So what are the symptoms of insulin resistance?
Fatigue is the most noticeable symptom. Typically it manifests as an afternoon or early evening fatigue. This can also be interpreted as sleepiness. A type of unfocused brain fog where things are easily forgotten or you feel as if you are in a fog all day. Both the mental and physical fatigues are made worse by hypoglycemia which means low blood sugar. Hypoglycemia is not necessarily a symptom of insulin resistance, but more due to poor diet and lifestyle choices which will eventually lead to insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes. There is more about this and how to prevent it later in this article.
The ill effects of too much glucose in the blood can be seen in a subtle moodiness and agitation which is alleviated once food is eaten. This could be seen as a sort of a mini-diabetic crisis.
Depression is a common symptom and probably due once again to diet. People who are insulin resistant usually eat a lot of carbohydrates and these can act like a mild depressant that at first gives you this grounded feeling but can eventually make you depressed. Try eating too much candy or cookies sometime and see how you feel.
High blood pressure is common in insulin resistance because free insulin raises the blood pressure.
Increased body weight in the abdomen on males and in the buttocks on women is seen often seen in both insulin resistance and diabetes.
Higher triglyceride levels are seen in insulin resistance whether there is a weight problem or not.
Intestinal discomfort is commonly seen in insulin resistance. Again this is from dietary choices that revolve around too many carbohydrates. There is usually bloating and high amounts of intestinal gas.
Diabetes symptoms include excessive thirst, excessive hunger, excessive urination, fatigue, blurry vision, irritability or unusual weight loss. Consider having a hemoglobin A1C test if your glucose levels start moving up into the higher end of the normal range on your standard fasting blood glucose level test that should be a part of your yearly physical.
