STYMIED AGAIN: TOO MUCH SUGAR or TOO LITTLE?

[GKeith]

I am stymied, once again, by the hypothyroidism I have had for the past 27 years. I was prescribed the synthetic form of Levothyroxine, or Levothroid, aka T4, and was fine taking it for the first 26 years. It wasn't until I began having the same hypo symptoms of cold hands and feet, weight gain for no apparent reason, itchy skin, difficulty swallowing, dry eyes, sore throats and horrible headaches that I realized something was wrong. The .88 mcg of Levothroid was actually giving me headaches every time I took it.

These episodes really began in earnest when I was in Switzerland this past February and the headaches began to the point of my awakening in the early morning hours to guzzle down gulps (glasses) and gulps of O.J. Now, the thing is I had gone on a sugarless diet, basically abandoning all processed sugar and replacing it with honey or nothing at all. The problem continued when I got back to Florida, after over a month in Switzerland.

A woman in my church was diabetic and when I told her of my tale of woe she and her husband, who was also hypothyroid, said it was the sugar in the orange juice that I had craved that had been the cause of the headaches disappearing. I hadn't told her of my sugarless diet but it passed through my brain, even though I quickly forgot it as I was adding honey to my tea but did drink mostly water.

Now, at this time, I was prescribed a 50mcg T4 pill every night, which I never took but bega taking the 5 mcg's of T3, which six months later ended up 30 mcg's of T3. It helped me a lot because the .88 mcg of Levo I had been taking was giving me the same splitting headaches that had originated in Switzerland but, almost as soon as I began the T3 they had gone slowly away. I kept asking for more T3 and he got me up to 30 mcg but lowered the T4 to 50mcg, which, for some unknown, to me, reason, 50mcg. I had totally quit taking any Levo pills at all but, suddenly, I took a 50mcg pill (pills) again and after a few weeks of the T4 not bothering me I took a blood test that appeared as if it was (now) converting. I asked him for 75 mcg of T4 but he wouldn't prescribe it without taking the T3 down to so mcg so I self-dosed again, by simply taking the 75 mcg T4 pill(s) that he had prescribed me, months before, which I had never taken.

So, if you are now confused, to the (final) point, I have actually realized the one thing I never thought of as a reason for the T4 not converting and then, 6 months later converting back: the sugar. And my question, to myself, as well as anyone on this site, is: “Was it the sugar that I (actually) needed to convert the T4?

Being the Thanksgiving holidays and Christmas and New Year's, my sugar content raised considerably, as I broke my “sugarless” diet to eat more (you know what) cookies, candy and the T4 appears to have converted. And if it was (is) the sugar, how much do (did) I need to convert. I mean there is, (literally) sugar in everything we eat and I know it was only maybe 30-60 days into the sugarless period before the T4 went haywire and I got prescribed the T3. And, also, why would the T3 work so quickly while I was still “off (processed) sugar” which same sugar was stopping the T4 from converting? As, I said, I am stymied. Can anyone help to un-stymie me?

[SlowDragon Administrator]

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also extremely important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if Thyroid antibodies are raised

All thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting. Do not take Levothyroxine dose in the 24 hours prior to test, delay and take immediately after blood draw. This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)

If also on T3, make sure to take last dose exactly 12 hours prior to test

It's very common for conversion of FT4 to FT3 to get worse as we age

Low B12 is increasingly common as we get older.

Low vitamin D widespread

Come back with new post once you have results and ranges on these

[GKeith in reply to SlowDragon]

Last test done 1st Dec: 1.-VIT D 39 ref: 30-100 ng/mL 2.-B12 589 ref: 200-1100 pg/mL 3.-folate-20.2 ref: 200-1100 pg/mL 4.-Ferritin 42 ref: 20-380 ng/mL 5.-Cortisol:18.2 ref:10-20 mcg/dL

[Jazzw]

There is a school of thought that proposes that you need carbohydrate to convert T4 to the active thyroid hormone T3. So it actually makes a lot of sense that cutting out sugar would reduce your body’s ability to convert levothyroxine into something the body can use. T3 is used as is - no conversion required.

But... some people do feel better on a lower carb diet. I suspect this is because along the way, low carbers cut out gluten, which is something many hypothyroid people don’t tolerate too well.

Different things work for different people. Going low carb also seems to reduce T3 levels even in healthy folk - perhaps because of the reduction in T4 conversion

Then again, if you felt better with your morning OJ, it could have had something to do with the Vit C in it rather than the sugar. Vit C helps us absorb iron and iron is also key to the conversion process of T4 to T3.

So... long story short it’s hard to say what’s going on.

Which is why SlowDragon has recommended getting hold of test results and going from there.

[Tina_Maria]

Your brain is heavily relying on sugar as fuel, it is actually the organ that consumes the most glucose in our body, if it is starved of glucose, it can cause headaches.

I am not sure how a sugarless diet would work, I can only assume that you are restricting all sorts of carbohydrates including sugars. Carbs are readily available sources of fuel for your body, where as it is more difficult to convert fat to readily available source of energy. The lack of carbs and/ or sugar may also mean that you have not got much fuel available for your body to function properly, you must feel tired as well I am sure! And it would also make sense in order for your body to convert T4, it needs energy / fuel to do that. Less energy- less conversion, that would actually make sense. But how much is needed, I do not know.

The best thing really is to have a varied and healthy diet and any dietary restrictions or changes should be weighed out very carefully, as there is always a cause and effect for every change you apply!

[GKeith in reply to Tina_Maria]

I work out very hard and sweat a lot, always have, but when I restricted the sugar (before, I always ate something sweet before a fight or workout) everything crashed and the headaches were the worse I've ever had, including getting dizzy spells. I think it must have been low blood sugar. I have (had) friends, ex-boxers, who have passed away from diabetes-related symptoms.

[G2G2]

I'm a T1 diabetic & eat no sugar. Carbs you eat are converted to glucose. About 50% of protein is also converted to glucose in a process called gluconeogenesis, as is a small percentage of fat. Unless you have hypoglycemia (chronic low blood sugar) or a liver problem, you have all the glucose you need without eating sugar.

[GKeith in reply to G2G2]

I must have had hypoglycemia as my Basel temperature(s) was (were) in the low 90's, 94, 95 and on to a high of maybe 97. I had a blood testing finger-prick testing unit and went at it almost everyday for a few weeks. Everything pointed to low blood sugar and so I began eating and drinking more sugar and, sure enough, it came back up and my temps went up into the low to mid 97's. Since then I have tried to replace all processed sugar with Stevia or sugar crystals and my temps were, are, once again more a normal level of 97.5-98.0. My hands and feet were ice cold in the early mornings and late evenings and they are still somewhat but nothing at all like before. I try to eat without sugar but, unfortunately, in this country/America as well as the world, this is almost impossible, as fruitcose, glucose and so many other hidden names for sugar are added to literally every food we consume: esp. fast foods, where most poor and disadvantaged people eat.

Speaking of poor people, if you wish to feel good about humanity, no matter if you are poor, rich, religious or atheist please, read this: npr.org/2009/07/27/11109162...

And may all have a Happy New Year and may god bless us all with the ability, desire and tolerance to speak truth to power. This guy (above) was an atheist but, remember, as Mother Teresa once said: "It was Jesus in one of his disguises."