in any activity for a long

time, hunger strikes!

>

>

>I would appreciate any insights...

OK, I'm not Val and she has a LOT more knowledge in this area and can

hopefully come in here.

From some reading I have been doing on food ratios I suspect that if

you were to increase the amount of fat (good quality ones) in your

diet you would find the hunger pangs diminish and things stabilise.

Nick

[Guest guest]

Thanks a lot Nick, but I think I do eat quite a lot of fat, lots of olive oil (I

am Spanish after all!), nuts, oil-rich fishes, cheese.

I know it goes against what nutritionists say, but the only thing that calms my

hunger is a meal containig a fare amount of carbohydrates...

Mónica

>

> >I try my best to eat well, I have cut down carbs very much, but I have to eat

a lot and all the time because I am ALWAYS hungry. I eat much more than my mates

(my boyfriend says I eat like a real man), and do not gain weight easily. Being

always hungry is no fun because I can't concentrate in any activity for a long

time, hunger strikes!

> >

> >

> >I would appreciate any insights...

>

> OK, I'm not Val and she has a LOT more knowledge in this area and can

> hopefully come in here.

>

> From some reading I have been doing on food ratios I suspect that if

> you were to increase the amount of fat (good quality ones) in your

> diet you would find the hunger pangs diminish and things stabilise.

>

> Nick

>

[Guest guest]

What you have read abotu is Dawn Rise or Dawn Effect and it is only

present in Diabetics, supposedly, but it si caused by the surge of

cortisol in the AM thta is normal to all of us but a Diabetic has not

enough insulin to handle the extra glucose that this creates so we get a

morning surge of glucose that generally requires extra insulin to

control. If you are actually getting a Dawn Rise, then you have insulin

resistance to the point your body cannot compensate, and may require an

overall reduciton in HC NOT MUCH as oyu ware PG and some women DO get

gestational Diabetes(I believe, btu unresearched, caused by the higher

cortisol levels during pregnancy) so you may want to discuss this wiht

your doctor, but a bit lower HC might help this. I also think lower

estrogne levels can be causative as estrogen really increases insulin

sensitivity.

--

Artistic Grooming- Hurricane WV

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/RT3_T3/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HypoPets/

[Guest guest]

Dear Val,

thanks a lot, yes I meant the " dawn effect " , sorry.

Mmmm, I am not pregnant, wish I was...

This is all ver strange, because I obviously have insulin enough to get

between-meals values as low as 84. I have been reading a bit more about the dawn

effect and they talk about several hormones causing it: growth hormone,

adrenaline, cortisol... I do have high, above-range IGF-1 and I am sure I am

very good at making adrenaline...

I don't know if I am obsessing too much but I have been diagnosed also with PCOS

and I know it is related with insulin resistance, so I really would like to

understand how my body is doing.

I am afraid of reducing cortisol, because I start loosing too much weight. Also

last time it was checked estrogen was high (don't remember the numbers)

Mónica

>

> What you have read abotu is Dawn Rise or Dawn Effect and it is only

> present in Diabetics, supposedly, but it si caused by the surge of

> cortisol in the AM thta is normal to all of us but a Diabetic has not

> enough insulin to handle the extra glucose that this creates so we get a

> morning surge of glucose that generally requires extra insulin to

> control. If you are actually getting a Dawn Rise, then you have insulin

> resistance to the point your body cannot compensate, and may require an

> overall reduciton in HC NOT MUCH as oyu ware PG and some women DO get

> gestational Diabetes(I believe, btu unresearched, caused by the higher

> cortisol levels during pregnancy) so you may want to discuss this wiht

> your doctor, but a bit lower HC might help this. I also think lower

> estrogne levels can be causative as estrogen really increases insulin

> sensitivity.

>

> --

> Artistic Grooming- Hurricane WV

>

> http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

>

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/

> http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/RT3_T3/

> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HypoPets/

>

[Guest guest]

OK differnt things going on here. PECOS does cause it's own insulin

resistance and I have not ever looked into it to knwo exactly why. BUT I

do knwo Metformin corrects much of the imbalances there as well as IR so

that might be a place to start. Metformin is not an evil drug as some

are but can have wocked side effects so start low and slow and it helps.

--

Artistic Grooming- Hurricane WV

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/RT3_T3/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HypoPets/

[Guest guest]

Thanks a lot, Val.

I have been reading about Metformin and I am considering it. I will talk about

it next time I see my doctor. However, I just wonder... my fasting glucose has

never been higher than 105, and my postprandial readings are never above range

either. I know the fasting values are a bit high (that's why I worry) but I just

wonder if I need metformin or I could learn to regulate blood sugar better by so

called " natural means " . I don't know if metformin can be taken in my case, with

values " still " in the normal range.

I am taking diet more seriously now, but I see no change so far. I would like

to start exercising a bit, but I am not sure is a very good idea now that I am

also trying to sort out rT3. And franckly, I don't feel at all like it, too

tired.

>

> OK differnt things going on here. PECOS does cause it's own insulin

> resistance and I have not ever looked into it to knwo exactly why. BUT I

> do knwo Metformin corrects much of the imbalances there as well as IR so

> that might be a place to start. Metformin is not an evil drug as some

> are but can have wocked side effects so start low and slow and it helps.

>

> --

> Artistic Grooming- Hurricane WV

>

> http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

>

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/

> http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/RT3_T3/

> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HypoPets/

>

[Guest guest]

Diet can do alot especially where your numbers are now, b ut you must

get VERY serious abotu it. Not a little. There is no half way with

Diabetes. I would go to a no more than 70G carbs a day diet plan. Thsi

wil mean no fruit or whites , bread, rice or pasta or potatoes. For me I

cannto tolerate even brown rice or whole oats but only a glucose meter

and lots of pre and post eating testing will tell you if it is OK for

you. DO NOT buy into the " slow carbs are OK " syndrome as they are NOT

OK. Meats cheese and eggs shoudl be the mainstays of your diet with lots

of butter on what ever veggies you ad in to fill the carbs for the day.

Whole cream should replace all the milk or Half & Half oyu are now

consuimng and butter everything. Fats stabilize glucose so are really

beneficial in glucose management. Exercise helps LOADS IF you can do it.

I have found walking from one emd of Walmart to the pther and back IU

can eat a glazed doughnut wiht NO insulin added which for me is HUGE.

LOL I find ways such as this to reward myself for even that exercise. It

he;lps to give oyurself rewards for things that are good for you as you

will feel VERY restricted at first till you get used to eating this way

then it seems fine after a while.

--

Artistic Grooming- Hurricane WV

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/RT3_T3/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HypoPets/

[Guest guest]

I'll second that - I strongly recommend Dr. K. Bernstein's book (Diabetes Solution) and CD set - he's very strict, and you may decide it's more than you need, but you'll learn a lot. Better to be fully informed and decide what risks you want to take now, before things get worse, than to wait until you get a diagnosis. By the time you start having elevated fasting numbers, you've already lost a good deal of pancreatic beta cell function - your goal now (or at least my goal now (-: ) should be to preserve the function you have left. That said, it will probably be hard to get a doc to care about numbers that aren't yet in the diabetic range. Sydney

[Guest guest]

Yes, indeed!

I went to my GP a while ago and he almost laughed at me in my face. When I said

I was dieting " a bit " , he was shocked. Probably he thought I was completely

neurotic. No diffence here from the response I got when I mentioned my thyroid!

That said, it will probably be hard to get a doc to care about numbers that

aren't yet in the diabetic range.

>

> Sydney

>

[Guest guest]

Many thanks again, Val.

O.K. I will start monitoring sugar levels closely for a while and see how I do

with the diet.

Mónica

>

> Diet can do alot especially where your numbers are now, b ut you must

> get VERY serious abotu it. Not a little. There is no half way with

> Diabetes. I would go to a no more than 70G carbs a day diet plan. Thsi

> wil mean no fruit or whites , bread, rice or pasta or potatoes. For me I

> cannto tolerate even brown rice or whole oats but only a glucose meter

> and lots of pre and post eating testing will tell you if it is OK for

> you. DO NOT buy into the " slow carbs are OK " syndrome as they are NOT

> OK. Meats cheese and eggs shoudl be the mainstays of your diet with lots

> of butter on what ever veggies you ad in to fill the carbs for the day.

> Whole cream should replace all the milk or Half & Half oyu are now

> consuimng and butter everything. Fats stabilize glucose so are really

> beneficial in glucose management. Exercise helps LOADS IF you can do it.

> I have found walking from one emd of Walmart to the pther and back IU

> can eat a glazed doughnut wiht NO insulin added which for me is HUGE.

> LOL I find ways such as this to reward myself for even that exercise. It

> he;lps to give oyurself rewards for things that are good for you as you

> will feel VERY restricted at first till you get used to eating this way

> then it seems fine after a while.

>

> --

> Artistic Grooming- Hurricane WV

>

> http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

>

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/

> http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/RT3_T3/

> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HypoPets/

>

[Guest guest]

>>What you have read abotu is Dawn Rise or Dawn Effect and it is only present in Diabetics, supposedly, but it si caused by the surge of cortisol in the AM thta is normal to all of us but a Diabetic has not enough insulin to handle the extra glucose that this creates so we get a morning surge of glucose that generally requires extra insulin to control.

I'm getting to this a little late, but I wanted to add that an alternate explanation for the Dawn effect (which makes sense to me and is explained by Dr. Bernstein in his book, Diabetes Solution, which I highly recommend) is that the liver is much more active in clearing insulin during the dawn hours (not Dawn per se, but some number of hours after going to bed). This explains why I can take 4.5 units of insulin in the morning and barely see my sugar go down, whereas that much would plunge me into a hypoglycemic coma at any other time of the day. So, even though you are still making enough insulin to keep you normal during the rest of the day, your pancreas just can't make enough to replace what is being cleared by the liver in the morning.