Hypothyroid & Diabetes

[Mino40]

I wanted to share something interesting with you guys. I was diagnosed as a diabetic in 2012. I immediately went on diet and lost weight, (effectively putting myself into remission).

My HbA1c was 49 at diagnosis. Every year from then on, my HbA1c was down to 35.

Then 2 years ago, I was diagnosed as sub clinical hypothyroid and started Levo. At this point my HbA1c was up to 40. Trials and error and increases of Levo, and last year my HbA1c was at 38.

About 2.5 months ago, due to some symptoms, my GP tested my T4 , TSH & HbA1c. T4 was lower than range, TSH was over 6 & HbA1c up to 44 (prediabetic!)

He increased my Levo (now on 125mcg) and tested me 2 weeks ago - about 2 months after the previous test.

T4 and TSH, back in range and HbA1c now 34!!!

I am sharing as hopefully, this help diabetics see how important having your hypothyroidism under control is to HbA1c. Well, at least it was me! BTW, when I was tested two months ago, my weight hadn’t changed, so I can’t blame my HbA1c increase on that. For reference, I’m 5’3” and 8st 3. T2 Diabetes is genetic, in my case.

Thanks for reading! x

[Gcart]

Had similar story. . Diagnosed with type 2 diabetes about 10 yrs ago . Had symptoms of hypoglycaemic episodes which docs said couldn’t be happening as I wasn’t on insulin .

Well it was happening and stopped completely after I had TT for cancer . Since

had 4 years of hba1c in normal level s and am now discharged as told I’m in remission from diabetes.

I’ve made no changes as I’ve always been underweight if anything and could never understand the original diagnosis as I didn’t fall into that camp.

Not sure if I’ve made it clear but prior to TT 4 yrs ago the diabetes must have been caused by the resulting hormone disfunction , which was never tested by the way.

[Mino40 in reply to Gcart]

My GP will never discharge me due to my genetics. Despite my rigorous diet and exercise program, he is certain that my HbA1c will increase again, especially after this last blip. I have lost both my parents and multiple family members to the complications of diabetes. All were relatively young 😢

[Kes8]

Great for you in reversing your type 2 diabetes.

Could I ask please as a type 1 diabetic, autoimmune in origin that when you talk about reversing diabetes you are specific about type.

As stated type 1 is autoimmune in origin and cannot be reversed.

Thank you.

[Mino40 in reply to Kes8]

T2 can be reversed, certainly not T1. I did mention that in my case, T2 is genetic, I am of South Asian descent. My HbA1c has gone up the last time around, despite having a 26” inch waist (metabolic diseases are higher in people with larger waist sizes as they tend to have more visceral fat, regardless of BMI.) x

[junes in reply to Mino40]

maybe get your vit D3 levels checked as low D3 is implicated in diabetes especially for Asians and Africans in the UK

Also autoimmune disease is often triggered by something like milk or gluten

[Mino40 in reply to junes]

As long as my HbA1c numbers are in range and I feel good, I’m not too concerned about over testing and becoming a hypochondriac in the process. As I gym a lot, I do take a good quality sports multivitamin and if that doesn’t work, I doubt anything else would. I tend to stick to intermittent fasting and follow a low carb, high protein diet.

[Lesleyg13 in reply to Mino40]

My GP told me a couple of years ago that most people she tests for the first time are vitamin D deficient, so it's clearly a very common deficiency. That's why in the UK we are advised by the NHS to supplement for at least part of the year, when we are not able to get outside to make our own vitamin D from the sun on our skin.

Most multivitamins will unfortunately not contain enough to prevent a deficiency and certainly not enough to correct one. You might have read on here previously that there are many problems with multivamins because the various elements in them shouldn't be taken at the same time, and so compete, preventing absorption.

Anyway, hopefully you have been tested already for vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 as advised by SlowDragon last year? If not it's absolutely worth doing.

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu....

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Mino40]

If you are only taking a multivitamin it would be good idea to test your vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 levels

[Lovecake]

Very interesting.

My HbA1c level hasn’t always been checked, but I too think it’s linked with my thyroid levels.

Before I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, I had years of having my blood sugar levels dip low if I didn’t eat regularly. Even on Thyroxine only, I sometimes still had to eat to make sure my levels were ok. It’s a lot better now I take some T3 too (not saying you need it, btw).

My mum at 81 is prediabetic. (Type2).

My weight went up when the thyroid issues got really bad and took 3 years before some weight dropped off. I too, barely change what I eat (don’t drink alcohol and have maybe 1 hot choc out a year).

It’s frustrating that a doctor will infer that we stuff our faces with bad food when it’s not the case.

I hope your levels continue to be stable. 🤗