Posts by Kevin Gonzalez66

wiredtinker18 said:Hey everyone,

My fasting glucose from a routine checkup came back at 6.17 mmol/L (standard range is 3.3-5.6).

Since my family has a history of this stuff, I was sent over to the Mayo Clinic where they ran the fasting test again, and this time it hit 6.3 mmol/L.

My doctor wanted an OGTT done too. Here are the results (fasting; 60 mins; 120 mins):
Glucose (5.9 ; 7.7 ; 6.9)
Insulin (6.64 ; 71.44 ; 29.96).

Female, 40 years old, 5'10", 174 lbs.
I’d love some thoughts on these numbers—that insulin level is really messing with my head. My endocrinologist is acting like it's totally fine, basically just telling me to watch what I eat and get moving since I've got the genetics for it and put on some weight (I picked up about 20 pounds in just six months).

A few other stats that might matter:
Total cholesterol - 4.25 mmol/L (ref. < 5.2)
Triglycerides - 0.98 mmol/L (ref. < 2)
HDL cholesterol - 1.63 mmol/L (ref. > 0.9)
LDL cholesterol - 2.18 mmol/L (ref. < 4)
AST - 15.40 U/L (ref. < 31)
ALT - 11.01 U/L (ref. < 31).

Oh, and one more thing that's bugging me: about two months ago, I had an incision for a perianal abscess, and now there’s this walnut-sized lump sitting about 2 or 3 cm away from the site. It doesn't hurt when you touch it, but still. The surgeon just brushed it off, saying it'll go away eventually and he has no clue when, depending on how my body handles it. Honestly, such a useless answer—felt like I was asking some random guy at a gas station instead of a specialist, but hey, that's just how things work here in North Mexico... anyway, I'm losing my mind and don't really know who else to ask. Results:
WBC - 8.1 Gpt/L (ref. 4.4-11.3)
Granulocytes - 69.8% (ref. 55-80)
Lymphocytes - 19.5% (ref. 25-40)
Monocytes - 10.7% (ref. 2-12)
# Granulocytes - 5.7 Gpt/L (ref. 1.2-6.8)
# Lymphocytes - 1.6 Gpt/L (ref. 1.4-3.2)
# Monocytes - 0.9 Gpt/L (ref. 0.3-0.8)
ESR - 15 mm/h (ref. < 25).

Thanks.

By the way, the glucose cutoff is usually 6.0 for fasting, but apparently for people under 30, they use 6.4 as the upper limit. I have no idea who decided those reference ranges should shift around like that depending on which lab you walk into.

Paul Ramirez59 said:@Jessica Fowler4,

Man, this post you wrote is spot on—honestly, I’m basically a walking case study here. I’ve been struggling forever with this constant weakness and hypoglycemia, and it was a total circus; doctors kept sending me for endless tests, and they even suggested I see a psychiatrist, which is exactly what you pointed out (thanks for actually digging into that). So, get this: when I first did my glucose tolerance test, my doctor just shrugged it off and said everything looked fine, even though my C-peptide and insulin levels were through the roof. It wasn't until I finally went to a private clinic and saw this top-tier endocrinologist and diabetes specialist that she took one look at those same results and read them completely differently. She immediately put me on Metformin and told me I needed more exercise and a total diet overhaul.
But I’m a little lost on one thing... she strictly banned carbs AND fats—like fatty meats, high-fat dairy, sodas—but you’re saying I can actually eat those?? If you don't mind, I'd love for you to break that down for me...
I'll be the first to admit I'm feeling pretty crappy today because, yeah, I haven't exactly been following the rules... I have a massive sweet tooth, and I just can't quit the snacks, the margarine and jam, the sodas... it's bad.
I have managed to cut back on fats a bit (my triglycerides used to be over 5, along with my cholesterol), and my liver enzymes were also all over the place before, though they've settled down now. I can tell you really know your stuff regarding metabolic syndrome or whatever the hell it's called, so if the mods allow it, any advice or posts you share would be a lifesaver....

Look, the energy your body pulls from food can only come from three sources: fats, proteins, or carbs.
Which means, if you follow what your doctor said, you're essentially trying to fuel yourself exclusively with protein.

Once you start pumping in something like 1,000 calories worth of protein a day (which is roughly 250 grams), your body hits a wall where it can't process the ammonia into urea anymore, so it just starts storing it. That is incredibly stressful for your internal organs, especially your kidneys.
On top of that, an overkill of protein can lead to dehydration if you aren't slamming water, because your kidneys need way more fluid to turn that ammonia into urea.

Basically, excessive protein takes a massive toll on your kidneys. You only have to look at powerlifters or bodybuilders to see how common kidney issues are in that community, usually because they're crushing insane amounts of protein just to pack on muscle.
The average person needs about 2,000 to 2,500 calories a day, and if you tried to get all of that solely from protein, you'd probably wreck your kidneys and maybe a few other organs too.

Think about it—old-school Eskimos who got about 60 percent of their calories from fat and kept their carbs extremely low were in pretty damn good shape; they weren't dealing with heart disease or diabetes.
Sure, there are arguments that you need about 20 grams of carbs a day just to keep your brain functioning normally, but let's be real, 20 grams is a tiny amount.

So, my old mobile hotspot just kicked the bucket on me the other day. Since I tossed the warranty in the trash ages ago, I’m really not looking to get shackled to some massive year-long contract or anything ridiculous like that. Honestly, things are a bit up in the air right now and there's a decent chance I might be packing my bags and moving out of the country pretty soon, so I need something flexible.
Does anyone have any leads on where I can snag a decent deal on one of these gadgets without getting ripped off?
I was thinking about switching over to Verizon because the 3G coverage in the area where I spend most of my time actually works, which is a small mercy.

Oh, I should probably mention too that my feet aren't even flat at all. It’s just weird because I’ve got this buddy of mine—guy's got much flatter arches than I do—and he’s never dealt with any of this nonsense, despite training like a beast and crushing marathons in under 2:40.

Paul Hernandez8 said:Yeah, you hit the nail on the head there, I actually went and double-checked that myself. Honestly, my first thought was that it was bone pain—because, let’s be real, that’s exactly how it feels—but nope, it’s definitely muscle. To be more specific, it’s that muscle running right along the shin (you know, the one that attaches near the bone) on the inner side, maybe about four inches above the ankle. It’s happening in both legs, though the right one is definitely giving me way more grief.

Here’s a link from a physical therapy site that describes my situation perfectly:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/physical-therapy/...asp?IDText=22

Not really, though; I’m pretty moderate with my running. Once I feel like I’ve hit a wall, I just stop and go for a slow walk.

Man, I had the exact same thing happen, and yeah, the pain was way worse on the right side. On my left, it didn't even show up until later, which honestly was a relief because at least then my leg wasn't acting weird anymore.
The pain was right where the muscle meets the bone, so it was a total guessing game trying to figure out if it was the actual bone or just the muscle acting up.
But dustymarlin10 makes a good point—if it were a stress fracture, you wouldn't be seeing such a quick recovery. Plus, if you can still hop around on one foot about ten times without feeling like you're dying, it's probably not a stress fracture; besides, the odds of getting a stress fracture in both legs at once are slim to none.

New Nikes, better surfaces, taking a break until the pain totally vanished... nothing worked. Even after I took a full break until the pain stopped, plus added another two weeks just to be safe, switched to running on grass, and dialed back the intensity, nothing helped—not even stretching.
The pain hung around for about five months, and then suddenly started fading away despite me still running, eventually disappearing completely within a month.
In my opinion, it’s just not smart to push through the pain while running; just take it easy and run less frequently while the aches are minor. I wasn't overdoing it either.

Paul Hernandez8 said:So, I started running about a month ago, and right out of the gate, my knees and shins were absolutely screaming at me after every session. I’m only doing like three miles at a pretty chill pace because, let’s be real, my cardio is non-existent and I really don't want to snap something on day one. Now, the knee pain actually cleared up—probably just because I spent years sitting on my couch being a total couch potato and my body needed time to remember how to move—but my shins? They are still killing me every single time I go out. I figured it would pass just like the knee stuff did, but it’s actually getting worse. After falling down a bit of an internet rabbit hole, I think I’ve officially diagnosed myself with shin splints.
Anyway, I’m wondering if anyone else here deals with this crap and how you actually handle it? I’ve read every tip under the sun, but nothing seems to stick. I went out and bought orthopedic inserts since I have flat feet, I’ve been doing all these dynamic stretches before and after runs, I even dropped some cash on a fresh pair of Nikes, and I’m icing the hell out of it, but honestly? It feels like I'm just spinning my wheels. It hurts while I'm running, it hurts immediately after, and I can still feel that dull ache two or three days later. If anyone has any real-world advice, please hit me up, because I genuinely love running, but there's zero point in hitting the pavement for one day if I have to spend the next five days recovering from the agony.

If we're talking about that pain on the inner side of the shin bone, along most of the length, then yeah, that sounds exactly like what I dealt with.
It hit me right at the start of my running journey—back when I hadn't done anything active in my life—and it dragged on for about five months. I tried everything: stretching, ice, taking breaks, dialing back the intensity, switching up the surface I run on... nothing worked. I even took a full month off, but as soon as I tried to get back into it, the pain came roaring back. I was barely training, yet it wouldn't budge. Weirdly enough, the pain finally started backing off after one long run on a paved path; I noticed that because of the specific surface and the distance, the pain was surprisingly manageable, and a week later, it was totally gone and hasn't come back since.
Then, naturally, I got overconfident, jacked up my mileage too fast, and ended up wrecking my knee instead. I had to take another break, and this time I didn't push through even a tiny bit of discomfort, because let's face it, messing around with your knee joints is a recipe for disaster.