How old were you when you first found out that you had diabetes? Did your parents or grandparents have it, too?

I do not have diabetes as of yet! I was about 20 when I found out that I am insulin resistant. My grandmother has diabetes as well as her sister. I am trying everything that I can at this point to avoid ending up with the disease.

OK, you are going to have to explain to me what Insulin Resistent means?

Is it a precursor to diabetes?

I'd like to know, too... I'm thinking it may mean that if one *gets* diabetes, the insulin shots wouldn't help? Making treatment a lot more difficult? But it could be something totally different.

Insulin resistance is a simple idea.
It means that your body cannot use the insulin it creates to provide energy glucose conversion in teh muscles.

Its like this.
you eat something. when you eat anything that has carbohydrate, in teh small intesting a signal is passed to teh pancreas to release Insulin from the beta cells.
Insulin is then secreted into the small intestine to create glucose and is absorbed into the system and distributed to teh muscles through the blood stream.

One faction of insulin reistsnce is that the RBC, red blood cell cannot allow all fo teh glucose into the cell. Allowing acertain amountt o remian floatin the blood stream or riding on top of the blood cell. This then partially suffocates the RBC and does not allow the muscle which has a receptor to get both glucose and oxygen.

Now imagine if you will, a door and a hallway. Your the RBC walking down the hallway and you have say packages of groceries. You want to get the groceries into your room., But the door is locked. So you fumble for keys. You find a key but its not the right one. You still have your grocecries and your keys. and you keep trrying your keys.

Insulin resistance is alot like that. the rooms are the muscles and you cant get your groceries( glucose and oxygen) into that room( muscle). So your muscles suffer and the glucose builds up just abit. But you are producing insulin.
So your body needs to have a locksmith come by( actos, glitizones) and allow any of your keys to work to get into your room.

julie

I was seven when the doctor told my mom and dad I was " borderline". he never, as far as I kow used the word diabetic. But he put me on a very strict diet and gave me pills.
I would go every three months for a series of mysterious shots, urine test and complete exam.

As I got older I had bouts where my glucose woudl be tested. always 145 in the morning.

in 1996 I slept for three months. When I went to the DR. my glucose was 285 on a fasting test. I wasnt told ver that I was diabetic.

in 2000 my husband told me " ya know you drink like a &^%$#@ diabetic" " I am not diabetic" was always my retor. I developed what we thought was aboil on the inside of my leg.
After much pain and it not resolving itself to come to head, he took me at three in the morning to the emergency room. where upon i was told " your diabetic"
I was given insulin and the diabetic abscess was cleaned up.
It was huge! it went all the way down to the bone.
But I was agressive and happy to take my shots, meds and my whole attitude changed for teh better....

I was 39 in 2000. My day of liberation.