I want to ask for people's experience of Metformin , which I'm being advised to start on now my HbA1c is 5.3. I'm on a low-carb diet. I'm underweight for my height. I've been on T3 only for 12 years. This last year has been a hard one with Covid and shingles and tooth extractions making it harder to keep my thyroid steady.I'm afraid of the side effects of Metformin reducing my quality of life just as I'm feeling a bit less brain-fogged and fatigued.
Hi, I was in a similar position to you - only I wasn’t underweight! I was given three months and no advice other than not to eat more than two bananas a day. Well maybe that’s being sarcastic but it was pretty much like that.
I did a bit of research, found this book shop.diabetes.co.uk/product...
Bought a blood sugar monitor and did exactly what the book said. Three months later my HbA1c was at a non diabetic level.
Look at DietDoctor. Com, lots of recipes and advice there plus a short free online course and diabetes.co.uk
Well done for reversing your diagnosis. I am in the process of doing that. I didnt realise that it was connected to thyroid problems!!! I have ordered the book. Thank you for the info.
I started on metformin just over a year ago. I had no noticeable side effects except 6 months in I was diagnosed with a b12 deficiency. I don't believe these are connected in my case but long term use of metformin can affect absorption of b12.
isn't 5.3 a perfectly normal number?
I am confused by that too. It’s not a ‘normal’ way of expression that I am used to. I hope WildDeer comes back to us.
I think it's possibly a typo? They could mean 53 and not 5.3 though WildDeer hopefully will come back and correct that.
I'm prediabetes with 43mmol hence assuming they may have just made a typing error.
I am told I have diabetes. However I ‘slipped’ into it almost precisely when I could no longer exercise due to my thyroid symptoms. Sounds like you have had a particularly tough year. Metformin seems not to effect some people. I am holding out for a bit because we know that type 2 diabetes is part of the ‘axis of evil’ for thyroid conditions. I also respond profoundly to almost any medication, so it’s always a big decision for me what to take. I have talked my doctor into waiting until my thyroid meds are balanced and good, with the hope that I can take up gentle exercise again. It’s a total anathema to medics. They do not see any connection between type 2 diabetes and thyroid- although it is in the medical books. Everything is looked at devoid of connections. It’s those damned ‘protocols’ again.
Thanks for sharing.I've had a particularly authoritarian and hostile GP who has pressured me on the basis of statistics,so adding to the strain of keeping my thyroid levels steady through several infections over the last year.It's good to hear you are following your own sense of what your body needs in what is not an urgent situation at this point.I have support from the Endocrinology team who understand that some people need T3.I found that the infections lowered my basal pulse andi ncreased hypothyroid symptoms and so I needed to increase my T3 dose by 10- 20 mcg some days. Idon't know if that then increases blood sugar levels? Best Wishes for taking all the time you need to feel more well.
when taking T3 it’s essential to take exactly same dose every day
You can’t chop and change
Have you tested vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12
How much T3 are you currently taking
I aim for 50mcg of T3 split in to 3doses.However when ill with Covid and then shingles my waking pulse which is normally 62ish was sometimes as low as 48 and hypo symptoms extreme.I am not undisciplined with my dosing SlowDragon.
i'm sure i remember reading that T3 can increase 'blood sugar' levels in some people.
I think ? it's also stated in the PIL somewhere.
I know nothing about diabetes so don't know if that means HbA1c or not . (was it 5.3 or 53 ? ~seems to be some confusion about that above)
It was 53 mmol for the HbA1c in the IFCC standardised range where the top of the healthy range is 41 rather than 48 in the previous way of measuring.
I have created some difficult situations with my meds. It’s usually due to what I perceive (after the event) as some type of outside pressure. I gave in and followed the NHS endo’s advice (as opposed to @SeasideSusie advice) to my GP. Catastrophic outcome and set me back again. Then my private endo appointment was cancelled at very short notice. Getting over that, one of my daughters came round with my grandaughter to decorate my Christmas tree. I could see the pain on my husband’s face when I just could not make the effort - to make the effort to join in. I had such a moment of strong feeling about giving him pain that I did join in but my thinking was “I just can’t live like this any more. It’s not right that can’t do this without some sort of superhuman effort. It’s not right, me, giving anyone else pain”. The next day I started self medicating T3. It was great for a few days then not. I try very hard to follow all the advice on here but sometimes I just crack and then pieces have to be picked up. I see the advice again and again and yet sometimes, I just don’t have the wherewithal to actually do it. Maybe I am over sharing here. Apologies if I am. I hope you give yourself time to think things through. I can’t think otherwise that after what you have been through this year, that your thyroid stuff may still need attention under these circumstances, even if it’s just to let stuff settle down.
Dear arTistapple please keep on posting on this site where there are knowledgeable administrators who can hold you kindly while you find your way through this temporary (I'm sure it is!)phase of in balance.It's a shame your private Endocrinologist cancelled at a bad time.I am much more well on T3, but would not have felt confident to start on it alone without specialist help.Luckily for me it was Dr Peatfield 12 years ago.If your private Endo can't help, then maybe the TUK list can help you find one?
It’s weird but I stopped the T3 after less than a week 18 days ago now. BUT the brain stuff has remained good! I am hopeful for a useful tweak to keep the brain functioning like this. If the body also got a tweak, that would be great! I appreciate the support on here - even if I can’t always control myself to my detriment. The administrators patience is fantastic and finding people with similar problems. I live in a city and I have no idea where I could dream of getting this kind of support.
Look into Ayurvedic's for diabetes or Ayurvedic alternatives to Metformin if you want to avoid Metformin.
Hashimoto's and rhesus negative blood type? 
Diabetes diagnosis after having Hashimotos since 1995
Hypothyroid with Diabetes 2.
