Thank you so very much Mrs.D....your help appreciated!! I wonder ifmy magnesium levels are low and causing such severe leg cramps at night!!

Best to take some magnesium.... start at 1/2 the RDA as listed on my
magnesium thread.

Remember...your heart needs it too. Low levels lead to arrhythmias.

I am looking around PubMed for other agents and found this:


Also another mineral has been looked at-- vanadyl sulfate.

However, I've been a bit leary of vanadyl sulfate.


There is really no concrete information about taking vanadium/vanadyl sulfate and the effects it has on bipolar disorder/mania.

This is what the PDR has to say:
http://www.pdrhealth.com/drugs/altme...&contentId=528

The University of Maryland is also guarded about this substance:
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/vanadium-000330.htm

Thank you everyone; special thanks to Mrs. D for the research.
Shelly, you asked if I have been dx'd with inulin resistence.
No...but I have been very curious since I gain weight unusually easily, especially after ingesting sugar. I am VERY careful with reference to the amount of calories I eat daily and I exercise regularly. However, I do have a sweet tooth. So, every few days, I might have some sugar. On these days, I might gain a pound. Sometimes, this pound does NOT come off and I am amazed...given that I eat small portions of healthy food the great majority of the time and do a LOT of walking on the treadmill (sometimes I jog). Most of my weight is in my stomach and I am prone to high blood pressure although I am taking a small amount of high blood pressure medication and getting good results with that.

I think I am getting stubborn or frustrated with all the supplements I am taking. Therefore, with certain things I am not consistent. However, lately I have been consistently taking chromium picolate and I think it is helping a little. I have a combo acetyl L cartine alpha lipoic acid supplement that I take a few times a week. IT's hard to say if this is helping. I also put cinnamon in my tea and/or coffee a couple of times a week (don't drink much of these things). I've gotten some slight improvement.

Will take another look at taurine with inositol. Are these two supplements to be taken at night? If I recall correctly, when I tried them in the past, they made me a little sleepy.

I gained a pound... in one day like that... I think that is water weight gain,
not tissue.

I take my taurine in the morning. My husband takes his inositol in the morning too. Neither of us notice any sedation. I can't tolerate high doses every day
of inositol however. So I don't take it as often. It makes me jittery/over reactive.

Methyl B12 and tryptophan can sedate. Take at night only.
The R-lipoic acid I find, jazzes me up like caffeine, so I can't take that at night. I take my SAMe in the morning. Any B-complex and/or folate take early in the day.

In general when your insulin is working better, you will feel less tired, esp after eating. Anything high carb also creates sedation...because it stimulates serotonin. So save your "treats" for dinner (later in the day).

I find a high protein breakfast is best for me. I then eat a smaller lunch (sometimes much smaller) and a small dinner. I work best on a good solid
meal for breakfast. A high carb breakfast is just a bummer for me..I can go back to bed on one.

As far as cinnamon goes, only the CASSIA form has shown usefulness.
Cinnamon spice may be a mixture of other types.
And you need at least 2 grams a day.
This explains the types:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassia
If purchased in capsule form, you can read the label and see what you are getting. Spice from the grocery store may not be what you think.
types:
http://www.tis-gdv.de/tis_e/ware/gewuerze/zimt/zimt.htm

Dr. Jensen-Kittley recommends both inositol and taurine in her book and online.
http://www.obesitysanswer.com/
That is where I found them!

Mrs. D.

You said:

"Methyl B12 and tryptophan can sedate. Take at night only"

I've been taking the Methyl B-12 when I first wake up in the morning (on an empty stomach). I believe I read this on the boards, that this is the way to take it. It gives me a lot of energy.

Now am I nuts, or did I read you correctly?? You say to take Methyl B-12 at night?? I know that tryptophan (the stuff in turkey), makes you sleepy, that's why everybody wants to sleep after Thanksgiving turkey dinner.

But why does Methyl B sedate a person?.

Never happened to me. It gives me energy.

Did I read you correctly?

Also, can you explain about the Cornell thing. I know they stopped the intensive part of the study and moved everybody over to the conservative part, because some people died of heart attacks when their a1c got lowered.

I really don't understand why this is so.

Isn't the a1c supposed to be lower than when one started in the study?? And what does that have to do with the heart??

If you could explain this, when you get a moment, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks much.

Melody

1) MethylB12 helps me sleep. It always has. It is the helper agent for the synthesis of melatonin from serotonin, which is the sleep hormone.
The other reason I take at night, is because it has to be on an empty stomach.
And that is when I am most empty. (I take a handful of other things first thing
in the morning, and don't want competition for the B12 absorption, etc.

2) Mel, you have to understand that our bodies are not cars. They do not
all perform according to someone else's plan. The theory to keep A1c at a certain level....is only a theory. Keeping blood sugar low, when the tissues need it as we age may upset some balance that our tissues need. It may put some kind of stress signals out, increase stress hormones which then hurt the heart. Or some other explanation we don't understand yet.

Medicine is a very imperfect discipline. There is little or no proof that lowering cholesterol past a chosen number will do anything. In fact lowering it too far can cause strokes. Now my doctor is pushing for getting my diastolic blood pressure to 70 instead of 80 and I can't function that low...can't do aerobics, or climb stairs. Already I am getting orthostatic hypotension standing up suddenly. We just argued about this on Weds. Just because some new idea came up and says keep that number LOWER.... Well, diabetics are dying on the aggressive ACCORD program, so I am not buying that a diastolic of 70 is good for me and quality of MY life.

Mrs. D...

I take my B50 and additional B12 in the morning. I might experiment taking the B12 at night. However, so far...I haven't detected a problem with taking them in the morning. I DO really like those B vitamins!

I do think this weight gain is largely water weight. This week I was religious taking the chromium and things were clearly better. I even ate some rice (found a great...more yummy and easy...product) and I normally don't indulge and did not have to pay my normal price. However, I also did not eat much actual sugar. My gut tells me to "watch out" for sugar due to the consistency with problems there.
Do you happen to know what supplements or foods act as diuretics?
I had a veggie smoothie the other day...cucumber, spinach, celery and ginger and actually that seem to help. However, it was NOT the most tasty thing I have ever had in my life. I had this in the morning...a huge drink and it filled me up. Usually, I too have protein in the morning and it is a great choice. Really filling.

RE: CASSIA
I checked at iherb. Saw lots of oils. Can you further elaborate?

Also, is there some sort of "combo" inositol and taurine product out there? I really like my acetyl L cartine alpha lipoic acid supplement combo and plan on taking it regularly.

Here is one that indicates it is for sleep (which is interesting, because I thought either T or I in the past made me sleepy): http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails.aspx?c=1&pid=1344
I don't know about the other ingredients listed...

All these supplements are making me batty...combo pills make sense to me. Even if they are not "perfect" it reduces the chances that I'm going to forget something or get overly frustrated.



Thank you.

This is exactly what ws happening to me Mrsd....I would immediately want to and need to sleep after a meal. That symptom combined with the two hour glucose insulin test showed insulin resistance. And diabetes runs rampant in my family when women get to their 50's.

I would like to know how a lay person tests their sugar?
So much of what I'm reading here rings true for me.
For one thing, if I don't eat after let's say 7:30 p.m. two things commonly happen:
1) I tend to lose weight
2) I tend to have more energy in then morning/feel better

Also, when I juice...I "feel better," which in my mind means simply "I have more energy and less bloating" when I drink smoothies with veggies in them as opposed to smoothies with fruits in them.

Much of what I've had to go on involves instinct and lots of observation.

I do know that my body does NOT like a lot of breads/starches/sugar. NOt too crazy about milk products or red meat either...although these things are better than those first items. I do best when I have lots of vegetables, a little lean meat, small amounts of fruit, nuts, beans, etc. Also....walking daily is a thumbs up all the way! Years ago, I did a modified Fit for LIfe diet and I felt really great on this.

Anyway, are the tests available over the counter to test blood sugar? What are normal ratings? What are good books/websites to get some good basic information on this topic? Thank you.