Some people on here been reading about my on going battle with higher blood sugar despite doing everything on earth possible to get it down @biguglynewf @Funnyman @Sorbate are a few..
I'll try to make super long story super short.
10 years ago I had some nasty health issues (serious ones) that had me at the university endo and neurologist. After blood work, my hormones seemed ok (I was on TRT and thyroid already), but one thing that came back out of whack was a out of range IGF-1.. It was too high.. above the high end of the range.. I was not taking anything to cause this.. They thought they solved my issues because they figured I had a hormone producing tumor in my brain (andre the giant had same issue). I was sent for a MRI to see if the tumour was there, and it wasn't. Both doctor's kept working with me but they told me "your IGF-1 is high.. there's something going on but its not causing your current issues. We will keep working with you to figure out the current issues, but the IGF-1 was not causing the issues I was there to fix.. They said I need to get my IGF-1 levels checked yearly because if they are rising there has to be a reason which would likely be a tumor.. If they don't rise, but also don't come back down into range, it will can cause lots of issues.." they then moved on past the IGF-1 to help figure out the other stuff.
This was right before covid and man I went through like 18 doctors over a couple years before I figured shit out. Took about a year or two.
So right around 2020 I was good, but I would get check ups/blood work every 6 months because my current doctor wanted to help with my blood sugar issues. When I told him I needed my IGF-1 tested yearly and explained why, he literally looked at the tests and said it was ridiculous as I had the MRI and I'm good. He wouldn't test IGF-1 at all. He got canned shortly after he took me on as a patient, but nothing to do with me.... and then I had to pay for private health care due to covid destroying medical system.. Private health care said yes I should get that test yearly. But they choose to refer me to an endo because it was out of their scope..
I was referred, but no endo picked me up.
I left private health care and bounced around to several doctors because they kept leaving town.. None said I had any cause to worry about my IGF-1 and wouldn't' test it or refer me again.
About 2 years ago I finally got a actual family doctor. Guy has been great in terms of he was only comfortable doing so much and if it was out of his relm, he preffered to refer me to a specialist. He said yes 100% I need to keep getting that test. So he referred me to an endo right away. Took over a year, but I finally got to see the university endo..
*I should mention my original endo was great, but he retired about a year after I first saw him.
I had my appointment today.. Lady was fantastic.. She said yes that IGF-1 is very high.. and since I am now 10 years old, it should have slowly come down with age, but it hasn't, its holding strong and actually ever so slightly risen. She asked me questions and she is confident I do not have a tumor that makes hormones, but she is sending me for an MRI just to be sure.
We talked a LOT about my blood sugar issues. I told her everything I have done and continue to do to keep it down, but its damn near impossible..
Then she explained... high IGF-1 is likely the cause.. my growth hormone levels are high.. and that can easily cause my insulin sensitivity to shit the bed amongst other things.
She said she will test my IGF-1 again and if its high still, which said she knows it will be, the next test is to have me come in, drink that gross 75 gram sugar drink to test for diabetes, but they won't draw my blood for blood sugar, they are going to draw my blood for my growth hormone levels. She said I'll have to stay for awhile because they will test my growth hormone many times over a decent length of time..
She explained... when you consume carbs your body's growth hormone should drop... I wish I could remember why this is, but I forgot what she said.. She said she is expecting that when I do the test, my growth hormone will not drop at all.. She said my body is likely just a growth hormone producing machine and/or mechanism to stop it isn't working.
She said if MRI shows a tumor, it has to come out.. but she is confident I have none.. She said if no tumor and my growth hormone does not drop after the sugar test, I will need to take meds to lower the growth hormone.
I asked if there are any negatives to lowering it and she said no.. But she said there are many many negatives to having it high including cardiac issues, blood sugar and a bunch of others I forget.
We all know taking hgh can fuck up your insulin sensitivity and cause higher blood sugars, but it sounds like I have had high growth hormone for many many years.. likely since puberty.
I'll try to make super long story super short.
10 years ago I had some nasty health issues (serious ones) that had me at the university endo and neurologist. After blood work, my hormones seemed ok (I was on TRT and thyroid already), but one thing that came back out of whack was a out of range IGF-1.. It was too high.. above the high end of the range.. I was not taking anything to cause this.. They thought they solved my issues because they figured I had a hormone producing tumor in my brain (andre the giant had same issue). I was sent for a MRI to see if the tumour was there, and it wasn't. Both doctor's kept working with me but they told me "your IGF-1 is high.. there's something going on but its not causing your current issues. We will keep working with you to figure out the current issues, but the IGF-1 was not causing the issues I was there to fix.. They said I need to get my IGF-1 levels checked yearly because if they are rising there has to be a reason which would likely be a tumor.. If they don't rise, but also don't come back down into range, it will can cause lots of issues.." they then moved on past the IGF-1 to help figure out the other stuff.
This was right before covid and man I went through like 18 doctors over a couple years before I figured shit out. Took about a year or two.
So right around 2020 I was good, but I would get check ups/blood work every 6 months because my current doctor wanted to help with my blood sugar issues. When I told him I needed my IGF-1 tested yearly and explained why, he literally looked at the tests and said it was ridiculous as I had the MRI and I'm good. He wouldn't test IGF-1 at all. He got canned shortly after he took me on as a patient, but nothing to do with me.... and then I had to pay for private health care due to covid destroying medical system.. Private health care said yes I should get that test yearly. But they choose to refer me to an endo because it was out of their scope..
I was referred, but no endo picked me up.
I left private health care and bounced around to several doctors because they kept leaving town.. None said I had any cause to worry about my IGF-1 and wouldn't' test it or refer me again.
About 2 years ago I finally got a actual family doctor. Guy has been great in terms of he was only comfortable doing so much and if it was out of his relm, he preffered to refer me to a specialist. He said yes 100% I need to keep getting that test. So he referred me to an endo right away. Took over a year, but I finally got to see the university endo..
*I should mention my original endo was great, but he retired about a year after I first saw him.
I had my appointment today.. Lady was fantastic.. She said yes that IGF-1 is very high.. and since I am now 10 years old, it should have slowly come down with age, but it hasn't, its holding strong and actually ever so slightly risen. She asked me questions and she is confident I do not have a tumor that makes hormones, but she is sending me for an MRI just to be sure.
We talked a LOT about my blood sugar issues. I told her everything I have done and continue to do to keep it down, but its damn near impossible..
Then she explained... high IGF-1 is likely the cause.. my growth hormone levels are high.. and that can easily cause my insulin sensitivity to shit the bed amongst other things.
She said she will test my IGF-1 again and if its high still, which said she knows it will be, the next test is to have me come in, drink that gross 75 gram sugar drink to test for diabetes, but they won't draw my blood for blood sugar, they are going to draw my blood for my growth hormone levels. She said I'll have to stay for awhile because they will test my growth hormone many times over a decent length of time..
She explained... when you consume carbs your body's growth hormone should drop... I wish I could remember why this is, but I forgot what she said.. She said she is expecting that when I do the test, my growth hormone will not drop at all.. She said my body is likely just a growth hormone producing machine and/or mechanism to stop it isn't working.
She said if MRI shows a tumor, it has to come out.. but she is confident I have none.. She said if no tumor and my growth hormone does not drop after the sugar test, I will need to take meds to lower the growth hormone.
I asked if there are any negatives to lowering it and she said no.. But she said there are many many negatives to having it high including cardiac issues, blood sugar and a bunch of others I forget.
We all know taking hgh can fuck up your insulin sensitivity and cause higher blood sugars, but it sounds like I have had high growth hormone for many many years.. likely since puberty.
