The other side of the coin.

[alisoncc]

I can appreciate the massive importance placed on BG levels, but has there been any thought given to the other side of the coin. As a retr engineer and ex-comm pilot, my interest lies in the ability of my muscles to deliver work. Recently put on Glargine injections. Find some days I can stride along whereas others hardly put one foot in front of the other. To be honest I don't think I want to lower my BG levels. I want to be able to use the glucose for productive work. Thanks.

I want the energy levels back that enabled me to play in a 27 hole golf comp, that's in one morning. It wasn't that many years ago. Now 77 yo. I recognise that my pancreas has almost completely stopped producing insulin. Hence the need for the injections. I have been warned numerous times that the sky will fall in if my BG levels stay high. OMG !!

I have found with the injections some days I seem to be able to build up a reserve of insulin enabling me to put in a fair amount of physical effort, other days it seems to run out awfully quickly. Even washing up after dinner requires a sit down half way through. Has anyone else seen fit to assess their muscle's ability to deliver work?

Think of the Glargine as taking up to four hours for the engines to spool up, but I need thrust to get airborne, and seeking to lower the fuel pressure or it's availability ain't gonna help when I pass V1. .

 

[Tophat1900]

Perhaps you could provide some info on your diet? This is after all what fuels the body.

What do you call high levels?

High BG levels keep you in a state of inflammation, which of course is damaging. Catabolism can occur, which results in muscle loss and possibly muscle weakness. Also fatigue can occur, if you are running high levels a lot then that may well explain your loss of energy.

 

[Jo_the_boat]

Wiser heads than mine will come along but..... many of us find an alternate energy source to glucose, fat for example.
Excess glucose causes problems. Different things with different people. With me I'm pretty sure it (along with smoking) contributed to my athersclerosis, diagnosed 5 years ago. This causes me leg muscle tiredness. I have been low carbing for four or five years now, lost weight and exercise as much as I can. Despite being pretty low carb my mobility is much better.
I used to struggle to get to the end of the taxiway, now I'm walking nearly 60 miles a week.

 

[Jaylee]

I can appreciate the massive importance placed on BG levels, but has there been any thought given to the other side of the coin. As a retr engineer and ex-comm pilot, my interest lies in the ability of my muscles to deliver work. Recently put on Glargine injections. Find some days I can stride along whereas others hardly put one foot in front of the other. To be honest I don't think I want to lower my BG levels. I want to be able to use the glucose for productive work. Thanks.

I want the energy levels back that enabled me to play in a 27 hole golf comp, that's in one morning. It wasn't that many years ago. Now 77 yo. I recognise that my pancreas has almost completely stopped producing insulin. Hence the need for the injections. I have been warned numerous times that the sky will fall in if my BG levels stay high. OMG !!

I have found with the injections some days I seem to be able to build up a reserve of insulin enabling me to put in a fair amount of physical effort, other days it seems to run out awfully quickly. Even washing up after dinner requires a sit down half way through. Has anyone else seen fit to assess their muscle's ability to deliver work?

Think of the Glargine as taking up to four hours for the engines to spool up, but I need thrust to get airborne, and seeking to lower the fuel pressure or it's availability ain't gonna help when I pass V1. .

Hi,

As a glargine based insulin user myself, I find the the energy comes when running BGs within healthy normal parameters.
What levels are you normally seeing BG wise?
I'm not entirely sure what your diet is, but a long acting insulin alone is not designed to deal with mealtime spikes.

 

[Dark Horse]

Glucose is indeed a fuel but it has to enter the muscle cells in order to be used by them. Insulin is the key which allows that to happen. High blood glucose levels indicate that there is insufficient insulin to facilitate the entry of glucose into cells.

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

I want to be able to use the glucose for productive work. Thanks.

You need to look at the Kreb cycle to see how glucose with the help of oxygen generates ATP for muscle contractions. Skeletal muscle of diabetic patients has a reduced capacity to increase ATP production with high insulin levels. So, there's several things in the mix when looking at muscle health.

 

[Brunneria]

As a type 2, insulin resistance will likely be playing a huge part in the situation.
And if you are feeling that you need a sit down while washing up - presumably that is just after eating? So your blood glucose levels may be spiking after the meal you just ate.

Energy to muscles is definitely a part, but high blood glucose can make you want to sit down, or sleep, or feel wiped out, and insulin resistance can make limbs feel heavy, lethargic and un-energised.

 

[NicoleC1971]

I think that you are right to identify that looking at the energy delivery system to the body is more complicated that having the energy (blood glucose from what you've eaten or stored energy in the muscles and fat).
With type 2 your insulin is having trouble getting the energy into your cells. With acute lack of insulin (type 1) the situation is much worse but more obvious!
It is analogous to a crowded Tokyo train onto which more and more commuters board such that in the end the rail company employs people to cram more and more people on board. The 'pushers' are the insulin and the density of people on the train are the 'resistance' - the more insulin you take or produce the more resistance it generates until eventually more energy spills out into your blood sugars.
So having slightly high blood sugars can affect your energy levels as you've been finding but taking increasing quantities of insulin won't always solve the problem in the longer term.
Eating foods that don't jack up your insulin will help you reduce resistance from your cells and hence fix the root cause which is surely what engineers seek to do? That said although it is a simple fix I am not saying it isn't a challenge to make these kind of changes but lots of type 2 folk here have done it and there is lots of information out there discussing the 'mechanics' of the problem if that interest you (try Ben Bikman or Ivor Cummins on hyperinsulinemia for example).

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi @alisoncc , The 'other side of the coin' is that with lower BG levels your body is able to use the stored body fat for energy because the lower Insulin allows this. Having high BG levels and taking Insulin because of this is just a way to store more and more body fat without ever being able to use it for fuel.

Ketones from being fat adapted are a superb fuel for out bodies. Fat adapted athletes do the Ironman Triathlon and run in multiple marathons (most years) - without needing any carbs en-route.

I think it was yesterday that James Cracknell (UK multiple rowing Olympic gold medalist) along with 7 others did a 5 day water (+ electrolytes) only fast during which they ran 100 miles - no food at all, not just no carbs! Actually they ran more than 20 miles in each of the first 4 days because in that time they covered 90 miles - so the goal was really too easy. None of them was a trained long distance athlete, Cracknell's competitions only lasted about 5 min max. They did this to prove that humans don't need to eat carbohydrates, which is obvious to anybody who thinks about what our pre-agriculture ancestors ate.