Insulin Resistance and Diabetes advice

Hi all! Writing to see if anyone has had experience with insulin resistance and diabetes monitoring/diagnosis?

I'm 24 years old and was diagnosed with PCOS a few years ago, recently my symptoms have been worsening and they've found some hormonal imbalance and think insulin resistance may be involved due to hair loss, low progesterone, hair growth, fatigue etc. Constantly feel exhausted, like I'm crashing and thirsty but am unsure what would be the reason.

I'm not overweight (according to BMI I'm 20.8 ) and I had my HbA1C tested in April and it was 32( so that's normal) My IGF1 was 35 , in 2019 it was 45 (so both kind of on the high end?) but still feeling horrendous and was just wondering how I should monitor things/ what I should do from here- any advice?'

They've only just started taking it seriously! They've suggested dietary and lifestyle change, honestly it's so hard to exercise loads when I feel so exhausted!! (and suffer from chronic migraines) and dietary changes are hard because I have Crohns disease (all low GI foods make me poop loads!) .

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks everyone

Rosy

[diabetescoach]

HI... I know a bit about insulin resistance. But I have a question on your A1C... 32? Are you sure? If it was that, you'd be dead. An A1c of 13.5 equals a blood sugar of 403 mg/dl (22.4 mmol/l). But, from what I know of PCOS, weight gain is possible. But you mentioned you were of normal weight. Are they treating for a Growth Hormone (GH) deficiency? From my research a normal IGF-1 runs between for a 24 year old female is 102-317. Signs of GH deficiency include just some of what you were mentioning. Decreased bone density, fatigue, adverse changes to lipid levels, and reduced exercise tolerance, dry or thinning skin. etc. I don't understand how this is related to insulin resistance.

[Hidden in reply to diabetescoach]

Hi! Thanks for your reply. I'm in the UK so maybe the reference rates are different where you are? I was told that between 28-41 mmol/ml hba1c was normal and 41 above was prediabetic and 48 above with diabetic. I think the IGF1 references may be different too. 18.1-49.1 nmol/l for a 20 something. (These are the ranges from the NHS lab). I don't think I've had GH tested so I shall certainly look into to it. I think my team is sort of guessing whathat is causing my symptoms and hormonal abnormalities right now which is frustrating but hopefully the answer will be found soon. Appreciate you taking the time to reply.

[diabetescoach in reply to Hidden]

No worries. Good luck. I'd push on the GH testing

[Faith70]

I have insulin resistance and get very tired when my blood sugar runs low. When I eat a few hard candies I perk back up, but only if I eat them right when I start feeling tired. It takes about 15 minutes for it to kick in. If you try that it will tell you if your tiredness is related to your blood sugar. If it’s not, I would also visit a holistic doctor as they can uncover things sometimes that conventional doctors don’t look for.

[Aashee1234]

Try intermittent fasting and keto diet to bring the insulin down. Look up Dr fung, Dr unwin on you tube.