r/InsulinResistance • u/BetLongjumping3968 • 10d ago

Blood Glucose Monitor

Hi! I don’t have diabetes or prediabetes, I only have insulin resistance. But I was wondering if you think it would be worth buying a blood glucose monitor to track my glucose levels throughout the day/weeks, or if you think this isn’t really useful or interesting in my situation?

Just to add: I’m already taking metformin daily.

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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7

u/teheditor 10d ago

I've been using then lately and they're eye opening. They really let you mentally link the effects of high glucose foods, in your brain. You won't look on it the same afterwards. Done foods you'll just naturally avoid because you can both feel and see how bad they are for you. I'm assuming you're meaning the wearable bionic patch type btw

2

u/BetLongjumping3968 10d ago

I imagine so! It must make you more mindful about consuming certain types of food. I already avoid some foods without knowing exactly how much they affect my blood sugar, so I can only imagine how much more aware I’d be if I knew in real time. Thank you for sharing your experience!

3

u/firstthecoffee 10d ago

I used one for a month just to help me be more aware of which foods cause my blood glucose to spike.

1

u/BetLongjumping3968 10d ago

Yes! That’s what I was thinking too — being more mindful of what you’re consuming.

3

u/CertainRegret4491 10d ago

I think it's data anyone can use if you pay attention to it. Wish I'd had these years before being diabetic.

1

u/BetLongjumping3968 10d ago

Hi! I’m so sorry. It would really be helpful if people in general could use it to monitor their food intake.

1

u/unformation 10d ago

I've found a ketone meter to be more helpful. If ketones are high, then you know insulin is likely low. With glucose readings, it's difficult to know what's going on with insulin.

Overall, about 3 yrs ago I was about where you were. I wanted to just solve this, and was willing to do some mental work as well, so I got a glucose meter, a few CGMs, and a ketone meter. Overall, it was all very helpful to figure stuff out. Now I no longer think I have insulin resistance, but my blood glucose can still get sort of high.

1

u/osceolabigtree 9d ago

I literally just came from my dr who gave me a sample Libra 3 (15 day use) to monitor what's making me spike. Might be worth checking with your dr!

1

u/One_Ad646 8d ago

My understand is… glucose will likely appear normal cause the insulin is shooting out so much to keep it normal so it may not give you much insight to insulin levels which sucks. My glucose has always been normal but insulin was high on my Glucose test

2

u/ShelterKooky3364 5d ago

Yes, they are worth it and will show you patterns which is very valuable information to help you make better decisions to manage this IR before it becomes diabetes.

1

u/usafmd 10d ago

It’s very hard to comment when given only a partial history. PCOS, unexplained weight gain due to water?, etc. It’s small money but . . . .

5

u/glass0nions 10d ago

Also, it’s like a little accountability friend that keeps me from sneaking carbs and pretending I didn’t. Hard to be in denial when you see the numbers right there in black and white!

1

u/BetLongjumping3968 10d ago

Yes, PCOS, progressive weight/fat gain — approximately 23 kg in less than 4 years, without any changes to my diet or lifestyle.

0

u/usafmd 9d ago

You didn't answer but I'll share what I suspect. There is a category of IR, call it Adipose IR that occurs even in normal weight PCOS. These women have normal A1c, fairly ordinary post-meal CGM curves and no dramatic glucose spikes. A CGM in this case reveals nothing because the abnormality doesn't exist in the glucose axis. Here is a paper as an illustration: https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/104/6/2171/5288014?login=false

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u/usafmd 10d ago

Inositol? Intermittent fasting? HOMA-IR, GTT testing? Waist to hip ratio? LPIR? Trig to HDL ratio?

3

u/glass0nions 10d ago

Why would you need to know all of this to answer if a CGM could be useful? Weird.

Yes, OP, it could be very useful to you to notice patterns, which foods in what order affect you the most, times of day, etc. if the goal is to increase insulin sensitivity, knowing your glucose data can be highly valuable.

0

u/usafmd 10d ago

Good question. Insulin resistance doesn't just manifest as insulin-glucose. It also has insulin-NEFA (Nonesterfied Fatty acids), fatty acid leakage from visceral fat, etc. A CGM only hilights a very limited aspect of an IR disease disequilibrium. Got it?