T3 ONLY ANd INSULIN RESISTANCE : Hello, What... - Thyroid UK

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T3 ONLY ANd INSULIN RESISTANCE

Dawid86 profile image
35 Replies

Hello,

What about taking T3 only and increases A1c and insulin?

My A1c was about 5.6%always before t3 only and insulin at morning 10 4-24,now taking T3 ONLY i have A1c 6.1%!! And insulin 20!

SAME DIET LOW CARBS AS ALWAYS.

I read different articles about.

Need feedbacks very useful.

Thanks.

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Dawid86 profile image
Dawid86
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35 Replies
PiggySue profile image
PiggySue

Hi, very low carb diets are not helpful when on T3, at least to my understanding.

If you have no carbs you will change the protein to help your insulin. I am not sure of the mechanism and perhaps someone much more knowledgable than me will be able to help.

PiggySue profile image
PiggySue in reply to PiggySue

I did some research on low carb diets some time ago. I still wasn't losing much weight and didn't seem to go into ketosis. I have forgotten most of it, although it did bear out the idea that we need moderation in all things!

If you are eating a lot of protein your body will convert that into glucose and so that can increase your insulin.

Here is an interesting article, but it might take quite a lot of googling as it is quite a niche area:

medicalnewstoday.com/articl...

Good luck with finding some answers.

Could someone tell me what A1c means? Assume it's to do with diabetes.

Are you on a very low carb diet as well? That doesn't sound like a good idea even if you are diabetic

SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering in reply to

Hidden

Could someone tell me what A1c means? Assume it's to do with diabetes.

The A1c, or HbA1C, test shows your average blood glucose levels over the past 3 months.

From diabetes.org/a1c?loc=lwd-sl...

It can identify prediabetes, which raises your risk for diabetes. It can be used to diagnose diabetes. And it's used to monitor how well your diabetes treatment is working over time.

in reply to SeasideSusie

Thanks, I did have some idea of what HbA1C is, having had the test, but not A1C

SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering in reply to

It's the same test, I think we usually see it as HbA1C here in the UK.

Angel_of_the_North profile image
Angel_of_the_North in reply to

Low carb was always the diet for diabetics until recently when the govt started to push high carb for everything. If you can't handle carbs/starch/sugar, it makes no sense to eat more.

I take T3 only and my HbA1c hasn't changed - it's not great but steady at 35

Dawid86 profile image
Dawid86

Basically, again, i asked for some feedback from people who are using t3only and have high insuline and A1bc %, and no help... 😅

I hoped some administrator could give me some suggestion, feedback about.

Not interested in people who say to eat more carbs etc.. I did my personal study about and research because MY DEGREE, but need feedback about this PARTICULAR SITUATION ;

T3 ONLY >HIGH A1BC% >HIGH INSULIN. just this.

Thanks.

SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering in reply to Dawid86

Basically, again, i asked for some feedback from people who are using t3only and have high insuline and A1bc %, and no help... 😅

Maybe because nobody is aroud at the moment who has the knowledge or experience to offer any help. This is not a forum run by medically qualified people waiting to answer questions, it's a patient to patient forum where experiences are shared. Maybe you are expecting too much. If nobody can answer your question, they wont reply. If someone is in a similar situation and can help then they will reply.

I hoped some administrator could give me some suggestion, feedback about.

Administrators are not medically qualified either. Administrators are here to make sure that the forum runs smoothly and that no posts contravene guidelines. They will respond to posts when they can offer suggestions based on their own experience or reading they may have done. Again, maybe you are expecting too much.

Yet again you are expressing dissatisfaction with the replies you receive which is bordering on being rude.

And as previously you are starting to use capital letters which, on internet forums, is shouting. If you wish to emphasise some text, please highlight the relevant part in bold.

in reply to SeasideSusie

Thank you, Susie. I was simply asking for clarity as I didn't even understand the question!

If I had understood the question I would probably not have commented, not knowing enough about the subject.

However I am wary of the effect of extreme diets on those who are hypothyroid, with or without diabetes. I tried a partial fast for several days once (drinks only, such as milky coffee, fruit juice, soup etc). I felt fine but then realised I was getting more and more lethargic. It was quite a pleasant feeling but also a danger sign! It took at least a couple of weeks to get back up to the former only slightly hypothyroid state.

Re diabetes, I don't know much about it but would have thought that extremely low carbs would likely cause problems, on the "If you don't use it you lose it" principle. If not much insulin is needed to deal with blood sugar, then the pancreas would likely decrease production.

At least that was my hypothesis. The article that PiggySue posted may support this (haven't got around to reading it yet)

SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering in reply to

Not sure if you've got mixed up Hidden ?

You have responded to a response I did to Dawid86's post. I know nothing about diabetes and diets so haven't commented on that, I just cleared up about the name of the test for you in your other question here further up the thread :)

in reply to SeasideSusie

Not mixed up (at least don't think so :-O ). I thought Dawid86 would read my response which was intended for him too, explaining why I commented.

Best leave this thread alone now before digging myself into a hole ;-) Though some of the replies have been very interesting

SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering in reply to

Ah, OK :)

Lesleyg13 profile image
Lesleyg13 in reply to

Low carb is being used successfully now by some NHS GPs in the UK for the treatment of diabetes and other chronic illnesses. Dr David Unwin in Southport is the most well known. He received the NHS "Innovator of the Year" in 2016 for his work. He has been using low carb for the last 7 years to help his patients, which now enables him to save the NHS in excess of £57,000 per year from just his one practice's drug budget, money which is returned to the NHS centrally. He has helped develop an online training programme on low carb for GPs. While using it to treat diabetes he has found other chronic diseases have often improved as well, fatty liver disease, hypertension and high triglycerides for example.

diabetes.co.uk/in-depth/dav...

drwf.org.uk/news-and-events...

This is my recent posting about him which includes links to a couple of his conference presentations:

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Over the past couple of years I have spent hundreds of hours listening to presentations and reading articles by scientists, doctors, researchers etc on low carb. Although it is not mainstream yet, and I would not begin to claim it is suitable for every single person, I do think there is a massive percentage of the population who would benefit from it. In the US for example 88% of the population are believed to be metabolically unhealthy, and I don't expect the UK to be that far behind.

In your specific case Jnetti, it is not at all unusual for an individual to take several weeks to become adapted to a low carb diet. Fruit juice is not low carb at all because it has a lot of sugar in it, and it would have been difficult for your body to handle as it puts you on a rollercoaster of blood glucose and insulin highs and lows, which is the opposite to the effect of a low carb diet.

For anyone interested in learning more the website dietdoctor.com is a great place to start, tons of free information on there.

in reply to

Being insulin resistant myself bordering on diabetes 2 I have been told I need to get my insulin levels down before they end up in the diabetic range. My doctor said diabetes 2 is simply advanced insulin resistance, so it makes sense to try to lower insulin by lowering blood glucose levels as insulin is produced in response to blood glucose.

in reply to

If diabetes is caused by a deficiency of insulin production, how can decreasing insulin help avoid diabetes???

Sorry, don't get it at all :-O

in reply to

There are two types of diabetes:

Diabetes 1 where the pancreas produces insufficient amounts of insulin requiring you to inject insulin.Often developed in childhood.

Diabetes 2 is when the body produces enough insulin but does not use it effectively (insulin resistance) so both blood sugar and insulin levels are high, causing you to store fat and making weight loss almost impossible. Common in obese people and also, in my experience, hypothyroidism.

in reply to

"both blood sugar and insulin levels are high"

I didn't know that! I always thought that both type 1 and type 2 were caused by low insulin - Type 2 being mostly due to the pancreas finding it harder to respond and produce enough insulin to cope with a diet high in sugar.

I have heard of insulin resistance but thought that was a separate condition.

Thank you, makes more sense now. Wow, learning something new every day! :-)

in reply to

It’s possible that the pancreas ends up exhausted in the end and becomes unable to produce insulin but, in the early stages of diabetes 2, insulin levels are high. First, you usually develop insulin resistance aka pre-diabetes and it can take years to develop diabetes 2. Insulin resistance is reversible and D2 can also be. It’s also referred to as non insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus or NIDDM.

To give you an example: my latest fasting insulin levels came back

at 18.4 (sorry don’t remember measurement units right now) and should not be higher than 6. The upper normal limit is 24.9. Once the insulin levels exceed that you have diabetes 2. My fasting bs came back at 110 (ref 70-105) so I am still pre-diabetic but was put on an anti-diabetic drug to try to reverse the condition (I have gained a lot of weight in the past year). The drug has decreased my appetite by 50% and eliminated my carb cravings completely.

SilverAvocado profile image
SilverAvocado in reply to Dawid86

Dawid86, I notice when people ask a hugely specific question like this they often get very few replies. The number of people taking T3-only is fairly low. The number of people on this forum who are diabetic is fairly low.

The numbers of people taking T3-only AND diabetic is going to be vanishingly small.

PiggySue profile image
PiggySue in reply to Dawid86

I am T3 only. (But not high A1BC%>high Insulin). Have a look at Paul Robinson's books on T3 only if you haven't done so already, as it may well be covered in there.

Mikegov profile image
Mikegov

Hi,

I was pre-diabetic, obese and had NAFLD when I was diagnosed with Hashimotos Disease a few years back. My weight had increased by 10kg despite following a low carb diet for years (less than 100g carbs) a day.

I also take T3 only and have spent almost 2 years following a ketogenic diet in an attempt to reverse my pre-diabetic symptoms. I have been successful in this but I am not sure how much of my success has been due to the diet and how much has been due to being well treated on T3.

I have read a number of articles that state that low levels of T3 can lead to insulin resistance. When I first started on T3 my blood results showed very high levels of T3 but I still felt ill. I took a 24 hour urine test that revealed minimum levels of T3 utilisation. I was diagnosed with mild adrenal insufficiency and it was only after introducing adrenal support that my utilisation of T3 slowly increased and I started to feel better.

So even though you take T3 it could be that your body is not utilising a sufficient quantity which may be why your markers of insulin resistance are increasing despite a low carb diet.

Mike

in reply to Mikegov

I'd be curious to know what you used to support your adrenals?

Mikegov profile image
Mikegov in reply to

I used to take Adrenavive II for a couple of years but came off it about 4-5 months ago. I still follow one of Dr P's protocol for adrenal support, plenty of Vitamin C etc

Britomartis29 profile image
Britomartis29

I take T3 only (over time, got off T4 and have been v gradually reducing the dose of T3 over time) and have not seen any change in markers for prediabetes (glucoses, always 99-101, still there). But I am also on LDN which has facilitated these gradual reductions, so that may change the meaning of this situation. When in doubt ask a specialist doctor and get second and third opinions, because too many endos are unaware of how drugs actually work in patients and are unaware that every patient is slightly different (one size does not fit all, in thyroid diseases!). Thank you to the many forumites who share their various experiences.

buggles84 profile image
buggles84

Here you go mate.

tiredthyroid.com/insulin-re...

PiggySue profile image
PiggySue in reply to buggles84

Interesting article. It talks of T3 and T4 levels being high. On T3 only your T4 level would normally be low, I think, so would it be the same on T3 only with low T4 do you think?

Heloise profile image
Heloise

I agree with the others. What is your carb to protein ratio? If you are eating too much protein, it burns as glucose. We need information also.

jgelliss profile image
jgelliss in reply to Heloise

Heloise glad to see you back . Many are not aware that protein burns as glucose . The diet has to be addressed for most .

Heloise profile image
Heloise in reply to jgelliss

Hi H, I just pop in from time to time because I'm much more interested in the bigger picture. I've listened to a long cannabis series and some of my relatives/friends have cancer. Even the thyroid problem should be attacked from a more holistic point of view. We really have a battle from many fronts on our hands.

There are many good responders, including you!

(And what about that Inquiry!) Glued to news channels.

Lesleyg13 profile image
Lesleyg13 in reply to jgelliss

Opinions definitely vary enormously on the effect of protein on blood sugar. Probably varies according to our individual metabolism, and how metabolically damaged we are making a difference? For example I've heard those who have been diabetic for years can have more of a blood glucose and insulin response to protein than someone who has never been diabetic.

dietdoctor.com/low-carb/pro...

"Does protein adversely affect blood sugar?

One of the arguments made in favor of keeping protein on the lower end is that higher intakes may increase blood sugar and insulin levels. This is a somewhat common anecdotal report from our members and others with diabetes. However, there appears to be a disconnect between anecdotal concerns and published research.21 For instance, two studies showed a diet with 30% of calories from protein improved glycemic control.22 In fairness, it was compared to a higher carbohydrate diet, but none the less, the higher protein intake did not blunt the benefit from lowering carbs."

I recommend you go to the website of US nature doctor Westin Childs:

restartmed.com

He has written several articles about insulin resistance/diabetes and thyroid hormone, especially T3, based on his own experiences treating hypothyroid patients with insulin resistance or diabetes, using either NDT + T3 or T3 only.

Lesleyg13 profile image
Lesleyg13 in reply to

Yes and he also has an informative podcast, or if you prefer in short video form on YouTube.

youtube.com/playlist?list=U...

podbean.com/podcast-detail/...

His podcasts are available in several formats, the above is the Podbean version.

Dawid86 profile image
Dawid86

I think this forum is totally a waste of time. Much much much better the t3 support group and paul Robinson's group. Here always mixed and superficial information.

Wast of time! Thank you anyway.

Bye.

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