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Am I insulin resistant?

S

sammy123

Member
Messages
18
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Hello Everyone

I was experiencing rapid weight gain in the last year and have managed to put on 8kg quiet quickly.

I am female and 22.

I got a blood test done and my GP told me I was insulin resistant because my HB1AC was 6.2. I was also told I had polycystic ovarian syndrome. I was put on metformin 500 mg ER. This was Sept last year.

Ever since then I have been exercising 4-5 times a week, and in the last month opted to a 1200 calorie diet cutting out all potatoes, rice,pasta and bread (I only eat 1 slice of toast for breakfast and have roti for dinner ( indian dish).


I started to get concerned for my weight as I was not losing any weight. I understand our bodies can reach a plateau where our body adjusts to a certain weight after some time. However, I did not even see my body change, despite sweating myself as the gym so much I do not look any fitter, or leaner or toner.

I was very concerned because even a low calorie diet and hours and hours at the gym is giving me no changes!

I was told to get off metform as it made me more hungry.


I got another blood test done and my hb1ac was 6.2. I went to an endocrinologist for the first time and was told I dont have PCOS because my BMI is fine and I dont have any of the symptoms. I was also told that I am not pre diabetic or insulin resistance because the level 6.2 is virtually normal which does not require any medication. The doctor said my thyroid hormones and everything is fine.

I just find it difficult to settle and believe that there is nothing wrong with me when -
1) I am always hungry
2) I cant seem to drop any kg... I am not even losing any inches around my waist.


I have heard people who are insulin resistant have a hard time losing weight, but how hard can it be?!

I feel like I will never be skinny and no one will ever be able to help me out.

Can anyone shed some light?
 
Hi and welcome. First Metformin does not make you feel hungry. In fact it does the opposite as it reduces appetite slightly and started life as a diet pill! Second, forget calories and think carbs. Carbs are the big problem for those with diabetes or who have excess weight and/or insulin resistance. Set yourself a daily carb limit of, perhaps, 150gm/day and you should see the weight start to fall. Reduce the carbs enough and you almost certainly will lose weight. If you have enough protein and fat that will help you stop feeling hungry so often and these will have little effect on weight gain. An HBA1C of 6.2% is quite good and if you can get it down to 6.0% so much the better but not vital.
 
Hi,

An HbA1c of 6.2% (or 44 in new measurements) is in the pre-diabetic range. Your doctor was wrong. It needs to be under 6% (or 41) to be normal. Anything over 6.5% (47) is diabetic. So you do need to be sorting out your carb consumption if you want to reduce those levels. He said your BMI is fine. Are you willing to share your BMI with us?

Do you have a blood glucose meter? If not I strongly recommend you buy one. (The Codefree has the cheapest strips and many of us use that) By testing before and a couple of hours after a meal you can easily see which foods are causing too high a rise in your levels and are then able to tweak that meal either by reducing the carb portions or eliminating them. This is the only way to learn and to formulate a sustainable diet for yourself.

I'll tag @Brunneria because she is an expert on PCOS matters, hormone issues, and difficulty in losing weight.
 
If only losing, or gaining, weight, was down to what we eat. That's only part of the story, once we've consumed whatever it is we've eaten, it has to be converted into energy for the muscles to use and as a general principle, if we consume too much we store the energy as fat, and if we consume too little, we burn fat (sometime muscle, depends, I did say general principle).
There's one slight problem, that's the 550 chemical processes to do this.
You might like to have a look at something of what goes on inside us at
http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/technic...ology/interactive-metabolic-pathways-map.html.
Sorry, maybe I'm going a bit too far. I fully appreciate how you must feel, I have religiously followed low calorie diets for more years than I remember and followed intensive exercise regimes, on and off, depending on injuries incurred while exercising and have failed to lose weight except for when I started low carb and when I was able to stop certain medication.
You might like to consult a Nutritional Therapist (with a degree and recognised by B.A.N.T.), he/she will be able to recommend tests to see what's going on in your body. I've recently had a simple urine test (if first thing, half asleep and mid flow is simple LOL) which shows that because of my low carb diet, my body is in ketosis, and in theory burning fat. Unfortunately it also showed that my body is not metabolising fats properly and is storing fat . . . . as fat. This is as a result of poor gut bacteria. I was on antibiotics after surgery in January and when I finished the meds I should have been taking a probiotic to help the good bacteria re establishing themselves.
So, unfortunately, it's much more complicated than I can get my head round, but even eating less and less can make things worse. GPs don't seem to get much Nutrition training, but it is my humble opinion, that it is the route of all our ills.
 
Thankyou everyone for your responses

How much should my carb intake be to lose weight?

I am 22 years age i weigh 57 kg and my height is 158 cm so my bmi is 23.

I cant actually have carbs as im basically intolerant to it. I will eat a bowl of rice and be starving 30 min later. Is this normal? Does this mean im 100% insulin resistant?
 
Weight problems aren’t a permanent and immovable fixture for the rest of your life. If you’re finding that weight is easy to gain and hard to lose, it’s not your fault! Weight problems aren’t just about overeating or under exercising — they’re about metabolic changes that are collectively known as insulin resistance.

If you’ve tried to lose weight and haven’t made any real progress, one thing is certain: Your metabolism has changed. Your old metabolism has been replaced by one that likes storing fat.

Healthy lifestyle and diet is important and can help regulate insulin levels. Exercise can also help the body regulate blood glucose and keep excess weight off.
 
Yes i completely agree with you.
My issue is that several doctors and endocrinologist has told me that I do not have diabetes and no medication is required because my hb1ac is 6.2 which is slightly elevated but not high enough to take medication. But does this suggest that im insulin resistance?

Why is eating healthy and exercising every day doing a mixture of high intensity training and weights not helping me lose anything?

I wouldn't mind even slow progress because atleast its something but im not seeing anything

I am hungry 90 % of the day. I am never full. And if i am for s little bit i get really sleepy. So ill take a nap and then wake up hungry- what does this suggest?

Its upsetting to know this is happening to me no one seems to understand my concern
 
sammy123 said:
Thankyou everyone for your responses

How much should my carb intake be to lose weight?

I am 22 years age i weigh 57 kg and my height is 158 cm so my bmi is 23.

I cant actually have carbs as im basically intolerant to it. I will eat a bowl of rice and be starving 30 min later. Is this normal? Does this mean im 100% insulin resistant?
Click to expand...

Hi @sammy123 :)

Your BMI is normal so I'm guessing you only want to lose a few pounds for aesthetic reasons? Have you tried an app like My Fitness Pal or similar so you can record exactly what you eat each day? Sometimes seeing a day's food analysed can be an eye opener as we tend to misremember or misjudge what we eat.

What did you have with your bowl of rice? If I just ate a bowl of rice by itself, I'd be starving too, so I'm hoping you had reasonable amounts of protein and veg with it?

Maybe you could write down a typical day's food and see what suggestions you get.
 
I have beans with my rice
Even chicken and rice makes me hungry
Anything in high carbs makes me hungry so i just cant eat it.

My usual day is -

Breakfast
Oats with soy milk and tea spoon of honey
Piece of fruit usually a banana

Lunch
Bean corn tomato salad

Dinner
2 chapattis with daal soup and bowl of roasted vegetables and bowl of yoghurt

I use my fitness pal and im eating 1200-1300 calories

I have been doing this for 5 weeks and exercising everyday if i eat any less it will be unhealthy
I checked my weight this morning I'm exactly where i was 5 weeks ago

Not a single gram ive dropped

Im exercising like crazy doing strength hiit classes every single day even boxing!

What could be wrong with me?
Do i have a medical disorder that the doctor just cant seem to figure out?
Am i insulin resistance because of my high blood sugar levels?
Why didnt metformin do anything for me while i was on it 500 mg for 6 months?
 
Hi Sammy, you mention you can't have carbs are you think you're intolerant to them, but on the typical days diet you have listed you seem to consume quite a high number of carbs, try having a look at reducing carbs and what people eat/cut out and see if following that may help you :)


Sent from my iPhone using DCUK Forum mobile app
 
You don't have a lot of weight to lose, when that's the case, it just is harder to lose weight.

Daily calorie intake of 1200-1300 is usually a maintain weight intake for someone of <60kg

If you are doing weights strength training, remember muscle weighs more than fat. Which is a good thing!

Your daily food intake does seem like there are a fair number of carbs in there (oats, honey, banana, beans, chapatistis, daal = all carbs).

With a BMI of 23, you don't need to lose weight, you just want to. Which is fine. Sounds like you are approaching it with a healthy diet and a healthy exercise regime. It doesn't sound like there are any underlying medical issues stopping you losing weight.

Why not focus on feeling healthy and fit instead of the number on the scale? It really seems like you are unnecessarily stressing yourself out and looking for medical issues where you have been investigated and doctors have told you there are none. Of course, if you have concerns go back to your doctor for reassurance.

Being skinny isn't the be all and end all!
 
I agree that there are quite a few carbs there. I don't know if you're vegetarian? But if you're not, and that was my diet, I'd try cutting the banana from breakfast maybe, and, say, replacing the beans/dhal with some protein.

I'd also say that vegetables are very important. Yes, they're healthy but they also fill you up. I eat lots of veg and always feel hungry if I go out and get a meal with carbs and protein but hardly any vegetables. So maybe try upping your veg intake to help the hunger?

I think we all have an optimum weight - a weight our bodies feel happiest at, and that they try to stay at. if you've had medical checks and all's ok, I wouldn't worry. As @catapillar says, muscle weighs more than fat so maybe your static weight is deceiving you and you've actually gained muscle :)
 
Hi everyone

Thankyou firstly for your responses

Yes I am vegetarian but can eat chicken. I am Indian so alot of our food is very high in carbs. I am gradually trying to cut it down.

I have actually seen an exercise physiologist and and got a DEXA scan done. It shows you the ratio of body fat and muscle you have. It was really helpful because it really opened my eyes up as to how much I was carrying. the scan showed I have more fat than muscle with a high percentage of visceral fat.

I know I should not argue with my doctors as they say its all fine but I definitely don't feel fine.

I will try cut down carbs as much as I can and go from there.

I just dont feel healthy. All these hunger cravings are driving me insane. And if i eat a meal that is filling I will become so sleepy ill need to go take a nap! Its this vicious cycle of eat sleep eat sleep.

What happens if I cut down on carbs even more continue my exercise regimen and still see no results over a long period?

I think my issue is the way my body is processing food. For a normal person that eats food, glucose is sent off to the cells for energy. But in my case I just feel any food I eat is not being processed as energy but rather as fat. Hence why alot of my fat is accumlated around my belly, I have a pot belly and I have very big love handles. Essentially what is happening is, I am eating a meal hoping it will fill me up but because my cells are not receptive enough to the insulin, My cells are essentially "starved" hence why I am hungry ALL THE TIME!!!!.


I believe what I am explaining here is a simple process of insulin resistance.
But the big question is, if I am insulin resistant, why did metformin not do anything for me?

Not to mention that this is really freaking me out. This is disrupting my lifestyle. I hate exercising. I only do it to lose weight.

I was reading up on something called fatty liver? Does this sound familiar?

and yes @catapillar , you are right, being skinny is not the be all end all. But I have been size 8 all my life and my whole wardrobe currently does not fit me. This is nothing but depressing and its really important for me to go back to where I was.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Well, @sammy123 - if we were having a chat on a bus about this, my thoughts are: it does seem like you are a naturally lean person, given the 'right' food environment, and you probably have a carbohydrate-intolerance - like many people in the world! This means when you go over your carb-level your body takes the excess glucose and stores it in your fat cells, and around your belly - that ol' visceral fat. This in turn, and in time, dysregulates your blood sugar. With an HBA1c of 44/6.2% (the same as mine), you do have impaired glucose tolerance - another name for prediabetes. (And insulin resistance and its positive thing - insulin sensitivity is a part of that.) And yes, you can nip it in the bud, my own way of looking at it is - by going low carb in whichever Way Of Eating pleases you, and fits in with your family/culture/lifestyle the best.

I'm kind of infamous for being very hunger-sensitive on this forum. I feel it intensely when I feel it, and I am highly expressive of how it makes me feel! So as a fellow hunger-senstive person, I say - of course you are hungry on 1300 calories!! Dear me! Especially if a good portion of that food is carbs (with its little nutrition, or nutrition that we have problems digesting). Up your protein, up your healthy fats in particular. Curries with coconut/cream? Yum! Way cut down the carbs. Get eating nuts and dairy, if you tolerate it. Then gradually re-introduce carbs little by little again, and watch your BG levels, and adapt your diet accordingly. (ie more carbs, or less carbs, depending.)

Our feelings of hunger are hormone regulated, and appetite-levels run in families, so is also gene regulated, I would say as it stands to reason. The appetite-regulating-hunger hormones Ghrelin (exc sp) and Leptin are absolutely part of our BG regulation/insulin system. Yes, if your BG regulation system is out of whack - there is a chance that those hunger regulating hormones are too, and you won't know until you get your BG levels on a healthier even keel.

I have learnt to adapt to being without food for quite long periods of time, and way more comfortably, by intermittent fasting, for instance, and my life has improved enormously because of that. (And my nearest and dearest's lives too it must be said!) But I eat high healthy-fat in order to do that, and have worked really hard on a very high-level of nutrition, I would say. I also do well on what I believe to be 'decent' levels of protein, but I am naturally muscley, and pretty active. This is where genes/family/lifestyle/body-type all comes together, and why we are all different about food tolerances, even with the same-ish physical dysfunction (IGT/T2D!)

The good news is your carbs are easily identifiable, as in the posts above. Take them out, and gradually pop them back in, to find your good-BG level. Good luck with this - and don't go hungry! Go satiated, with good nutrition, and lower carbs.
 
Hi everyone

For dinner i had half a chicken it was grilled and marinaded with peri peri sauce and i had half a cup of tabouli salad with 3 slices of cucumber and hommus

45 min after i finished eating my stomach started to grumble.
An hour after eating i feel like i havnt eaten for days

What could be possibly wrong with me? My stomach is just not responding to food
Do i have an unknown disease?

Please help
 
sammy123 said:
Hi everyone

For dinner i had half a chicken it was grilled and marinaded with peri peri sauce and i had half a cup of tabouli salad with 3 slices of cucumber and hommus

45 min after i finished eating my stomach started to grumble.
An hour after eating i feel like i havnt eaten for days

What could be possibly wrong with me? My stomach is just not responding to food
Do i have an unknown disease?

Please help
Click to expand...

You'd really be best seeing your doctor @sammy123 as there may be another underlying problem which none of us could diagnose


Sent from my iPhone using DCUK Forum mobile app
 
sammy123 said:
What could be possibly wrong with me? My stomach is just not responding to food
Do i have an unknown disease?
Click to expand...

It sounds like youre hungry. Possibly because you are dieting and super aware of what you are eating, what you are planning to eat, what you are "not allowed to eat" on your diet. Whenever I used to diet I would become ravenously hungry & never satisfied, simply because all my focus was on food.

Do you have a means of testing your blood sugar? Hunger can be a symptom of high blood sugar.

If you are concerned, it really would be worth discussing with your doctor.
 
I only check my sugar level upon waking up before breakfast and it is between 6.8- 7.4

2 hours after eating it can be between 7.4- 8

Rare occasion it goes above 8
 
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