r/InsulinResistance

Dear community,

I'm 32 years old.

A week ago I was diagnosed with insulin resistance (no diabetes/pre-diabetes). My lab results:

• Glucose: 5.2
• HbA1c: 5.32
• Fasting Insulin: 28.70 ⬆️
• HOMA-IR: 6.63 ⬆️

Despite being in a calorie deficit, 🍟 ⛔ drinking 1.5–2L water daily, 🌊 and exercising regularly for years, I keep gaining weight continuously (need to lose ~30kg). 😡

My endocrinologist prescribed Metformin (Glucophage) 500mg and advised staying on it for 3 MONTHS. ❓

I've been taking it for 7 days alongside daily moderate exercise and controlled intake, but I see no changes on the scale. 😔

P.S. Strict Keto is not an option for me due to intense carbohydrate cravings (especially during PMS), so please refrain from recommending full Keto. 🥦

Questions:

1. Is 500mg METFORMIN ER 💊 just a starter dose, or should I give it more time than 7 days to start seeing weight loss?
2. Is it safe to gradually increase to 1,000mg or 1,500mg XR on my own, or should I definitely seek a second opinion first? 😕
3. I experience severe PMS symptoms 🩸 (facial/thigh swelling, palpitations, blood pressure surges but, WITHOUT high pressure or cholesterol). Could these be directly linked to high insulin? ❓
4. I DON'T HAVE PCOS!

Would really appreciate any advice or personal experiences! 💗

Some solid data:

In a six-week randomized trial, adults with obesity and insulin resistance consumed 45 grams of freeze-dried blueberry powder daily (this is equivalent to about two cups of fresh blueberries)

Insulin sensitivity improved by approximately 22% versus 5% with placebo

Dr. Rhonda Patrick discusses these findings in her new solo episode on the science of blueberries at this timestamp, including the evidence that blueberries may also 1) lower HbA1c and 2) triglycerides in type 2 diabetes, and 3) improve post-meal glucose handling when metabolic health is already impaired

this is a pretty short post but I just got a CGM yesterday and I spike high as expected; fasting glucose around 100 and spike to around 180 after eating. How in the world does the average person stay below 140? Even if they eat a lot of sugar? I tested this on my boyfriend a few months ago with a finger prick and he ate enough candy that was 99g worth of sugar and his glucose was at 134 half an hour after eating. I had like 6 gummy bears and I spiked to 234 wtf!!! This is a scam!!!!

Hi everyone,

Recently got my bloodwork panel completed. I’m about a year postpartum after having back to back pregnancies. This is the first time I have gotten tested. A few things were a bit alarming to me and wondering if anyone was in the same boat.

Currently. Just lost about 20 pounds since February. I’m 5’6” - 135 pounds. I’ve been an athlete my whole life but currently just take a daily walk. I really don’t have much weight left to lose, so wondering if a lot of this is caused by current lifestyle (broken sleep, stress, not the best diet…). I also don’t know if these numbers were worse a few months ago as this is now my baseline. (Nothing to compare to).

I’m thinking high glucose and high insulin is pointing to insulin resistance and I want to be prepared before I talk to my doctor on Friday about path forward.

I’m going to focus on diet changes, reducing stress and improving sleep, and incorporating strength to training into my exercise.

Bloodwork results (fasting -10hrs):
Glucose: 100mg/dL
Insulin: 23.3 (within “range” but on the high side)
A1C: 5.2

Hello, today my doctor diagnosed me with severe insulin resistance (HOMA IR 14,6). My fasting insulin was 54 mIU/l; my fasting glucose "only" 6,07 mmol/l. BMI is roughly 32.

Please, if you have any effective strategies on how to get rid of that awful number, I am here to hear them all. For context: 29F, suffers from multiple illnesses (autism, depression, anxiety, CPTSD, asthma, etc.) that I take medications for. My doctor said there is sadly no pill to make this better (he mentioned metformine, which in my country is only available for diabetics and then Ozempic/Mounjaro/the others, which are extremely expensive here). He told me the only solution is to lose weight.

The problem is I am currently simply unable to make such changes. For the past 2 years, I have been hospitalised in psych wards quite often, given lots of different medications. Turns out my depression is treatment-resistant. I struggle everyday to even function, haven´t had a job in 2 years. the autism makes IR symptoms unbearable. I can´t count calories either because I suffered from mental an&rexia when I was younger. I am forbidden from lifting heavy weights as well, plus I had a severe knee injury this January and am still unable to walk properly, let alone exercise.

I´d say my mental health is the major problem here, however. I am NOT in a state where I can make lifestyle changes that would lead to weightloss. I´ve had very intensive treatment for the past 2 years and am still fairly unwell. I´ve tried extreme diets in the past, lots of them, and they were pretty much the only thing that worked for me (for a while). I can´t do that rn. I also suffer from binging disorder and a very bad sugar addiction.

I need advice. I am not satisfied with the doctor´s solution, which is simply "lose weight". Do I go to another doctor? What do I do next?

Thank for the advice!

Hi! I'm starting metformin today as I have insulin resistance. My 2h glucose test showed my glucose rising to 202, staying at 160 at a 2h mark and dropping to 42 when I got home. It's an extended release version and 500 mg for now. How should I take it to minimize side effects? It says take with the largest meal. My appetite hasn't been great lately, I haven't been eating much tbh. My biggest meal is probably breakfast but I already taje strattera, inositol and prenatal with breakfast ans then zoloft and second dose of inositol before bed. Should I take it with dinner to minimize side effects? Can I take it together with inositol? Hoping for some personal experience.

looking for advice and wise words. I hope this isn’t insensitive.
I’m 19 and have been struggling with chronic fatigue, and we found, using finger pricks, that my sugar easily approaches 200 after eating and sometimes even goes above it, and is always 100-110 in the morning. This isn’t totally surprising because my dad does have type 2 diabetes, but I feel weird about it. I’m 19, and I’m not overweight. I’m a very healthy weight. I’ve also tried comparing my sugar to my boyfriend’s sugar (he’s healthy) and mine is always way higher than his.
I try to manage my food. I’m a college student so I walk a lot, and go to the gym when I can. I know bodies are weird and insulin resistance isn’t limited to older overweight adults, but I feel at a loss. I’m worried it’ll develop into pre diabetes and type 2. I’m young. I’m worried what this means for my long term health. I also, despite what Hollywood is trying to push to us, don’t want to go on a GLP1 if I don’t have to.
I was going to do a 3 hour glucose test but then my doctor decided against it. My dad and I decided it’s finally time for me to try a CGM, just to get some data to see if this is something we need to peruse. I got a Dexcom Stelo that should be arriving tomorrow, so any advice with that would also be helpful.

I'm starting Mounjaro tomorrow. Just send me good vibes please, its my last call before diabetes.

Hi everyone, Im a new joiner. Progressed from pre diabetes to T2D 3 months ago at 14 months postpartum. I did have GDM during pregnancy and prediabetes after delivery. Things went down hill quickly after weaning at month 11.5 and switching to keto with the hope of reversion prediabetes. Didnt work out, blown up to T2, not exactly sure why. Endo had no idea and didnt give much explanation other than the usual 'less carb, build muscle'.

Long story short, Im using a GDM to monitor my bg and can see that I easily spiked higher than 7.8 with anything more than 15gr of carb. As many people said before, the more Im scared of the spike, the less carb I eat to avoid the spike, and because of that I tend to tolerate less and less carb over time. I feel edgy, irritated and less energetic when not having enough carb, same as when my spikes happen.

For those who are alr successful at improving IR, could you pls help me with the below questions?

1. What is the bg range that you aim for after meal? I read we should aim for all time below 7.8 to improve IR condition. Mine is always go up to 8-9 mmol within 1 hour then go below 7.8 for a meal with just 15-20gr carb. Is that okay or must be below 7.8 all time to avoid diabetes complication? (Im still not on med, seeing endo soon to discuss if I should go on med or continue to try with diet)

2. Should I just ignore CGM and focus on good balance meal with complex carbs, food sequencing, exercise and build muscle? That means I will definitely spike and numbers may not be in good range. Im confused of what I should focus on. Should I focus on both keeping number im good range while building muscle (low carb diet) or should I just focus on building muscle without caring abt the daily number? (Not stuffing tons of bad carbs but eating more carb to feel energetic to exercise, which may spike to 9 or 10)

Im super depressed with the diagnosis and also consider to see a psychiatrist soon. Not sure Im depressed thats why my IR got worse or the IR actually causes the depression.

Appreciate your help.