Hypo and pre-diabetes

[AnnaBeth]

Morning everyone - I’ve got a cold lurgy think I’ve been up all night with daughter coughing now me!

I’m back to being exasperated by doctors every time I think I have a sensible question I get told oh definitely not then I do a bit of google and it seems I was right all along.

Diagnosed hypo 1year after my daughter was born. TSH stable with 100mg Mon-Fri and 75mg Sat and Sun. have had PTSD related to her birth prob what triggered thyroid issues and what I now think was prob depression.

Blood sugar regulation has always been tricky for me since a child needing to eat little and often before feeling faint - same diet as family no one else with this need.

X2 miscarriages 2018 endocrinology referral flagged as pre diabetic.

Any clue about link between hypo and pre diabetes? Keen to reverse pre diabetes quick but now thinking that might be more difficult with hypothyroid if they are linked. My sugars have been dodgy for ages only endo flagged it up as abnormal GP surgery hasn’t for years!

I’ll post same in diabetes forum. I have been on metformin but gastric symptoms were horrid came off it and put 11lbs on albeit over Christmas do I go on slow release metformin or long term is that not helpful? I’m happy to do quirky diet changes etc with or without metformin anyone slightly alternative I see says no to metformin but traditional doctors support it - I’m just confused don’t want to start it and regret later.

Amy comments appreciated

[waveylines]

Can you post your latest thyroid blood tests plusany symptoms signs pre cold bug!

Diabetes can run with hypothyroidism. This happened to a work colleague of mine.

Also 11lbs is a lot to put on over Christmas unless you truly went OT with food,booze & sweet stuff? So it maybe you are under medicated with your thyroid meds but cant tell without blood test results. My understanding is very limited with diabetes but people I knew with this condition lost weight not gained.

[AnnaBeth in reply to waveylines]

Thank you, latest thyroid bloods were: TSH 2.12 mmol, vit D was 45.

That’s all I can access without requesting print outs, which I’ll do.

11lbs increase was over 6 months. About 4 months ago I started jogging for a few weeks lost weights and then stopped jogging and ate more weight definitely noticeably increased then. I’m 6ft so that weight gain whilst a lot is prob not as noticeable as it would be if I was a lot shorter.

Symptom wise I feel really well at the moment! I’m used to be tired most of the time so have stopped noticing that as an issue.

It was always blood sugar regulation issues that were my only slight issue growing up thyroid just after my daughter but now I’m wondering if they were linked, I definitely ate more cake on mat leave than normal!

[Treepie in reply to AnnaBeth]

I became Type2 diabetic 12 months after being diagnosed as hypo.

Controlled it with low carb diet until chemo blew it up and now on metformin. No doubt there is a link . When hypo diagnosed the GP said the good news was that I was not diabetic. So he thought there was a link or why mention it.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to AnnaBeth]

TSH is too high for someone on levothyroxine

Most important results are Ft3 followed by Ft4

All four vitamins need to be optimal

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 you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) diagnosed by raised Thyroid antibodies

Do you have Hashimoto’s?

You may need to get full Thyroid testing privately as NHS refuses to test TG antibodies if TPO antibodies are negative

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water .

Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood test. (taking delayed dose 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/when also on T3, or Metavive make sure to take last third or half of daily dose 8-12 hours prior to test, even if this means adjusting time or splitting of dose day before test

Is this how you do your tests?

Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins

List of private testing options

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin

medichecks.com/products/thy...

Medichecks often have special offers, if order on Thursdays

Thriva Thyroid plus vitamins

thriva.co/tests/thyroid-test

Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes vitamins

bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

[mandyjane]

Dont worry too much about pre diabetes there is a trend toward over diagnoses of this. I have had at for about 25 years and it has not progressed. Hormonal illnesses commonly occur together and I think diabetes is often the result of badly treated thyroid issues. I think the pattern is often stress or trauma combined with antibiotic use, followed by thyroid issues that can and often do if not treated properly lead to diabetes. Post you latest blood results as suggested, you have a right to a copy of them. The hypoglycaemia may well have triggers, a common one is caffeine. I am very prone to sugar hypos but stay well as a result of eating a diet rich in protein, avoiding refined sugar and never going near caffeine ( there is caffeine in decaff tea and coffee). Metformin is one of those drugs that seems to have multiple benefits. You might want to try it again in a different formula or take it in tiny amounts and build up. Vitamin C s very good for gut issues and sea salt ( dilute in a drink until it tastes pleasant) is good for both weight loss and adrenal issues. Germany I have heard are currently running an ad campaign to encourage people to have more salt. Try not to worry about your weight and I am sure the worry of weight issues is a big cause of them both in terms of the cortisol we produce and the tendancy at lot of us have to over eat when stressed. Relax to the max in regard to this and maybe practice some mindfulness to help. If you do want to make change to your diet, make one small change a month and aim for weight loss of about 1 pound every month ( not a week, a MONTH). You might want to start by adding some inulin to your diet to improve gut health and encourage a particular bacteria that is associated with being slim. Your thyroid health needs to be optimal so keep comming back to this forum until you are feeling fit as a fiddle with your symptoms and blood results.

[G2G2]

Metformin can cause Vit B12, folate & CoQ10 deficiency. Important to supplement with these.

[Bertwills]

I have the same problem. High blood sugar readings although my diet doesn’t include any added sugar and is not very carb heavy. I always ensure I eat protein alongside carbs to slow the blood sugar surge.

I reduced my readings recently by taking chromium, cinnamon and alpha-lipoic acid.

There are some supplements that tackle high blood sugar with combinations. The Viridian one I started with doesn’t seem to be available any more unfortunately. Cytoplan do one but I’ve not tried it yet.

Berberine supplements are recommended too. I’ll try adding that in soon.

I’d research the topic. Amazon have many examples of these to try.

[WildDeer]

Hi AnnaBeth, I have a similar problems. All my adult life I've had to manage hypoglycaemia , especially so when pregnant, breastfeeding and pre-menstrual. I was diagnosed with as hypo thyroid at 19 but not treated until 50. Levothyroxine made me able to cope, but quality of life was increasingly poor. Dr Peatfield recognised conversion problems and I have been much more well on T3 only the last 9 years.

My GP is wanting to see me because my Hb1Ac has come out as 51, 'pre-diabetic'. Like you I'm tall and not overweight for my height, and have a good diet. Though will be more careful with carbs. I've started taking Hawthorn tablets.

I found a number of pieces of research that seem to indicate that both being hypo and hyper thyroid increase your blood sugar levels. Here is one link: file:///Users/jenny/Desktop/Low%20Thyroid%20Hormone%20Raises%20Risk%20for%20Type%202%20Diabetes.webarchive

Best Wishes, J

[SlowDragon Administrator]

PTSD after giving birth...was this traumatic experience...have you been assessed for Sheehan syndrome?

healthline.com/health/sheeh...

pituitary.org.uk/media/4597...