Quote Originally Posted by Purple Banana
My question is, does cannabis effectively lower blood sugar? Most everyone knows if your blood sugar is lower, you become hungry.
From what people have reported here and what I experienced first hand (I tested my blood glucose before and after smoking 6 times summer before last just to see if this happened), yes, it definitely lowers blood sugar. I've seen people report drops here ranging from 10 to as much as 150 points, but the glycemic changes I experienced and which I've seen Granny Storm Crow write about have been in the lower ranges. One time it lowered mine by 12 points from 93 to 81 and the other times it lowered my sugar by only about 8 - 9 points. I'm not sure the poster who once said it dropped his by 150 points had his readings accurate--or else he had completely out-of-control diabetes to begin with. He said his initial readings were up in the 450 range.

Quote Originally Posted by Purple Banana
I know many cannabinoid receptors are directly linked to satiety and hunger sensations- is cannabis actually lowering blood sugar to cause munchies, or is it simply stimulating the cannabinoid receptors into causing hunger?
This is a great question. I wish we knew how it worked. But of course, since there's not been nearly enough testing, we don't know much.

My theory is that cannabis may affect, block, stimulate or antagonize specific types of CB1 receptors in the brain that prompt the behavioral aspect of the munchies just like it works through the CB1 receptors to quell nausea and change other behaviors. Then it makes sense to me that the CB2 receptors, the ones that have to do with the immune system and are found in the spleen, gut, liver and pancreas, probably are affected in a way that alters how the islet cells in the pancreas secrete insulin.

This is just my personal theory based on what I've studied about diabetes and what I've read about CB1 and 2 receptors. I suspect that however it works, it's a process that's so complex and interconnected we might never have all the answers, even if years of exhaustive research were done.

PB, do you know any diabetics up there who'd let you borrow a slightly older glucometer (I'm imagining there must be plenty of diabetics who like to get the latest gadgets and have old ones sitting around) just to see how cannabis affects your glucose on your off time? Do the diabetic educators at Johns Hopkins have coupons or anything they could give you to help you save on some test strips and/or a home glucometer? I'll ask Dave to ask the pharmaceutical reps who troop in and out of his office all day. They may have something good I could send you! If one of them says, "Name the kind of glucometer your friend wants" and offers to bring one in, do you have a certain kind you'd like to have? A freebie might be a slightly older model (like from a year or two ago). Let me know.

Great topic, PB!
birdgirl73 Reviewed by birdgirl73 on . Blood sugar and cannabis Everyone knows smoking pot has a 99.9999999999991% chance of causing the munchies. I have polycystic ovarian syndrome, and with this comes insulin resistance. My fasting blood sugars are anywhere from 75-120, and I personally don't have a meter (testing strips are obscenely expensive), but I use the ones at my work once a week (with my supervisor's blessing), so I can't rightfully check my sugar after I smoke (I will never go to work high or even buzzed). My question is, does cannabis Rating: 5