Insulin Resistance and Insulin Production

DCUKMod said:

Many conditions are diagnosed that way, but this thread is mainly discussing matters relating to the T2 OP.

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Possibly the most unfriendly post I've seen in a long time. Clearly any empathy from anyone with T1, MODY, LADA, GD etc who was wrongly diagnosed initially due to stereotyping or ignorance isn't welcome. A T2 thread for T2 people...

LittleGreyCat said:

Glucagon Resistance (GR) would presumably manifest as reverse dawn phenomenon?
That is, BG drops overnight and you don't get a liver dump so wake up hypo?

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I have repeatedly speculated that GR may be a factor for the Reactive hypoglycaemics amongst us.
Since glucagon ‘switches off’ (acts as a balancing antagonist to insulin), if an RHer has ‘an overshoot’ of insulin, resulting in a hypo, then what was the glucagon doing? Off washing its hair? Painting its toenails?

Could be G insufficiency, or G resistance. Or something else.
Resistance is possible to just about anything - drugs, herbs, hormones - and if one thing goes out of wack, then the whole system can get off kilter too, in an endless vicious circle of coping mechanisms, like a row of dominoes.

Of course testing my personal Glucagon Resistance theory is nothing more than a pipe dream.

Brunneria said:

I have repeatedly speculated that GR may be a factor for the Reactive hypoglycaemics amongst us.
Since glucagon ‘switches off’ (acts as a balancing antagonist to insulin), if an RHer has ‘an overshoot’ of insulin, resulting in a hypo, then what was the glucagon doing? Off washing its hair? Painting its toenails?

Could be G insufficiency, or G resistance.
Resistance is possible to just about anything - drugs, herbs, hormones - and if one thing goes out of wack, then the whole system can get off kilter too, in an endless vicious circle of coping mechanisms, like a row of dominoes.

Of course testing my personal Glucagon Resistance theory is nothing more than a pipe dream.

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'It's all about the insulin' is a truism but little about Glucagon has been studied in any detail. Bikman seems to be one of the few (only?) boffins looking at it.

The growth hormone is also an odd one. When we are young we have loads of the stuff because things are still growing. Then it begins to taper off as we no longer need as much. By the time we get old we have even less of it under normal circs. If it is involved in things such as hair growth and nail growth, then I still have some because my head hair and nails grow fast.

I also imagine, but don't have any knowledge, that certain drugs will affect adrenalin and cortisone hormones.

Any of these could be off kilter and wonky.

Brunneria said:

if an RHer has ‘an overshoot’ of insulin, resulting in a hypo, then what was the glucagon doing? Off washing its hair? Painting its toenails?

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It's well known that bad hypos often come in pairs. One bad hypo releases glucagon, telling the liver to release glycogen as glucose to raise bg. The liver will then over the next day or two try to "restock" glycogen. That takes time, a few days. Ironically that can drop bg. If that, or other things, of which there are many, reduce bg again, glucagon can send as many signals as it likes to the liver to release glucose, but if the stores have already been more or less wiped out by the first hypo, there's basically no glucose for it to release, hence second bad hypo.

Edit to add: the source for this is Pumping Insulin by John Walsh. There's suggestions in there that hormones like glucagon can also be depleted so you get a double whammy. Stay safe out there, folks!

LittleGreyCat said:

(I think).

I am getting a lot of useful (and probably potentially useless) information from this thread.

Glucagon Resistance (GR) would presumably manifest as reverse dawn phenomenon?
That is, BG drops overnight and you don't get a liver dump so wake up hypo?

Click to expand...

I think saying that somethings posted here are 'probably potentially useless' is a little harsh.
It has been pointed out that other hormones besides glucagon contribute to to raise bsl, including cortisol, which
ia opined to influence the dawn phenomenon, even if glucagon were rendered ineffectual.

LittleGreyCat said:

Attempted humour.

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It is better to have tried and failed than not to have made the attempt at all.