Just received word from Sasha's endo that his glucose tolerance test (GTT) was NORMAL! OMG! Sasha had been a hyperinsulin secreter in the recent past and during a glucose tolerance test (before oxytocin), his highest glucose levels shot up to 239 from a fasting level of 79. Two days ago when he took the same test, his fasting level was 92 and after one hour, his level rose only to 108, then down to 100 after two hours and down again to 92 after three hours. Although his endo neglected (by mistake) to order an insulin test simultaneously to the glucose test, his GTT results shows that his blood sugar levels did not surge abnormally high as it did in the past! She explained that these results indicate that he is not insulin resistant and although there is no perfect correlation, it may show a lesser likelihood of his having hyperinsulin secretion problems now.
The other notable thing that made me suspect that his insulin secretion problem was different on Wednesday was that he did not crash out from ingesting the 75 grams of sugar drink! In the past (before oxytocin) whenever Sasha ate anything higher in carbs (such as a slice of pizza, a cookie, a pancake, a piece of candy, etc.), he would become so lethargic, he would become extremely sleepy and be unable to stay awake. This time, he drank the super sweet drink and had very good energy ALL DAY LONG!
I am pleased that he now seems to be suffering much less from metabolic syndrome that is so typical of people with his brain tumor:
1. The last lipid panel was (nearly) normal (only needed his HDLs to be 3 points higher)
2. C-peptide was normal
3. HgbA1c was normal
4. Weight is decreasing
5. GTT was normal
I wish we had his insulin levels tested along with his glucose tolerance test but we don't, darn it! We will likely repeat the test again in a couple/few months and get both tests next time. His most recent fasting insulin test (not associated with the test he took two days ago) was slightly elevated at 32 (4-29 is WNL) so I am not sure exactly what this means. We are all very excited about his test results and I will write more as I learn more about how to interpret these results.
In my search for papers to explain the connection between oxytocin and it's possible impact on insulin and glucose tolerance, I found this article whose summary states, "In conclusion, oxytocin and its analogs have multi-level effects in improving weight control, insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion, and bear potentials for being developed as therapeutic peptides for obesity and diabetes."
Full article here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3658979/?report=classic
Another article discusses the significantly lower levels of oxytocin found in obese and DM2 patients compared to patients with normal GTT results: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/25233153/
It appears that oxytocin is influencing his most recent GTT results and that his response to the sugary drink was extremely unusual given his normal response to ingesting carbohydrates. I will pay attention to see if this pattern continues. Although we will still keep him on the lower carb food plan, we know he occasionally gets a special higher carb treat so we will observe him to see if he continues to be resistant to the sleepy aftereffects of ingesting a higher carb food or drink!
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