|
Re: Yet another question about insulin sensitizers - Dr. Sam
From: Tania (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Wed, 27 Jun 2001 03:35:58 -0000
i have a question and i hope someone can answer.......
when i was diagnosed with PCOS they didn't give me any outrageous tests , i
do get occasional blood tests but they just want to test my liver . what is
this 2 hour to all day long blood sugar test i keep hearing about? what do
they test for and how can i get my doctor to give it to me (yay, more
tests,lol) . i just want to make sure all is fine and dandy in tania land
and maybe i can get my doc's more involved in my treatment, it's like
pulling teeth to get any sort of medication(i had to fight for the 2000mg,
they had me on 500mgs of met and it wasn't doing a darn thing) . Of course,
that's what i get for going to the Veteran's affairs for treatment, but it
is free and considered service related because i was misdiagnosed the entire
time i was in the army, know what i mean? is anyone else getting treatment
throgh the V.A.? and if so, are you having any success?
tania
>From: anonymous@obgyn.net (Sue)
>Reply-To: anonymous@obgyn.net
>To: Multiple recipients of list PCOS-MEDICATION
><pcos-medication@mail.medispecialty.com>
>Subject: Re: Yet another question about insulin sensitizers - Dr. Sam
>Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2001 12:10:15 -0500
>
> >If they do not lower the blood sugar, then why would reactions to them be
>explained as hypoglycemia? I know exactly what hypoglycemia feels like,
>and what happened to me when I took Metformin was NOT the same thing. I'm
>just
>confused (again).<
>
>Don't worry about being confused; it happens to all of us. Basically,
>met, avandia, or actos are safe and don't lower the blood sugar. What
>lowers your blood sugar is the overproduction of insulin. When you
>first go on an insulin sensitizer, your body hasn't acclamated to the
>medication and continues to overproduce insulin--your pancreas hasn't
>"received the message" to quit squirting out too much. So symptoms of
>hypoglycemia are somewhat common in the beginning stages of insulin
>sensitizing treatment. I had it with met and later when I switched to
>actos. It went away within a few days for me--but it may take longer
>for some to respond favourably.
>
>Remember the mechanisms of blood sugar and hunger are like a fuel gauge
>in a car--when your sugar levels reach 80 d/L, you feel hungry--the
>lower sugar levels send a signal to different parts of your brain to get
>the rumbling going and the acid in your stomach churning, in hopes that
>you will feed it and rectify the situation. When you have eaten and are
>comfortably full (not stuffed), your blood sugar is usually around 120
>d/L. When you overproduce insulin (the hormone that controls what your
>blood sugar levels are), your sugar can drop quickly and
>unnecessarily--making you feel hungry again, even though you might've
>eaten within the last 2 hours or so. Technically, you don't NEED food,
>but your sugar levels have crashed, and if you don't eat something,
>you'll have some adverse reactions (faintness, nausea, exhaustion,
>etc.). This is why we need insulin sensitizers. When our insulin
>levels are under control, we can eat like normal people (small amts,
>about every 4 hrs) and not have to worry about crashes or hypoglycemia.
>Hope this makes sense--my brain seems a little foggy at the moment.
>
|
|
![[ PCOS Discussion Forums ]](../../images/pcos_at_obgyn.gif)