I am needing information on Insulin Resistance and what tests are run in order to diagnose it. I was on GlucXR for a year my OB put me on it but no tests were ever done so I am not sure if I am Insulin Resistant or not. I quit taking it because of a pregnancy on the advice of my Peri and ended up miscarrying. I am wondering if there is a link here and would like to do more research on the subject. Any info or links would be very much appreciated.
Thanks
__________________ Andra(35)
DH Brian (35)
Married 12-11-88
DD Myranda(6) born at 23 weeks weighed 1lb
DD Mattie Grace(4) born at 38 weeks weighed 7lb 12 oz
4 angel babies
m/c #4 confirmed on 2/27/04
Met 2550mg , baby asprin, pre-natal, folgard,
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Andra,
I am so sorry about your recent loss. I hope the next pregancy is perfectly healthy. Many women do benefit from metformin/glucophage during pregnancy to keep insulin sensitivity up, keep hormones at good levels (especially progesterone, which can prevent miscarriage), and prevent gestational diabetes. Here's a link to bloodwork to diagnose: http://www.fertilityplus.org/faq/hormonelevels.html
Best wishes,
Sheri
__________________ Metformin 1500mg, Yasmin, managing IR/pcos with lower carbs
First pregnancy ended at 23 weeks due to incompetent cervix.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Mary Catherine will be in our hearts forever, November 28, 2003.
Second loss March 9, 2004 at five weeks
Third pregnancy, Cerclage at 13w
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Fourth pregnancy, Cerclage at 13w
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I am a medical technologist-they are the people who preform these blood tests in the lab.
For insulin resistance, the way they test it is to do a glucose tolerance test. No doubt you've heard of it before and in connection with diabetes.
What a GTT does is takes a baseline glucose level (after fasting, of course). Then they give you a specific amount of glucose to drink and tests your glucose at intervals (30 mins, 1 hour, 2 hours 3 hours. 3 is common, but can go up to 5). The results show your body's response to a controlled amount of glucose. Those with insulin resistance (insulin will not work as well which means that it takes more insulin to get the glucose into the cells-and if you show enough resistance, more glucose will remain in your blood then is *normally* expected) can have an abnormal response to glucose and their glucose levels will be higher.
Physicians look at not the individual numbers, but the graph. The shape of the connected values can be compared to the shape of the normal values and he/she can decide if there is insulin resistance.
The problem though is that your body can compensate, to some degree, for insulin resistance by making more insulin to preform the job. So while you may be experiencing the symptoms (mainly from the extra insulin), the GTT may not be that helpful. Your glucose may be able to make it to the cells normally with more insulin-making normal glucose values and a normal curve.
So then, it would be most helpful to include insulin levels with the GTT.
As a MT, I see a few GTTs done, but it is rare for them to preform insulin levels alongside the GTT. It is something for you to keep in mind when talking to your doctor. I *believe* a GTT is one of those one time tests-its not repeated that often (no doubt because its no fun having blood drawn 5 times in the span of 3 hours-especially if you do not have good veins-but also, I think its probably an insurance issue). But, there is no better time to check insulin then during this test. And it definitely is a more complete picture of insulin resistance.
Insulin Resistance 
