Re: -a lifetime thing? (long-right back at ya!)+building muscle quickly
From: Mary (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Thu, 11 May 2000 17:03:52 -0500 (CDT)
I don't think it's so much about alcohol tolerance (or lack thereof) as
much as it is about self-medicating--attempting to set yourself right
inside, chemically, since our chemistry always makes us feel so crappy
and just...off. I myself have never found alcohol helped me 'set myself
right' but perhaps others we're related to (and who suffer from the same
hyperinsulinemia as us) do.
My legs are always the most muscley part on me too. Tummy also has
rolls--has since I was ten. (Now 30)
At Thu, 11 May 2000, Christine wrote:
>
>I really believe the bloor sugar/alcohol thing is related. I have ALOT
>of alcohol dependent people in my family. I am the only one in my
>immediate family that doesn't "party" all the time b/c I simply cannot
>tolerate alcohol. When I was in high school/college (competitive - long
>distance runner) I drank alot and despite my small size 5' 1" and at
>the time, 110. I however, got NASTY hangovers. Now at 30 years old,
>ONE drink will give me a hangover and get me buzzed. I attribute this
>to the blood sugar problems ( my RE says, well, some people are just
>like that!).
>
>I too build muscle very easily. Right now my legs are very muscular but
>my stomach has a few rolls and my breasts are quite ample. I used to
>have a boyfriend who called me his "little linebacker" cause my arms and
>shoulders tend to be muscular too (got rid of him a while back - did not
>find that complimentary).
>
>So yes, another woman who not only has to deal with PCO symptoms but a
>family full of alcoholics!!
>
>At Wed, 10 May 2000, Mary wrote:
>>
>>That's so funny you say that re: muscle b/c I feel that way too.
>>But...honestly, do we have THAT much extra testost.??? I mean, don't you
>>kind of need a LOT for that effect? I'd be amazed that we have enough to
>>get "built" fast becuase of it.. but who knows. Maybe others have
>>thoughts?.
>>
>>That's interesting about alcholics and trying to regulate themselves. I
>>definately have addictive personalities in my family--some alcoholic,
>>some chronic eaters (I am not the only one who has continuously tried to
>>medicate myself with food). I worry about the men b/c --let's face
>>it--just b/c this insulin issue affects our ovaries and wreaks havoc
>>that way doesnt mean that our genetic insulin resistance isn't hitting
>>the guys too. And yet.. they don't have so obvious a 'syndrome' to
>>send them desperate, fat, hairy and irregular to the Dr's office. (Do
>>they?) I mean, we're all prediabetic--they would be too, just don't know
>>it the way we do. It's troubling b/c my little brother is retarded and
>>he can't make these kinds of decisions for himself, so we need to be
>>vigilant for him.. Look after things with his health FOR him. I dunno.
>>(sigh..) It's a big problem.
>>
>>At Wed, 10 May 2000, Barbara wrote:
>>>
>>>You know, after I was diagnosed, and started doing research and talking
>>>to other cysters, I starting putting some of the puzzle pieces together
>>>for myself.
>>>When I was a teen I was on BCP, I took PE all four years of High School,
>>>walked back and forth to school and took dance classes outside of
>>>school, so alot of excercise. My mom was also a very healthy cook, so
>>>it wasn't necessarily low-carb but it wasn't high sugar, and we didn't
>>>each much junk or processed food. After I graduated I started working
>>>full time over the summer, eating out alot and not working out as much
>>>and that is when my blood sugar problems started.
>>>A couple of years ago I also had the experience of working out about 4
>>>times a week and at the time was not on BCP and had two 28 day cycles.
>>>Unfortunately, nothing has lasted as a solution, so I think I am on to
>>>combining diet, excercise and supplements and I will stay on BCP until I
>>>feel like I am getting healthier.
>>>A side note, perhaps a positive side effect of PCOS, I have always built
>>>muscle quickly when working out, Perhaps the extra testosterone? :)
>>>Something I have always been curious about as well, with all the blood
>>>sugar issues that run in our families, I wonder how many of us have
>>>family members with chemical dependencies like alcoholism? They are now
>>>saying that one component might be that alcoholics are basically
>>>self-medicating trying to get themselves regulated, and trying to deal
>>>with the emotional/mood issues that go with
>>>blood sugar problems.
>>>Any thoughts?
>>>
>>>At Wed, 10 May 2000, Mary wrote:
>>>>
>>>>Here's what I know re: insulin resistance. It can be built up or pushed
>>>>down. I accidentally lowered mine several years ago (before I knew i
>>>>had insulin resistance!) when I got really into running. Also chromium
>>>>piccolinate was getting a lot of press then, so I was taking it too.
>>>>
>>>>My body got leaner and not just from the exercise--it was as if it was
>>>>able to reSPOND better to the exercise. I had much much better results
>>>>i think than if I hadn't done the chromium.
>>>>
>>>>Conversly, you also boost your insulin resistance by eating a lot of
>>>>crap--or even just a lot of carbs. <--which is kind of unavoidable
>>>>considering the govt itself advocates a low fat, high carb diet!!
>>>>(pphhht!)
>>>>
>>>>The science of it is this (from what I've read) if you have too much
>>>>sugar (carbs break down into sugar) in your blood stream from whatever
>>>>meal you just ate, pancreas dumps insulin into blood. Insulin is needed
>>>>to escort blood sugar into cells as fuel. Without insulin escorting it,
>>>>sugar can't go in (so you get crabby and tired). But if you are
>>>>resistant, cells (muscle and organ cells) shut the door to insulin, so
>>>>they just sit there in your blood instead.
>>>>
>>>>So your body has no where to put all that fuel, --it has to do soemthing
>>>>with all that sugar so it writes it off as excess and dumps it into fat
>>>>cells. (hence we become gigantic) Meanwhile, your mucle and organ
>>>>cells--that dont' realize what they just did to themselves--are crying
>>>>for fuel. So that makes your brain tell your pancreas dump MORE insulin
>>>>into blood so that it will make you feel hungry/depleted/ and make you
>>>>go eat. And then the same thing happens all over again. This has been
>>>>happening to all of us 3 times a day for years on end.
>>>>
>>>>If you think about it, take a normal person, and...say all they eat is
>>>>candy--that will stimulate a lot of insulin, and the musc/org cells will
>>>>have to get resistant just out of self-preservation (i don't know what
>>>>happens if they don't get resistant, but it is a natural protective
>>>>mechanism). They start the process of insulin resistance and it just
>>>>goes in a vicious circle, spiraling higher and higher.
>>>>
>>>>For PCOSers, we don't need to eat candy to start up in that vicious
>>>>circle--we're already very sensitive to sugar (lots of blood sugar
>>>>probs. in our families)--so even just eating normally can mess us up.
>>>>BUt I think it's only when things get reallybad do we realize there is a
>>>>serious prob and get diagnosed (if we're lucky). By then we are already
>>>>way way up the beanstalk--and it will take awhile to come back down.
>>>>
>>>>Thing is, at some point in our lives, maybe as kids or teens, whatever
>>>>exercise we did get probably helped beat down --or keep down--our
>>>>insulin resistance. I know that for me, when I was running, I did that
>>>>'vicious circle' in reverse. My body became better and better at being
>>>>insulin responsive. But only as long as I still exercised (not
>>>>hard-core but reasonably regularaly)--and a few mos after.
>>>>
>>>>Eventually, it sprialed back up. And I'm not going to pretend I dont'
>>>>have a sweet tooth b/c i do--bigtime. So I know it didn't help that I
>>>>gobbled lots of 'fat-free' sweets, etc. But you know, I also ate like a
>>>>normal person, which..is not so good for pple like us.
>>>>
>>>>BTW, according to carb addicts lifetime plan book---even diet soda,
>>>>sugarless gum, and msg can stimulate an insulin burst. IN fact, just
>>>>THINKING a lot about food can stimulate insulin.
>>>>
>>>>I guess we are all just a lot more likely to get insulin resistant than
>>>>other pple... so we all need to avoid triggers. BUt to answer your
>>>>question, you can wean off chromium someday I guess, but you(and all of
>>>>us) will always need something that keeps our resistance down: exercise,
>>>>lowcarb diet, metformin, etc.
>>>>
>>>>On bright side, these are not terrible options... :)
>>>
>>>--
>>>Barbara
>>>
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