Just wondering if anyone else suffers from low blood sugar type symptoms relating to hashimoto's.

[BigBlueBear55]

I have never been diagnosed with diabetes but seem to every so often get low blood sugar type symptoms if i miss a meal and feel better if i have a sugar drink or piece of fruit. Could this be relating to the adrenals?

[Hedgeree]

Hi BigBlueBear55,

Interesting that you've posted this. It's something I was considering posting about too.

I don't have hashimotos but am hypothyroid. Recently I've been experiencing more drops in blood sugar though I have been prediabetic for about 4years so I'm wondering if my prediabetic state has actually worsened. Think I need to ask GP to do HbA1c test to check.

What symptoms are you experiencing? I get extremely shaky, sweating, light headed, jittery, can't think straight and can get very flustered.

Hopefully another forum member with Hashimotos and knows about adrenals will reply.

[BigBlueBear55 in reply to Hedgeree]

Hi, i am nowhere near even pre diabetic on blood tests but the few times this happened were in the evening so i wondered if low cortisol or drop in blood sugar. Same as you feeling light headed and sweaty and then if i have something like tea with sugar i will feel better.

[greygoose]

I'm no expert but I've never heard of flagging adrenals improving with a piece of fruit. Why do you think it's your adrenals?

[BigBlueBear55]

as a possible early warning sign of adrenal insufficiency.

[BigBlueBear55]

single episode of hypoglycemia.

[BigBlueBear55]

I read a case study on it a few years ago.

[Hypopotamus]

I also get similar symptoms, so make sure that I eat something fairly often. If I go to bed without having something to eat before hand, I wake up feeling much worse in the mornings. Also, if doing a lot of exercise, I need a snack now and then to keep me going. I am hypo with Hashimoto's .

[BigBlueBear55 in reply to Hypopotamus]

I am starting to think eating little and often is a better idea too.

[Hypopotamus in reply to BigBlueBear55]

I tried the intermittent fasting thing, and felt really ill.

[BigBlueBear55 in reply to Hypopotamus]

Yeah i tried the keto diet a few years ago, lost loads of weight but felt really ill on it and felt better eating more carbs again. I guess there is a perfect balance but i have yet to find it.

[SteveT3]

I had a similar problem. I got stuck in a cycle of eating chocolate for energy. I suspect it was the theobromine stimulant giving my adrenals a kickstart.

Sugar to some degree I think contributes to increasing cortisol (lowering insulin might increases cortisol and increasing cortisol inhibits insulin).

Probably why running makes me feel good because it stimulates cortisol too. My blood sugar goes higher during exercise (which explains how cortisol inhibits insulin

Walking however does not raise my cortisol. In fact its been an incredible discovery for me. Walking has lowered my blood sugar (as measured on cgm).

When I started walking with intention I used to get tired after just 45minutes, and needing to lie down. I persisted in walking everyday and increasing my distance. It improved and so did my sleep and so did my cravings for sugar reduce.

[Andie222]

Yes I do. I am hypothyroid (hashi) probably since a teenager but diagnosed at 30. I have suffered low blood sugar symptoms from age 13. Usually mid morning 2ish hours after breakfast. Something sweet fixes the symptoms. On testing blood my levels don't go dangerously low (3.6-4) but I don't feel good.I discovered more recently that I have low cortisol at all 4 times of day, but particularly bad early morning.

I've never known whether these things are linked, but suspect they probably are.

[cyberbarn]

I had an interesting time many years ago, long before I was diagnosed with autoimmune hypothyroidism. In fact going back 45 years when I was at university, I was having stomach pains. This was back in Canada and they were doing proper testing, so everything looked fine, they came to the conclusion I was having hypoglycaemic attacks.

Roll on 20 years and I started having a strange sensation in my chest. I had no idea what it was at first, but noticed that it happened before a meal, and it would stop if I ate something.

Then I found out they were ectopic heart beats. Cool! I had something to go on. Bearing in mind I had a science background, particularly in neuroscience, although by this time I was 'just a mum'.

So I got thinking and digging. I had a conversation with a T1 diabetic friend and she lent me one of her old blood sugar thingies and a load os strips for it. She had just got a shiny new one so didn't need it.

I took my blood sugar readings through out the day, once an hour, until I got the ectopic heart beats then I took it every 10 minutes. Yep, my fingers were like pin cushions!

And I watched my blood sugars drop and drop, and drop. Then when they started coming up again the ectopics stopped.

So I now had proof that there was a correlation between my ectopic heart beats and low blood sugar levels.

But correlation isn't causation, I needed to have a plausible mechanism for this to happen before I could say that. So I did some reading, and long story short, when blood sugar levels drop, the brain doesn't like it because it depends on sugar to function, so it sends a message to the liver to convert glycogen to glucose via adrenaline. Once the brain is happy with the glucose levels it stops sending adrenaline to the liver.

It was the adrenaline that was setting off my ectopics, due to my heart being sensitive to adrenaline!

I went on a low glucose diet, so mostly protein, for two weeks, then slowly introduced foods to get back up to a more normal diet but being careful on the carbs. I also removed anything that would release adrenaline, which included coffee, and going outside without my coat on! I did this for a year and that seemed to reset the system, and have been fine ever since other than occasionally ectopics when I am very tired, usually just before bed. I have found through that it was better not to have something sugary as that just repeats the cycle, but to have a protein based snack if I needed it. My body took care of regulating the sugar levels in the blood, I took care to make sure I wasn't doing the boom and bust by eating too many carbs.

Not saying this is your problem, just putting it out there to show that bodies are really complicated, and it can be difficult to tease out what is going on, and that yep, hypoglycaemia is a real thing!

[Come-back-thyroid in reply to cyberbarn]

Thank you for posting this explanation. That’s really interesting. When my dose was too low but in range my heart used to race before meals or if I left it too long before the next meal and it was like someone had pulled the plug out from me. Then once I had eaten a proper meal I was fine again. My GP said it was hypoglycaemia but that I wasn’t diabetic. There was no treatment. Then when my dose was raised this went away but I still get problems overnight or if I get very tired. (I had my thyroid removed nine years ago)

[CyclingMummy]

I am hypo/hashis too. I did the Zoe program where you monitor blood sugar for two weeks and was astonished how often (and for how long) the app showed I was hypoglycaemic. It was particularly interesting to see the pattern overnight (massive dips in blood sugar correlating with when I was waking at night, not knowing why).

Other than saying this happens to me too, I have no helpful explanations. The NHS said I didn’t trip any of their thresholds for diabetes, or pre-diabetes, as their tests said my blood sugar was fine, and that was the end of that.

[clethe]

I used to get nightmares that woke me up hollering around 3AM. Used to feel faint in the AM while trying to get breakfast made. Could get dizzy while shopping without eating something first and actually dropped cold in the middle of a mall when in my early 20s. Literally 'shop til you drop'! I woke up to see a bunch of 'old people' staring down at me wondering aloud if I was on drugs 🙂 - it was all hypoglycemia. The mall nurse gave me cookies and OJ.

Have also had the ectopic heartbeats. They seemed like a precursor to low BG. Recently had a few bouts of low blood pressure while making breakfast. Had to quickly lie down and tent the legs. Was able to use my arm cuff a couple of times and had BP 84/55, 83/62 and 71/59! Not sure why. Have had all the extensive heart workup - the findings of hyperdynamic with diastolic dysfunction is something they 'don't treat'.

Since I am not diabetic - A1c always normal, Drs called it 'non-diabetic hypoglycemia'. My late father had it too! - both of us with Hashi's! - so it makes me wonder about the connection. My Dr prescribed a glucose monitor for several months that clearly identified the hypoglycemia events.

It was recommended to have protein with breakfast (egg or whatever) with small amount carb, small snacks of protein/fat/carb (and low sugar - but not 'no sugar') every few hours (I have 2T creamy peanut butter rolled up in a quarter whole wheat lavash with a small handful of salty peanuts and a couple of apple slices), then protein & veg dinner with small amount carbs (I have a graham cracker 😊).

This has kept my glucose mostly low and steady and the 'shakes' are now infrequent. Having the glucose monitor made it very clear what foods were causing trouble - in addition to obvious sugars, anything with rice or corn sent it through the roof!

It is a complex situation!

[Capan24]

For me it is the opposite. I eat a healthy plant based diet, gluten free, low sugar, and avoid processed food. I exercise and don't have issues with my weight. I have had higher A1C with my labs. Hashimoto’s mainly contributes to elevated blood sugar due to reduced insulin sensitivity, increased cortisol, and slower carbohydrate metabolism. This can lead to higher A1C levels, even in active individuals with a healthy diet. I am not diabetic, but do check my blood sugar occasionally to see how food affects my blood sugar. So far I have been able to lower my a1c closer to a normal range. It's a work and process.

[Hectorsmum2]

I used to get this really badly, sometimes low blood sugar that would last for days even if I ate sugar. Just had to go to bed. Mine is a reaction to caffiene mainly. I cut out all tea and coffee including decaff as it still contains some caffiene and I am fine. I dont tend to eat sweet stuff either as a precaution.

[CoeliacMum1]

Just my experience with similar hypoglycaemia type issues will add I have Hashimoto’s amongst other autoimmune disorders (see my profile)

From mid late teens - I am 59 in May. I’ve had few issues like this every year but wouldn’t say monthly even.

As I approached my 50th birthday GP called me in for this general 50s review my surgery did, and I had my first blood sugar and cholesterol test… I wasn’t quite in the prediabetes range but a couple points off. I was quite shocked as I had always thought it was the other way given my episodes, and I started to work to reduce this level and I successfully did that until last May, when I moved one point into prediabetes range from 5 below the range year before all happened just after 2nd injection, I had started a course of 6 Decapetyl injections to switch off my hormones for other issues and there is a risk I was told, it did impact my weight too and caused my FBC to be all over place … and now hoping those have resolved themselves my last injections was July 2024 and 3 months after that drug should be out my system 🥴

I have had opportunity to enquire about these hypoglycaemia type episodes in 2022 when visiting the endocrinologist when went dealing with my thyroid as had some other ongoing symptoms and having low FT3 assuming these symptoms were thyroid related and consultant initially suggested I could be type 1 Diabetic given my other autoimmune conditions regardless of higher blood sugar levels along with checking adrenal issues for Addisons …but my GP was sure it’s due to high blood sugar.

Endocrinologist gave me an oral glucose test to check my sensitivity and was I absolutely fine and he ruled out any diabetes, and at same time I had synacthen test for Addisons… a possibility adrenal insufficiency exacerbated induced/caused by steroids and asthma meds over the decades . I was fine my cortisol came back ok.

So the GP may be correct and it’s actually when my blood sugar isn’t as well controlled eg over indulgence or even being still perimenopausal my hormones are really playing havoc with me… we know decline in oestrogen can impact blood sugar responses.

I can report when my blood sugar was lower in range than now and more controlled I got fewer of these episodes and past 8 months I have had more problems like this … I will see in May if my blood sugar still high… I haven’t really changed anything from previously regarding diet just in hope it would just go back to my normal, so I may have to cut back if this is still a problem.

But you can get hypoglycaemic type episodes with high blood sugar, which I know sounds contradictory… I haven’t looked into linking with Hashimoto’s or even medication causing any problems.