T3 & diabetes linked?

[K1V1]

T3 & diabetes link in anyway ?

I have slowly increased my T3 from 6.25mcg to 12.5 mcg . Good improvement in health, however still some issues need to attend on daily basis. One of them is to go to urinate every two hours during the day & 3 times during 10 hour sleep at night.

Also unable to eat chicken, egg, meat, fish causing Psoriasis on skull & other parts of body. Also food quantity is reduced & so is the water intake.

Can anyone advise reasons for such symptoms ? I feel I may be suffering from diabetes but my sugar level was normal last year.

I tried increasing my T3 from 12.5 mcg to 19.5mcg but causes fast heart racing, palpitations & drowsy all day & night, no energy at all.

Any ideas to improve these symptoms ???

[Lalatoot]

Am I right in thinking you are taking t3 only? The last blood results I could see showed a tsh of just over 4 and an ft4 below range. Based on this it could be that you need some levothyroxine. Some folk need a balance between ft4 and Ft3 where both are well over half way through ranges. Others manage with low ft4. I don't know if you have tried levothyroxine at all. Perhaps a little more info of your levels would help folks comment.

[greygoose]

Frequent urination can be linked to the adrenals. Have you had your cortisol tested?

Have you had your nutrients tested: vit D, vit B12, folate and ferritin? Do you know if you have low stomach acid? Sounds as if you could have.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Just taking a tiny dose of T3 and nothing else is just going to substantially reduce your TSH and with it your own thyroid production

Any thyroid hormone doesn’t “top up” your own thyroid output, it replaces it. Hence many/most people once taking any thyroid hormones, usually need to slowly increase dose until on full replacement dose

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

Ask GP to test vitamin levels

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, 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...

Why are you not taking levothyroxine alongside T3

Have you ever taken levothyroxine?

Even if we don’t start on full replacement dose, most people need to increase dose levothyroxine slowly upwards in 25mcg steps (retesting 6-8 weeks after each increase) until on full replacement dose

NICE guidelines on full replacement dose

nice.org.uk/guidance/ng145/...

1.3.6

Consider starting levothyroxine at a dosage of 1.6 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day (rounded to the nearest 25 micrograms) for adults under 65 with primary hypothyroidism and no history of cardiovascular disease.

BMJ also clear on dose required

bmj.com/content/368/bmj.m41

Testing positive for DIO2 gene doesn’t mean we can convert, it just means we probably need small doses of T3 alongside levothyroxine

[Treepie]

I became diabetic a year after diagnosed hypothyroid.I think there is a connection.

[Judithdalston]

I have various ailments ( hypothyroidism, Hashimoto’s, insulin dependent diabetes, following sepsis and acute pancreatitis, plus fibromyalgia) and tried following Dr. Lowe’s research slowly changing levothyroxin for T3 only. At 75 mcg T3 my blood sugar levels were increasing alarmingly ( without any change in diet, exercise or other meds/supplements), so had to reduce T3 considerably. Now on 100 mcg levo and 25 mcg T3 to get more ‘normal’ blood sugar levels( am still diabetic to to pancreatic damage). So yes there is a connection between endocrine disorders, and their treatment, but I would find it hard to believe that your tiny dose of T3 would effect your blood sugar. I have to urinate a lot at night as feel the need to pee, but have put this down to fibromyalgia ‘tweaking’ nerves around bladder. Get a diabetes test via your Gp if you are concerned, and ask about vitamin /mineral tests ( though I get those done via a private lab like Medichecks as need to take supplements to get folate, ferritin, b12 and D3 at optimum levels).