Claritin D, Inflammation and Hormone Induced Insulin Resistance

Women's Health Hormones
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So Disclaimers: I could be TOTALLY full of beans here…this could possibly ONLY happen in my body…I am not a doctor…I am not recommending anything to anyone.

Just sharing my empirical observations…not sure if there is any cause and effect…and not sure if it is even consistent…but I am ping ponging this idea around in my head…

…when I have my “hormone storms” as I call them…which when I say that I mean my significant insulin resistance from ovulation through before PMS starts (I still have relative insulin resistance during PMS as compared to the first half of my cycle pre-ovulation…but WAY less than the window I just specified)…it really doesn’t matter what I do with my basal, my dosing, my prebolusing, my exercise…it’s just a full-on timeframe of blood sugar suck. It just sticks at 220-240 and hates me.

I was dealing with this today. My pod site looked like it had a red ring around the cannula which is not super atypical for me…but no blood so I didn’t pull it.

I had had a huge hormone spike starting at 2AM that I was wrestling back down all morning.

I decided to take a Claritin D at 11AM and by 3PM my blood sugar has fallen beautifully back in line…same pod…and tomorrow should be my worst insulin resistance day (Day 23 is always my worst day…that’s when my progesterone is at its highest).

I do also have rosacea…which is an inflammatory type issue.

Claritin D does a whole lot of anti-inflammatory things (Google it…I didn’t feel like copying and pasting).

I’m just kicking around the idea that maybe my body is more inflammation prone or inflammation sensitive and either hormones have an outsized affect on my insulin sensitivity…or hormones cause an inflammatory reaction in me that an anti-inflammatory can help calm to stop the insulin resistance…

…I am someone who cannot take any kind of HRT based on my history of extremely bad reactions to very low doses of hormones. I also am extremely sensitive to most medicines.

And maybe this is something that could have broader applicability to other women if this got studied (which I know is nearly impossible).

I just wonder at this possibility though. Maybe the Claritin D is calming my pod site…which I only use for basal and not boluses…so that doesn’t really explain why my dinner dose via injection did so tremendously well tonight if I’m looking just at site reaction.

Things that make me go hmmmm….

Open to ideas and constructive feedback on kicking hypotheticals around.

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That really interesting as the D in Claritin D is Pseudoephedrine which increases insulin resistance.

Both pseudoephedrine (decongestant) and loratadine (antihistamine) have shown anti inflammatory effects. So maybe that’s the benefit to you even though pseudoephedrine elevated insulin resistance.

My motto is Do what works for you.

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I love your motto!

And my doctors consistently refer to me as an “outlier” and it’s typically in an annoyed tone. LOL

I was chatting with a girlfriend today who is awaiting an explanation of some odd test results. In trying to reassure her during her wait, I told her that I frequently get told that my test results or symptoms “are not normal but don’t seem to be bad”.

Awesome. Facepalm.

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Are you the Allison who lives (drives) in the hyper fast lane? There is an Allison who likes fast cars.

Anyway, my endo hasn’t used outlier for me, but he and his staff are amazed at my numbers, even when I’m not. As a T2 on a pump I deal with high insulin resistance constantly. Now mine is fairly controlled with regular exercise.

I remember reading about women and their hormonal hurricane. Some had no issues, some premenstrual, some during menstruation and some post menstrual, and with some it caused hypos and some hypers. For more than one reason, I got it easy, comparatively. Oh and there are those women with PCOS.

All of you are in my prayers and heart.

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That’s me! I got a Miata for the upcoming season. It’s not fast, but it is fun! I guess it’s faster thru the corners than my race minivan is!

And thank you for your kind words. I think we’ve all got plenty going on to figure out as it comes…you’ve had your own challenges for sure! And I appreciate your perspective and supportiveness of others through everything you’ve had to manage!!

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@T1Allison Sorry you’re having to deal with the issue, but glad you may have found an approach to deal with it! Ref @CarlosLuis comments, perhaps you’re one of the people that has inverse actions/reactions (not sure what’s right there) to particular meds! A guy I knew in HS had a brother with ADHD; tried about every “downer” on the market to control it (the whole family was warned not to touch the pills without gloves). Finally, a doc finally tried giving the boy what was described as an “upper”! Lo and behold, the kid’s ADHD was stopped dead in its tracks. What a difference! Anyway, hope the Claritan D keeps working for you if you decide to try it.

Like @T1Allison, I’m not a doc or pharmacist and don’t recommend trying this approach; talk to your own doc and make your own decisions. That said, following @CarlosLuis’s philosophy, if it works for you it works for you!

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No insights from me, but I am curious how you logged everything to figure out your personal patterns! I’ve struggled to tell what could be hormonal vs. just a random diabetes shift.

That’s my husband’s dream car for AutoX. Sounds like you’ll have a fun season!

It’s so interesting how treatments change! My understanding now is that ADHD is recognized to involve dopamine deficiency, so “uppers” tend to work to increase dopamine or block dopamine re-uptake. Fascinating!

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My overnight trends tend to be a good indicator of where I’m at with my hormones…I have to increase my basal as my cycle progresses.

I eat a lot of repetitive meals…so when my “first half of my cycle” dose no longer covers it completely and I have to raise my meal doses…that’s hormones.

And when I get super carb sensitive and my heightened meal doses aren’t cutting it and I have to add an hour of pre-bolus time…that’s hormones.

It can be really difficult to figure out of it is hormones or if it is a bad pod site. I’ll get bad pod sites that aren’t absorbing well, but they don’t look bad at all. If I swap the pod and everything settles down within a few hours of the pod swap…then I conclude that it was a bad pod site. If I swap the pod and it still doesn’t settle down…well, dang it, that’s hormones, too.

I’m always trying to figure out which lever to pull and how far to pull it, but it is getting increasingly challenging to diagnose it and get the results I want as I get older.

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I love 2 seater option roadsters. The other day I saw a TF MG for 13,000. It may have been a kit car, it was all I could do to just drive on.:sweat_smile: I hate being practical, but it makes sense.

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