Hello everyone, I cant seem to find a topic on this so am starting a one!
Does anyone who menstruates notice insulin resistance depending on where they are in their cycle? For reference, I am not on birth control, and my cycle is regular. I’ve noticed that around ovulation (when estrogen levels increase) I start to become insulin resistant. Like, I will be using three times the amount of insulin I would normally use for any given meal. It is crazy. Exercise doesnt even help. My endo told me to increase my basal, and I think that does help somewhat, but I’m just starting to experiment with that. Does anyone have similar experiences? I feel like I’m going crazy. To be insulin resistant for two weeks out of my cycle is basically half of my life. It is so frustrating, it makes me want to cry, and often I do haha. Any insight or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Okay so I know you just commented on my old post you’re not alone.
I wasn’t on bc until recently but just started an IUD. It should be my time of the month but I’m not actually me starting currently. I have all the symptoms minus the bleeding including insulin resistance (so fun)
That being said, I have noticed that during ovulation I tend to run low, right after around day 21 of my cycle I need to increase insulin intake dramatically and have to stick to lower glycemic food options. I’m currently still really insulin resistant which sucks because sometimes my insulin sensitivity returns to normal or I need less insulin and sometimes I’m resistant. What appears to be working okay for me at least is a 15% increase in basal insulin. Depending on the meal, I either need a more aggressive IC ratio (like if I have something super carby) or a correction bolus at the two hour mark. I might need to bump my basal up a smidge more too during the day but still playing around with it.
Hormones are no joke but you’re definitely not crazy! One other thing that helps me is keeping track of my cycle- I use the clue app and if I start to see insulin resistance I add a tag and then just compare notes to last month to see if I should increase my basal yet. It’s not perfect but it helps!
I noticed that same problem when I first started using a glucometer in the mid 1980’s. I told my doctor that I would have higher blood sugars from ovulation to the first day of my period, and then they would plummet, even in the middle of the day. I was on multiple injections at the time, including a long-acting insulin. I would reduce the amount of long-acting insulin the day my period started, but that insulin stayed in the blood up to 36 hours, so I still had low sugars for a day. My doctor’s reaction was to tell me I probably ate more during the second half of my cycle. S
So I made sure I ate the exact same thing every day and proved him wrong. I later went to a doctor who told me they knew that hormones during the cycle affect blood sugars. I was then on a pump, and he suggested having two different profiles or programs, one for the first half of the cycle and one for the second. Since a pump has short-acting insulin, this worked well.
Thank you so much for the reply! This last cycle was absolute chaos lol. I also started my period an entire week early, which never happens. So i can only conclude that the insane insulin resistance was related to a greater than normal hormonal imbalance. I use the Flo app, but its not great at showing me a big picture when I make notes. I will investigate the clue app. Thank you
Hi. Tidepool is launching a period project. Those days are behind me so I haven’t looked into it but thought it would be of interest to some. Here you go!
you’re not alone.