Hi there. Iv tried on all my Facebook groups but not having much luck...
Im looking to speak with people who are type 1 diabetic and also on ndt (I'm currently on armour but changing to thyroid s tomorrow but wondering if its a reoccurring issue on other brands of ndt).
Since being on ndt my sugar levels have been consistently high... And although they seem to of calmed down I have spent the last 3 days in hospital in dka and been informed my hba1c has jumped from 53 to over 100.
... I'd just like to know if there's anyone else who's had similar happen to them??
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Saz-J
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I'm not diabetic, but noticed my blood glucose rising as my NDT dose increased. According to this article, T3 stimulates glucose production from the liver. tiredthyroid.com/insulin-re... There might be too much T3 in the NDT dose you're taking. Lowering your dose or multi-dosing throughout the day might help.
Iv just reduced my dose in line with my bloods. However iv just been informed its OK to have lower tsh on ndt (currently at 0.02) however my free t3 is a little out of whack. Il have a read of the link. Thank you! Xx
I'm T1 on NDT. Supplementing with thyroid hormones makes insulin less effective. Each time my thyroid doses are raised, I increase insulin. Sorry about DKA. Know how utterly horrible that is.
Thank you so much. Its nice to finally hear from a diabetic 👌🏻 oh gosh so now I have the battle of working with a team who has no idea about ndt including my endo (he prescribes seperate t3 and doesn't necessarily believe in ndt)
Do you follow a certain rate if u don't mind me asking?? And how much ndt do you take? Xd
I take 120 mg NDT. Insulin dosing is highly individualized. If only there was a rate that worked for everyone. I've yet to find an endo that provides helpful guidance because it's trial & error depending on countless variables. Key is lowering the variables of what you eat. Agree with Weissfjiord1979. Dr. Richard Bernstein's brilliant & a T1. I've followed his recommendations for 11 years.
No I know I just wondered if I spoke to enough people about their rates etc if there would be any type of patterns occurring. This is my concern now... I'm going to be on alot of insulin if on more than what I am now. With my pump I could potentially need to change my pump sooner than every 3 days which is a complete ball ache! 😔 X
Is a pain! Eating low carb means less insulin & far better control.
I take T3 and have had to increase insulin as I increase dose. I think it makes me insulin resistant. Have you checked out Dr. Richard K. Bernstein for diabetes? I find his approach very helpful.
I'm on pure T3 now. I was on NDT til 3 months ago. I have a conversion problem so T3 only is best for me.
I am finding that I need to increase my insulin by 50%, however I never use more than 8 units as I eat very low carb. That's Bernstein's approach so there very little chance of going hypo. This is a very important point.
I'm going to have to do some research then. To be honest I'd love to go low carb but I'm not really eating much at the moment anyway but I do still seem to use alot of insulin. So are you increasing constantly at 50%? I so apologise now I see u said u are on t3 but I read it originally as ndt 🤣
I'm slowly working out that I need more insulin with each meal. Sometimes it's 50%, sometimes more or less. Get Dr. Bernstein's book on Amazon and read it. There's no other way to get tight (safe) control of your sugars. The book is The Diabetes Solution.
I'm annoyed at myself for not thinking it could happen. I put up such a fight to get myself a doctor who would support me with my ndt journey and I was so poorly to begin with (adrenal fatigue and cortisol issues which are still in going) that it didn't even cross my mind 😔😔 xx
I am a type I diabetic also. I am currently taking 100 mcg levothyroxine and 18.75 mcg cynomel, divided into 3 doses per day. I maintain an A1C in the normal range, around 5%.
When I first started taking cynomel, I needed to increase my basal insulin dose from around 13 to around 15 units per day. Since I usually take about 35-40 total units per day, this was a pretty small increase. Whenever I have experimented with further increasing my thyroid hormone dose, I have experienced higher blood sugars and insulin resistance.
It sounds like you you need to reduce your thyroid dose and/or increase your insulin dose.
Many years ago, my A1C was around 12% and I had dka. I was started on levothyroxine around this time, but my body did not respond to it. I still felt cold and tired. Once I got my blood sugars under better control, I started to feel the levothyroxine working. When your body is sick and under stress, you do not convert T4 to T3 as well.
As your blood sugars improve, pay attention to thyroid symptoms to determine if you need a change in dose.
I am probably in the minority on this one, but I feel better on a higher carbohydrate diet. Everyone is different. I have read that dietary carbohydrates help your body convert T4 to T3. I take my insulin 15-30 minutes before eating to avoid a post-meal blood sugar spike.
Please take care of yourself and if you have any questions feel free to ask.
Reducing my ndt dose just isn't an option because I feel like complete death. I was on 200mcg levo but now I'm on 180 ndt. That being said I have just had my dose lowered and it could potentially go down next visit to my professor if he's not happy with my levels. My tsh is currently at 0.02 and I have just recently learnt that this is OK if you are on ndt it needs to go on how your feeling. So when he said I needed to reduce my dose I'm not entirely sure if it's because he has little knowledge of ndt as is comparing to what tsh should be in range of on t4 medication. Obviously I don't want to insult his intelligence but I have wondered if maybe he's getting a bit muddled up with it.
My hba1c was perfect back until a few months ago and I felt worse... My thyroid symptoms were horrible but iv never had an easy ride and iv never acfually felt well for a single day since my diagnosis 😔 I seem to eat high carb despite not eating much at the moment tbh. I'm just annoyed at myself for not picking up on the possibility sooner... To start my levels were consistently slightly raised but they seemed to level out but the hba1c has gone up further 🙁 it's all stressing me out big time.
I am sorry for the stress you feel right now, but I think you are on the path to feeling better.
How much insulin were you taking per day on levothyroxine, and how much are you taking now on ndt? Have you experimented with increasing your basal rates on your insulin pump? Sometimes a small increase in a basal rate can make a big difference in blood sugars.
Also, how often do you have ketones? When I have ketones, even small ones, I require a much larger correction dose of insulin to bring my blood sugar back into a normal range.
If you do not already do so, I suggest keeping a log of your blood sugars, insulin doses, thyroid dose, and anything else that would be helpful in figuring this out.
Do you know whether your Vitamin D levels are optimized, according to the Vitamin D council? Apparently Vitamin D affects blood glucose levels. medpagetoday.org/primarycar...
I couldn't say tbh. They tell me they test it but they never give me any results 😔😔 will deffinately bring it up at my next appointment though thank you! X
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