Hyperinsulinemia

[Danijela]

Hey there!

I have always questioned having some sort of bloodsugar problem because of the hypoglcemic attacks i have

my mother had insulin resistance which wasn't caught or treated in time which then turned into type 2 diabetes....

she says she recognizes most of the symptoms i complain of i have been trying to research this on the net before i see the endo guy... which is probably not a good idea docs or atleast the ones ive seen hate it when patients look up things on the net...

anyways my symptoms are

hypoglycemic attacks :

sweats, shakes, dizzyness, blurred vision, overactive bladder, palpitations, my whole body trembles....

i get an intense hunger and loss of balance and dizzyness after meals and after a fasting period, i also have shortness of breath,

i find that walking up a flight of stairs or just walking a short distance gives me shortness of breath..... i've noticed as well i have trobles breathing when its humid or even in the shower or cooking with steam

i also get anxious when my sugar is dropping...

i began making notes about everything i was eating and when the attacks were happening i did notice that when i consumed any larger amounts or sugar i would wake up in the middle of the night with severe attacks

it took months and months for me to realize what it was waking me up at night it rarely happens now however i still do have boughts of this in the day time not as severe as the night attacks.....

does anyone suffer from the same sort of thing or have any advice

i am really concerned that this is going to turn into diabetes because the docs aren't taking me seriously and this has been going on for more than a year now

i also am unable to loose anymore weight when i went off of gluten and yeast i lost 18 pounds but i am now at a stand still i have alot more to go and cant excersise because of the shortness of breath

thankyou for listening and for any responses

[VydorScope]

Umm I am not falimure with the name "Hyperinsulinemia" but that souds like over production of Insilin which would cause hypoglycemia. Do you have a home glocuse test kit or access to one? If not , get one I purchased mine for $15 at CVS and it came iwth 10 test strips. This his how you test, and take GOOD NOTES durning the test, esply with reguard to symptons and how they corrospond to the readings your getting. You will want to present you results to your doctor..

First you fast for at least 8 hours (make sure have a good dose of protien and fat before you start, and it helps if you sleep most of it..), and test with the blood glocuse test kit. If your NOT diabetic it should fall in the 70-110 range.

Next "normal person meal". (Of course if you have food issues, like celiac disease, dont eat the offending foods!) Does not matter muchwhat it is, but it should be somthing somewhat sugary, but not out of line for a so called normal person. Note the time you START eating the meal.

Check your blood at one hour after that. It should be bettween 70-140.

Then check at 2 hours it should be between 70-120 (remember not to eat after that meal while your testing).

Next test 4 hours. If you sugar level drops below 70, and you get your symptons at the same time, eat something like rasins and retest in 15 mins. If your symptons get better AND your sugar goes up, thats considered completely diagonostic of reactive hypoglycimia.

The ranges are a bit fuzzy.. if you get a reading of like 146 at one hour it is considerd close enough.

Alos, anytime you think your having an "episode", as you put it, test your blood and note the number then eat something. If your symptons and blood sugar readings improve after eating thats also considered diagnostic.

Then just folow the hypoglycemia diet, which requires small frequent meals (like every 2-3hours), that are well balanced with carbs, protien and fat. What is balanced for you, you will have to learn with time, but if you start around 25% fat, %25 protien, and %50 carbs and ajust from there you should be fine.

That all make sense?

[Nancym]

Yeah, it is probably extremely underdiagnosed. There's a forum where you can talk to people that are controlling their pre-diabetes condition with low carb diets here: Open Original Shared Link

There's a forum specifically for diabetes or pre-diabetes.

People are having very good results with this by trimming out the refined carbs out of their diets.

[trents]

Then wouldn't "hypoerinsulinemia" be the opposite of diabetes which is the under production of insulin?

[dlp252]

Hey there!

I have always questioned having some sort of bloodsugar problem because of the hypoglcemic attacks i have

my mother had insulin resistance which wasn't caught or treated in time which then turned into type 2 diabetes....

she says she recognizes most of the symptoms i complain of i have been trying to research this on the net before i see the endo guy... which is probably not a good idea docs or atleast the ones ive seen hate it when patients look up things on the net...

anyways my symptoms are

hypoglycemic attacks :

sweats, shakes, dizzyness, blurred vision, overactive bladder, palpitations, my whole body trembles....

i get an intense hunger and loss of balance and dizzyness after meals and after a fasting period, i also have shortness of breath,

i find that walking up a flight of stairs or just walking a short distance gives me shortness of breath..... i've noticed as well i have trobles breathing when its humid or even in the shower or cooking with steam

i also get anxious when my sugar is dropping...

it took months and months for me to realize what it was waking me up at night it rarely happens now however i still do have boughts of this in the day time not as severe as the night attacks.....

does anyone suffer from the same sort of thing or have any advice

Yes!!! That described a lot of the lingering symptoms I have. I'm home testing my blood sugar levels this morning as a matter of fact, so I'll have a better idea of what's going on. Once I have these readings I'll decided whether to see an endo or not...My first reading at 1 hour after was actually a bit higher than the "normal" range for 1 hour after. My two hour reading was within the range. I'm going to test again now at 3 hours even though it isn't necessary and I'll test again in an hour. I also plan to test before I exercise today and afterwards.

[dlp252]

Okay so my readings so far are (oh, and I bought two meters...one cheap one and one about mid-priced between the cheap and the most expense--the cheap one is a Freestyle that cost $10, the other is a OneTouch Ultra--the cheaper Freestyle has consistently shown a higher reading all morning--by at least 16-20 points).

Fasting: Ultra 87, Freestyle 103

1 Hr: Ultra 144, Freestyle 170

2 Hr: Ultra 108, Freestyle 128

3 Hr. Ultra 70, Freestyle 128 (no range available)

The ranges Vincent noted are about the same that I have:

Fasting 70-105, 1 hour less than 160, 2 hour less than 120, and mine doesn't have a 3 or 4 hour mark.

[TCA]

Okay so my readings so far are (oh, and I bought two meters...one cheap one and one about mid-priced between the cheap and the most expense--the cheap one is a Freestyle that cost $10, the other is a OneTouch Ultra--the cheaper Freestyle has consistently shown a higher reading all morning--by at least 16-20 points).

Fasting: Ultra 87, Freestyle 103

1 Hr: Ultra 144, Freestyle 170

2 Hr: Ultra 108, Freestyle 128

3 Hr. Ultra 70, Freestyle 128 (no range available)

The ranges Vincent noted are about the same that I have:

Fasting 70-105, 1 hour less than 160, 2 hour less than 120, and mine doesn't have a 3 or 4 hour mark.

The monitors should have come with a test solution in a little bottle to test the accuracy of the meter. It looks like it's time to get it out!

[dlp252]

The monitors should have come with a test solution in a little bottle to test the accuracy of the meter. It looks like it's time to get it out!

I tested both last night...maybe I should have tested them this morning too. I just took my 4 hour reading and it actually went up! I took this last reading in my thumb, all the others were on one of the fingers on my left hand. I retested on another spot on one of the fingers on my left and and it came back down. The readings at the 4 hour mark were 93 Ultra and 91 Freestyle! After I retested (only the Ultra) the reading was 74.

So it looks like low blood sugar isn't really the problem, but I can tell you I am lightheaded now and my eyes feel weird in their sockets, lol.

Can an acid blocker affect results (hum, I think that might be a silly question now that I've asked it, lol). I perhaps shouldn't have taken my Zantac this morning--I took it around 30 minutes before I ate, and maybe 20 minutes before that first test.

[dlp252]

I just did a control on the Ultra (ran out of strips for the Freestyle), and it falls within the control range.

Danijela - I'm so sorry to have hijacked your thread...I think I should have started a new one!

[2kids4me]

I would suggest you do see the doctor. The reason doctors hate it when patients bring in stuff off the internet is that the patient has diagnosed themselves and one doctor told me "then I try and get a symptom list from the patient and they are reading off the sheet". I was then told how, what may seem like insignificant symptoms to the patient are not reported and it can cloud the diagnostic process.

Blood sugar is affected by more than the pancreas (diabetes/pre-diabetes)- adrenal malfunction can cause the symptom you see, pituitary disorders, thyroid disorders, or an irregular secretion of insulin, insulinomas, intestinal disorders (gastroparesis, damaged gut that has not healed yet, etc). A good doctor will be looking at the entire endocrine system when blood glucose is not what it should be. I have had some screw ups with doctors but the I have had great doctors too.

The good doctors I have had will address my concerns about information I have got from a book or the internet, and then he/she asks me to put the papers down and say what I have been experiencing, how long it has been going on, does an exam and orders blood work.

So if your blood glucose levels are normal according to your meter at home, then you need to find out why you have those symptoms.

Anxiety can also cause increased levels of adrenalin -which will cause sweating, trembling and heart palpitations. So if you have an undiagnosed medical condition that is creating anxiety (because you know something isnt right) - it can cause symptoms that overlap with symptoms cause by another problem. Hope this makes sense. I wish you well and hope they find an answer for you.

[gabby]

Hyperinsulinemia can be complex to diagnose. See if your doctor would be interested in doing a 3-day walking glucose test which automatically tests your bloodsugar every 3 minutes. Not sure how they do this test today. Years ago they had to put you in the hospital for 3 days, but I doubt they still do that.

As for glucose monitors......don't be freaked out by using one. You don't need a prescription for one, and they are extremely easy to use. Done right, they are also PAINLESS. Get over the fear, and give one a try. Here's a tip on painless testing. First, load a test strip into your glucose monitor. Massage the your ring finger on your non-writing hand for about 20 seconds. Load the lancet device and make sure it is set to the lowest (most shallow) setting. now using your non-ring fingers, squeeze the tip of your finger that you just massaged. Keep squeezing it. Now, using your writing hand, press the lancet device right against the side of your squeezed finger tip, and press the lancet device. then squeeze your finger. You should get a nice sample. You really only need one drop. Add drop to your test strip, wait until the monitor gives you a reading. And that's it.

Best of luck

[Nancym]

Then wouldn't "hypoerinsulinemia" be the opposite of diabetes which is the under production of insulin?

That is Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes is where you produce enough, or even too much insulin but your body doesn't use it correctly.

Here's a link to an article that says 30% of Americans have undiagnosed diabetes or pre-diabetes.

Open Original Shared Link

[Danijela]

THANK YOU ALL SOO MUCH FOR YOUR RESPONSES !!!

Don't worry about taking over the thread its all great information you have provided me with...

I have a sugar testing machine because my mom had insulin resistance type 2 diabetes she gave me one of her machines

what happened to my mom was that she wasn't feeling well her body was over producing insulin because her body wasn't using it when her sugars didn't go down her pancreas would produce more, it became burnt out and eventully stoped producing insulin all together... the doctors told her there was nothing wrong with her

by the time they found out she had full blown diabetes, kidney damage and a whole host of other things

had they of caught it in time she would be alot better off now

thats my biggest fear

i've read on the net that the docters dont take hyperinsulinemia seriously at all that they normally acknowledge it after the fact

hyperinsulinemia is the over production of insulin this becomes toxic to your body

hypo " is under production

in Canada however we measure differently

the box of stripes i have says

normal - 3.9 - 5.7

and a low test if under 3.7

i do know that when you have a blood test they say

abnormal would be a fasting sugar of over 6.0 or a random sugar of 11.0 or over

i don't know if any of you are familiar with this way of testing....

i'll have to look on the net for the canadian version of home testing

let me know what you think

[dlp252]

Thank you Danijela, I was a little worried that I posted so much! So, I wonder, would the over production of insulin show high on the testing strips, or would it not show at all? I had that one high result at the 1 hour mark...

[Nancym]

Thank you Danijela, I was a little worried that I posted so much! So, I wonder, would the over production of insulin show high on the testing strips, or would it not show at all? I had that one high result at the 1 hour mark...

The testing strips just show high blood glucose, not insulin levels. You could have high blood glucose because your body is producing enough, or even too much, insulin but your body isn't using it correctly (hyperinsulinima) or because your body isn't producing enough insulin (type 1 diabetes). So you've got no idea really.

There's a test called A1C which can show an average of your blood glucose over the last few months. That's becoming a more important test these days.

[dlp252]

The testing strips just show high blood glucose, not insulin levels. You could have high blood glucose because your body is producing enough, or even too much, insulin but your body isn't using it correctly (hyperinsulinima) or because your body isn't producing enough insulin (type 1 diabetes). So you've got no idea really.

There's a test called A1C which can show an average of your blood glucose over the last few months. That's becoming a more important test these days.

Thank you Nancy, that makes it a little clearer for my poor brain!

[Danijela]

The testing strips just show high blood glucose, not insulin levels. You could have high blood glucose because your body is producing enough, or even too much, insulin but your body isn't using it correctly (hyperinsulinima) or because your body isn't producing enough insulin (type 1 diabetes). So you've got no idea really.

There's a test called A1C which can show an average of your blood glucose over the last few months. That's becoming a more important test these days.

hey there

sorry it takes me sooo long to respond i find it very hard to find time to get on here...

nancy is right the strips only show sugar level.

this past wednesday i went to a walk in clinic i am in the process of looking for a new doctor i've had enough of mine anyways i had blood drawn for a random sugar test and an insulin test.... the woman who took the blood said she has never heard of a test to check insulin levels that its all part of the glucose test .... i don't know what that was all about... now i'm just waiting for the result i dont know what kind of luck i'm going to have with that considering their lack of knowldge....

ttys

[plantime]

I had hyperinsulinemia. My doc said the only real way to treat it is to cut back carbs, exercise more, and lose weight. I did that (only lost 10 pounds), and sure enough, the next insulin test shows normal. I'll be having another one in August for follow-up. It seems that diet is the ultimate control to many things that ail the human race!

[mrtnman]

Hey there!

I have always questioned having some sort of bloodsugar problem because of the hypoglcemic attacks i have

my mother had insulin resistance which wasn't caught or treated in time which then turned into type 2 diabetes....

she says she recognizes most of the symptoms i complain of i have been trying to research this on the net before i see the endo guy... which is probably not a good idea docs or atleast the ones ive seen hate it when patients look up things on the net...

anyways my symptoms are

hypoglycemic attacks :

sweats, shakes, dizzyness, blurred vision, overactive bladder, palpitations, my whole body trembles....

i get an intense hunger and loss of balance and dizzyness after meals and after a fasting period, i also have shortness of breath,

i find that walking up a flight of stairs or just walking a short distance gives me shortness of breath..... i've noticed as well i have trobles breathing when its humid or even in the shower or cooking with steam

i also get anxious when my sugar is dropping...

i began making notes about everything i was eating and when the attacks were happening i did notice that when i consumed any larger amounts or sugar i would wake up in the middle of the night with severe attacks

it took months and months for me to realize what it was waking me up at night it rarely happens now however i still do have boughts of this in the day time not as severe as the night attacks.....

does anyone suffer from the same sort of thing or have any advice

i am really concerned that this is going to turn into diabetes because the docs aren't taking me seriously and this has been going on for more than a year now

i also am unable to loose anymore weight when i went off of gluten and yeast i lost 18 pounds but i am now at a stand still i have alot more to go and cant excersise because of the shortness of breath

thankyou for listening and for any responses

[mrtnman]

[Nancym]

I'd recommend reading Open Original Shared Link. I think it's probably just as valid for someone with hyperinsulinism because that is really just a step along the path to diabetes. Might as well catch it before it fully blooms.

Also a really good educational site is: Open Original Shared Link

If you want to learn why diabetes and hyperinsulinism is so important to treat agressively and prevent then I'd recommend the book by Gary Taubes called Open Original Shared Link.

[AliB]

I had a problem with hyperinsulinism and hypoglycemia for years before I became diabetic 10 years ago at the age of 40.

Two times in my life I went low-carb I was a lot better and my blood sugar was much more stable, and I am just kicking myself now that I went back to the carbs and sugar and didn't keep it going.

My body does not cope with carbohydrate very well and not only has it led to the diabetes, it has meant that I have been suffering with Candida most of my life and considerable excess weight, most of it put on during my first pregnancy and never lost since.

Apparently, whilst 20% of the population can cope with carbs, the other 80% can't and it contributes to a lot of different problems including celiac disease and diabetes.

Whilst protein, fats and the carbs in fruit and vegetables help to stabilise the blood sugar, carbohydrates and sugar stimulates manic swings in the blood sugar encouraging fatigue, weight gain, mental problems and anxiety, headaches and migraines - you name it. We consume so much carbohydrate from the minute we get up to the minute we go to bed, the levels are yo-yoing all day long - often why people experience a slump in the afternoon or early evening.

Eating low-carb - not high protein - including some meats, fish and poultry but supplementing with plenty of fresh raw and cooked vegetables and fresh fruits will help to stop the stimulation of the pancreas to produce too much insulin and also help to prevent the body becoming resistant to the insulin as a result.