Abnormal Fasting Insulin

[Gopherhead]

I'm wondering if anyone's ever had this happen to them or heard of it. I had a battery of tests run 18 months ago and one that came back out of range was Fasting Insulin. It came back low. Really low. At the time I was not working out (I had been lifting heavy weights and doing HIIT for 3 years previously), I was not dieting. I was trying to get a hypothyroid diagsnosis from a notoriously bad health care system.

My Fasting Insulin result was 25 in a range of 40-190.

I found some old test results from 2001, back when I had been LCing (PP actually) religiously, had been working out and had lost 35 lbs. I was 20 lbs heavier then than I was when the very low result was recorded. In 2001 my insulin was 80 in a range of 35-170.

My fasting glcuose has always been low / normal.

In 2001 I started PP and it helped with my hypoglycemia, which is still fixed. I don't eat strictly LC anymore, I tend to cycle my carbs with my workouts / activities.

I'm curious about the very low insulin level, you'd think my sensitivity would have been crappy while I was so hypo, I know my coritsol was a problem then.

Right now I'm waiting on more tests in an attempt to determine if I have PCOS. I'd always thought this was a no brainer seeing as I don't have issues with insulin / sugar.

The low insulin has always bothered me and no one has been able to explain it to me - not an Endo nor 3 different GPs. I have an appointment with one of the best doctors in the hormone field later next month; I am hoping he can shed some light on this. In the meantime, has anyone had anything similar happen to them?

Thanks,
Nat

[LisaS]

what units is your fasting insulin in - 25 doesn't sound low to me

maybe someone who has their PPLP book handy can look it up - but I thought the Eades said they liked fasting insulin <=10
they also like to look at the ratio of fasting glucose to fasting insulin levels

this article uses 15 as a threshold
http://www.wdxcyber.com/ngen10.htm

this one references >30 as very IR, 10-13 some IR
http://www.pinelandpress.com/faq/hormonelevels.html

[Gopherhead]

what units is your fasting insulin in - 25 doesn't sound low to me

maybe someone who has their PPLP book handy can look it up - but I thought the Eades said they liked fasting insulin <=10
they also like to look at the ratio of fasting glucose to fasting insulin levels

this article uses 15 as a threshold
http://www.wdxcyber.com/ngen10.htm

this one references >30 as very IR, 10-13 some IR
http://www.pinelandpress.com/faq/hormonelevels.html

It's low, it's below range. :)

Units used elsewhere in the world tend to be SI (http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/sipm.html). This is what they use in Canada. Fasting Insulin is measured as "pmol/L".

The conversion factor is 6.945, making my 25 pmol/L, 3.5 µIU/mL.

[LisaS]

ah - but just seeing you below the raneg assumed that the range given is an appropriate range - which isn't always the case for some lab values and what drs like the Eades call for -
since you were all stumped, I suspected you were using SI units - but you didn't say - so I didn't know.
still - if the Eades aim for <10 and you are 3.5 - is that really so bad? or does someone suspect that your beta cells are giving up the ghost?

[Gopherhead]

No one suspects anything as yet. But then again, I haven't much faith in most of the medical establishment. :rolleyes:

In Canada they give an uppper and lower range, and with most things being too low is as bad as being too high.

Is it possible to have too much insulin sensitivity?

[LisaS]

(note: not a medical opinion, just an opinion)
my thinking is that if you are whispering, and your cells have really good hearing - you are OK - unless of course you are whispering because you have damaged vocal cords and couldn't raise your voice if you had to.

[Gopherhead]

Hmp. Interesting analogy. Of course I want to be OK; my fasting glucose and how I handle refeeds / carb-ups tells me I am.

[LisaS]

in PPLP, the Eades talk about another test - basically a GTT but they measure both glucose and insulin over the time period - to see how you react to an influx of glucose. (this is different than the insulin challenge test).

[Gopherhead]

Yes, my soon to be doctor does this test (over 3 hours) along with an HbA1c to determine IR.

[Gabriel Guzman]

in PPLP, the Eades talk about another test - basically a GTT but they measure both glucose and insulin over the time period - to see how you react to an influx of glucose. (this is different than the insulin challenge test).

I think this is the actual insulin challenge test because it measures how responsive the body is to a load of glucose. Since insulin is infused, it is expected that endogenous insulin won't take over the uptake of glucose by the tissues.

[LisaS]

always open to correction -
I thought I remembered that they called the test where they actually injected a dose of insulin to see how fast your blood glucose fell the "insulin challenge"
and the enhanced GTT where they measured both glucose & endogenous insulin didn't have a "name"

but I've misremembered things before :D

[Newbirth]

Hi! I'm new here. I had the same issue as you. My "insulin total," (whatever that is) is 3 in a range of 6-27 uIU/ML. Can it be too low?