Interesting article about insulin

ldg323

Just read this and it make a lot of sense. For me to able to control something, I need to understand it. I thought maybe someone else might be interested.

http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/Blog/David-Spero/learning-about-the-insulin-response/?ref=ls

NotThePest

It's good to see someone else who wants to know how our bodies work or doesn't work. If you are exercising to help control your glucose numbers, you may want to get a hold of the a book written by a Type I Diabetic, it is also for type IIs, called,

The Diabetic Athlete's Handbook, by Sheri Colberg. You don't have to be a world class athlete to read this or understand it. Athlete means if you’re only thinking about working out. I’ve also persevered (medical dictionary) through a medical text book called, The Handbook of Exercise in Diabetes.

I kind of think about my pancreas (insulin) and my liver (glucose) and being dance partners that have really gotten out of sync.

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NotThePest

@tsazani (sorry ldg323 don't mean to hijack your topic), may I ask what are you reading to keep up on the latest research on type II. I'm blessed to have found an endo (Dr. Sandra Foo St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital NYC) who stays informed on diabetes, nutrition and obesity. She kind of dismissed me in January as I'm one of her star patients (AIc was 5.6 - 8 for an entire year), but I want to be kept informed of what is going on and being found out in the latest research. I had to fire my previous endo because he knew nothing about the effects of exercise on diabetes and kept yelling at me that I needed to lose weight (I had dropped three dress sizes and my glucose control was fabulous). When I exercise my liver was dumping lots of glucose to fuel my workout so I would spike about 30 minutes in, then drop like a rock in another 20 to 30 minutes. Told me I was eating to much when I was only fueling up enough to sustain the workout. (I'm getting in 8 to 9 hours of workout time per week).

Dr. Foo took me off of all the other meds (glybride, actos and something else I can't remember, plus Metformin 500 2 Xs a day) I was on and bumped up my Metformin to 1,000 twice a day to keep my liver under control. Until the meds reduction was done, I would fight lows everyday. My liver was doing Hip Hop dancing, while my pancreas was doing a slow waltz.

I'm really interested in how an M.D. keeps control and functions with type II. Honestly, being diagnosed with type II has been a lifesaver and life changing, for the better, experience for me.

waldenfam2

@tsazani (sorry ldg323 don't mean to hijack your topic), may I ask what are you reading to keep up on the latest research on type II. I'm blessed to have found an endo (Dr. Sandra Foo St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital NYC) who stays informed on diabetes, nutrition and obesity. She kind of dismissed me in January as I'm one of her star patients (AIc was 5.6 - 8 for an entire year), but I want to be kept informed of what is going on and being found out in the latest research. I had to fire my previous endo because he knew nothing about the effects of exercise on diabetes and kept yelling at me that I needed to lose weight (I had dropped three dress sizes and my glucose control was fabulous). When I exercise my liver was dumping lots of glucose to fuel my workout so I would spike about 30 minutes in, then drop like a rock in another 20 to 30 minutes. Told me I was eating to much when I was only fueling up enough to sustain the workout. (I'm getting in 8 to 9 hours of workout time per week).

Dr. Foo took me off of all the other meds (glybride, actos and something else I can't remember, plus Metformin 500 2 Xs a day) I was on and bumped up my Metformin to 1,000 twice a day to keep my liver under control. Until the meds reduction was done, I would fight lows everyday. My liver was doing Hip Hop dancing, while my pancreas was doing a slow waltz.

I'm really interested in how an M.D. keeps control and functions with type II. Honestly, being diagnosed with type II has been a lifesaver and life changing, for the better, experience for me.

Can you explain what you meant about the exercise, etc. I can't afford to purchase a book right now, lol. Just had a couple of birthdays and the kids in sports but I really strive to understand my diabetes to get better control.

I'm currently on Victoza only, used to be on glipizide but had way to many lows. However, I heard from another person that metformin might save my pancreas longer, since it would control the liver dumps. But I only have those if I don't eat right before exercising. I've been doing relatively well, A1C is 5.8, though I'd like it lower. I still consider that a little on the high end. I have to live with this for a long time since I'm only 32. Thank you for any feedback.

NotThePest

@waldenfam2-

Exercise, especially aerobic exercises, causes the muscles to uptake the glucose that is stored in muscle cells, after that is depleted, and it doesn't take long, the liver begins to dump glucose into the bloodstream to fuel whatever you're doing. However, if you are insulin resistant, the body doesn't recognize the glucose that is being dumped, at least for me, so there was a delay in uptaking the glucose needed to fuel my exercising, so I would spike up to 250/300 within 30 minutes. Then once it recognized the glucose, because my muscles were short of glucose, it would suck everything in then within 15/20 minutes I would drop down to 60 (United States measurements). All the meds the first endo had me on was also causing me to see-saw back and forth with to much insulin and not enough glucose.

The body is a wonderful creation and when normal, glucose and insulin work to keep each other in balance. To much insulin, the liver kicks out glucose, to much glucose, the pancreas kicks out insulin. When we are put on meds, the idea is to artificially get those two in balance again. Since I was diligent about exercising (My intent was to get off of all meds - have you ever read the side-effects, yikes), especially at that time aerobics (I didn't know the benefits of strength and resistance training at first), helps makes you muscles receptive to up-taking glucose WITHOUT insulin. In fact in a normal person, when they began to do any activity that is consider aerobic, the pancreas does not produce insulin because the muscles' action during that time does not need insulin to uptake glucose.

I workout in the morning to activate my muscles for the day; however, I currently do what is called HIIT or HIRT (High Intensity Interval Training and/or High Intensity Resistance Training) which is circuit training on speed. That has given me the best control ever (look it up on the internet), Resistance training helps build more muscles, thus when you do aerobics, you have more muscle mass to synthesize to take up glucose without the help of meds.

I'm an exergamer, meaning I use video games to workout. I have a Wii, got it for free because I changed phone companies and that was one of the incentives) and I only use it to workout: EA Sports Active 2.0 (Their program works on HIIT and HIRT principle and it is great!!!); Zumba 2.0; Exerbeat (light workout - active rest days); Get Fit With Mel B, etc.

Go to the library and get the following books:

The Diabetic Athlete's Handbook, Sheri Colburg

The Healing Power of Exercise: Your Guide to Preventing and Treating Diabetes, Depression, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Arthritis, and More, Dr.s Linn Goldberg, Diane L. Elliot

The Medical Textbook I purchased is: The Handbook of Exercise in Diabetes.

All of the above books can be reviewed on Amazon, if you want to know what they cover

I'm not a doctor, I just read a lot. If you use google as a search engine, you can use the "Scholar" function of the site and enter:

Benefit Exercise Diabetes or whatever word you can find. Some things you can only get abstracts of, and some have the entire study - check who funded the research to determine how much weight to give the study. Some things contradict each other. Have a medical dictionary near by and good luck. Also note: No two people’s are a like when it comes to type II, there are at least 32 genetic variations that contribute to diabetes. You have to know your own body and you have to trust what you are experiencing on the meds you are on. Don't let someone tell you you are not experiencing something, that is why I fired my first endo and found another. Unfortunately it takes a good 5 to 7 months to get an appointment with her.

waldenfam2

@waldenfam2-

Exercise, especially aerobic exercises, causes the muscles to uptake the glucose that is stored in muscle cells, after that is depleted, and it doesn't take long, the liver begins to dump glucose into the bloodstream to fuel whatever you're doing. However, if you are insulin resistant, the body doesn't recognize the glucose that is being dumped, at least for me, so there was a delay in uptaking the glucose needed to fuel my exercising, so I would spike up to 250/300 within 30 minutes. Then once it recognized the glucose, because my muscles were short of glucose, it would suck everything in then within 15/20 minutes I would drop down to 60 (United States measurements). All the meds the first endo had me on was also causing me to see-saw back and forth with to much insulin and not enough glucose.

I'll have to check out those books. The only time I've had a major liver dumb when I was exercising was when I went to the gym on only Almonds. It just wasn't enough and my sugar went up. Now, I just eat my normal meal before I go and then later in the day I can usually eat slightly more carbs because (at least what I think is happening) my glucose stores are depleted and my muscles suck it right up, and my morning fasting number is usually better than usual too. Average is 114 - 118, but after a good workout it's usually 99-104. However, I've never tested a 1/2 an hour or so into exercising. I'll have to check that and see what my numbers are doing.

Thank you for the tips

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NotThePest

The "happy" part of this entire process is because I don't think I would have changed my lifestyle choices if I hadn't been diagnosed. No matter the direction, taking a long walk off of a short pier into shark infested waters, still point to death no matter the path taken. I'm now more aware. I now to not go near the edge.

Sharonks

@waldenfam2 Test shortly after exercising but don't panic too much. For me, I tend to settle down after a few weeks of upping my exercise. I generally will shoot up to about 200 shortly after exercise then it will drop down to something more normal. After a week of that exercise level it will start to get lower until exercise doesn't raise my BG at all. Lately, my exercise increases have been gradual enough that I no longer spike. If I don't exercise pretty strenuously every two days then my fasting will be in the high 120s no matter what I eat.