What's the difference?

chellelee · 06-13-2007, 12:43 AM

Hi ladies,

I was just wondering if triglicerides and insulin are the same thing. My doc told me that my triglicerides were thru the roof, 275. He said normal was around 120. Is this why I'm taking medication (aside from all the other side effects)?

lil annie · 06-13-2007, 02:24 PM

Insulin is the hormone that regulates carbohydrate metabolism. It has effects on fat metabolism and it changes the liver's activity in storing or releasing glucose and in processing blood lipids (one of which is triglycerides), and in other tissues such as fat and muscle. The amount of insulin in circulation has extremely widespread effects throughout the body.

riglycerides are the chemical form in which most fat exists in food as well as in the body. They're also present in blood plasma and, in association with cholesterol, form the plasma lipids.

Triglycerides are derived from fats eaten in foods or made in the body from other energy sources like carbohydrates. Calories ingested in a meal and not used immediately by tissues are converted to triglycerides and transported to fat cells to be stored.

chellelee · 06-15-2007, 01:06 AM

First I would like to say thank you for the response. No one really has responded to many of my questions. I feel like an odd ball...

So, even though my glucose was "normal", my doctor still wanted me to take metformin for the pcos. Is this ok?

Thank you again!!!!

lil annie · 06-15-2007, 11:45 AM

Probably the metformin forum would have the answers you are looking for but I think Metformin regulates your cycles. I had insulin resistance when I was diagnosed and that's how I got on it.

mom2Troy · 06-17-2007, 02:48 PM

Don't feel like an oddball! LOL I've been a member since 2001 and rarely post.....

Met will help lower your triglycerides and your insulin resistance. Folks that are type II or with PCOS should have lower triglycerides due to the higher risk of heart disease.

Hang in there!

Mustangsally82 · 06-17-2007, 10:11 PM

Lots of us don't have high blood sugar but we still take metformin. The way it was explained to me is that the metformin helps our bodies use our own insulin better. In typical PCOS patients, we are less sensitive to insulin, so our pancreas responds by making more insulin. It's kind of like our body compensates for the problem.

So we do okay for a while as far as blood sugars go, but eventually we use up the cells in our pancreas that make insulin, and we don't make enough to keep our blood sugar in check. This is why we're at risk for diabetes.

By taking metformin we give our pancrease a break and also keep our blood insulin levels down. When a person has high levels of insulin, our body thinks we are starving so it stores away a lot of the food we eat, and it makes us hungrier. Which is why a lot of us are overweight and have a really hard time losing weight. Eating complex carbs instead of simple carbs helps us lose weight too because our body has to work harder to break down complex carbs and it's less likely to rapidy convert them to fat like it does with simple carbs like white bread, pasta, sugar etc.

I've also read that people with PCOS usually have higher levels of blood cholesterol and blood triglycerides, which helps contribute to the diabetes risk. We just have to try to limit bad fats and eat more lean protein and fruits and vegetables.

Hope this helps!

chellelee · 06-18-2007, 10:58 PM

Thank you all so much. I hope met works for me. I will just take things day by day. I just don't want to get depressed in the process.

Thanks for listening to me and responding. Any and all information helps.

Chellelee

YUKON QUEEN · 07-25-2007, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mustangsally82

Lots of us don't have high blood sugar but we still take metformin. The way it was explained to me is that the metformin helps our bodies use our own insulin better. In typical PCOS patients, we are less sensitive to insulin, so our pancreas responds by making more insulin. It's kind of like our body compensates for the problem.

So we do okay for a while as far as blood sugars go, but eventually we use up the cells in our pancreas that make insulin, and we don't make enough to keep our blood sugar in check. This is why we're at risk for diabetes.

By taking metformin we give our pancrease a break and also keep our blood insulin levels down. When a person has high levels of insulin, our body thinks we are starving so it stores away a lot of the food we eat, and it makes us hungrier. Which is why a lot of us are overweight and have a really hard time losing weight. Eating complex carbs instead of simple carbs helps us lose weight too because our body has to work harder to break down complex carbs and it's less likely to rapidy convert them to fat like it does with simple carbs like white bread, pasta, sugar etc.

I've also read that people with PCOS usually have higher levels of blood cholesterol and blood triglycerides, which helps contribute to the diabetes risk. We just have to try to limit bad fats and eat more lean protein and fruits and vegetables.

Hope this helps!

Mine! just saw this your posting right now and am really impressed with your level of knowledge about pcos! It has answered some of my questions about why people with pcos like us are prescribed metformin.Initiall when my Er prscribed it i thought may be i had diabetis,though he said its cos of insuline resistance but i never did understand the pathiphysiology until now,thanks my sister.
You are a darling!!!
TTc 2 plus,on Metformin and moving on to follistim if still bfn next month(God forbid!)