Diabetes and Hypothyroidism

I start going to the local diabetes center next week, some docs don;t want to deal with MY flavor of diabetes. Since I am classified as T-2" DM2 insulin required", I doubt they will bother checking.

(&( GOMER sez I nevr fit pigeon hoels, but then I am not a bird either.

My 6 year old daughter has type 1 D. At her last endo appt in July they noticed that her thyroid was swollen and ordered a TSH and antibioties, and it was borderline. Hypothyroidism is hereditary, and I have it, and my mother has it. So, the endo told me that there’s a greater risk for diabetics, plus the hereditary factor, so its just a matter of time. Her next appointment is in March, and I think they are going to re-test her. I haven’t explained all of this to my daughter yet, I figure I’ll wait until it’s diagnosed. I don’t have the heart to tell her that there is something else she has to do (taking a pill) for her entire life.

I have been on Synthroid for 28 years, and have had T2 for 14 years. The hypothroid symptoms were awefull, I seldom feel anything from diabetes except for the lows I had on oral medications. None now that I am on insulin.

I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in 1996/97. It was noticed as I was doing a physical for college classes. The only outward symptom was more tightness around the neck/throat area. I guess it was a goiter. I was feeling weak and tired, but who isn’t when going to college. I’ve been on a low dose of thyroxine ever since with no problems. My diabetes (type 2)didn’t take affect until I was pregnant in 2005. It started as gestational and then it’s never gone away. Can’t attribute it to weight as I don’t weigh more than 130. One thing about me, is that I am a premature baby and twin. We were born almost 2 months premature and weighed 2lb. 4oz. My sister also had gestational dia. but no thyroid problems to note. Her health is generally just one step above mine, but she was also the healthier of us when we wore born.

Barbara, are you sure you are Type 2? With hypothyroid and being slim, you could have LADA. Have you been checked for antibodies?

Hypothyroidism was my very first medical problem. T2 diabetes the second and then all the rest followed.

It started when I noticed a kind of growth on the right side of the front of my neck (not noticeable but could be felt when it was touched).

I was at a friend’s house one night and her son wasn’t feeling very well so she called the Radio Doctor (after hours doctor that comes to your home) . When he arrived and check out her son she mentioned to the doctor about the growth inside my neck so he checked me out and told me it was a goiter and suggested I go see my doctor as soon as possible.

So the next day I went to see my doctor, got all the necessary tests done, and yes, i was diagnosed with hypothyroidism (august 1994). I don’t really remember if I was feeling any other symptoms at the time.

Funny that you ask that…I don’t believe I have been checked for antibodies (it’s all a whirlwind of tests anyways), but I was actually researching online last week and came across info about LADA and similar types and I got to wondering about that. I am printing out the info and taking it to my Dr at the end of the month for my checkup to ask her. Do you have any further info to share with me on this. Would appreciate it! Thanks for the input.

I don"t know a whole lot about gestational diabetes but it is possible you are very early LADA that just happened to be noticed because you were pregnant. The reason to find out is that if you do have LADA, you might do better with insulin than with oral meds. I was originally misdiagnosed and luckily got the antibody tests so I could start insulin. It’s been a year now and I still have some of my own insulin production and hope to be able to preserve my pancreas for as long as possible by keeping my BG near normal. Make sure you have the whole panel done. GAD is the most common, but I have islet cell antibodies. Also, get the actual numbers from the lab, rather than just positive or negative. The cut-off for a positive result for Islet Cell antibodies is 5 JDF Units. I had exactly 5 but I would have wanted to know if it had been high but not high enough to qualify, for instance 4.8.

Just talked to my Dr. about this at my appointment. It was explained that I couldn’t be Type 1 because of my insulin production. I actually produce very good insulin; body just doesn’t pick it up as well. I am on a low dose of oral med and my BG is being maintained pretty good. Dr. and I have figured that most likely this is related to my being born very premature. I’m a preemie twin. She said thinness doesn’t have much to do with it 'cause in the Orient were she is from I would actually look quite normal for diabetic. Most type 2s over there don’t weigh more than 115. She really took the time to explain and listen to me. Just thought I’d update you on what’s going on. Hope you are doing very well!

Yup…hypothyroidism is often a result of an autoimmune disorder in the endocrine system…just like type 1, so once you have one disorder you’re more likely to develop another. There are a few other autoimmune endocrine disorders that we are more likely to get too. I think one of them is lupus? I have had Grave’s disease (version of hypothyroidism) for 12 years. I got a pretty big goiter in my early 20s. The symptoms were horrible and took about a year to get under control. Unlike diabetes, once you have it under control, it’s really easy to maintain.
As to the pregnancy question…yes, synthroid is completely safe. My Endo doesn’t like the generic version as much. She thinks it’s not as stable. If you are on synthroid while you’re pregnant, you should have your thyroid levels checked very regularly, as the hormone needs go up, and like someone else mentioned, it’s dangerous for the baby if your levels are too low.

My doctor orders a thyroid panel every 3 months when he does the routine diabetic labs. So far everything has came back fine.

Barbara,
It may be good to continue to ask your doctor about your insulin production because if you are an early LADA, it would not be noticeable through your insulin production. So I think to keep asking about that AND to get tested for antibodies is still a good idea!

I know someone who was recently diagnosed early and the doctor said that it was TOO early to tell if he was LADA or Type 1 (but I think the antibody tests would tell).
Best wishes to you!

I agree. I have quite a lot of insulin production also even a year after diagnosis. My first endo didn’t even think I had pre-diabetes. I lost my first phase response and go high after small amounts of carbs. I still have basal and second phase insulin.

wow…

Didn’t know that thyroid issues were an option. Mine is fine for the moment. But, a few years back I spent 10 glorious months with Bells Palsy. During that I managed to develop very hyperthyroid. It was pretty sweet while it lasted between that and the not being much able to eat I was losing about 2 lbs a week. After a while, my friends started asking me if I needed to tell them something, or if I was ok…

Ivan!

My doc found it right away in my blood test results, and put me on Synthroid right away. My endo upped the dosage about a year later. The difference is amazing - I used to be very tired and cold all the time. I also have a tumour slowly growing on my thyroid gland that has to be monitored. I may have it removed if it becomes really noticable or begins to interfere with swallowing. But it’s not a big deal right now.

Yes. There are certainly quite a lot of people with hypothyroidism- including me! I think that there is a certain relation due to the fact that diabetes is an autoimmune disease which affects your endocrine system.

I was diagnosed a few months after being diagnosed with diabetes. After stopping the weight loss from high blood sugars, my hair started falling out and my legs started cramping in my sleep.

I agree that doctors should routinely do these checks, especially if it is something that runs in the family. I feel that if my doctor had taken me a little more seriously and took a little more time, a lot of problems could have been prevented- maybe even the Type 1 diabetes, but who knows?

I just read this discussion. I’ve hypothyroid (Hashimoto) since 2002 and I’m type 1 since 1967; One of my sisters has the same hypothyroidism. I take every morning one pill of replacement hormone. I was not ill about this hypothyroidism. Lots of women in France have the same … My mother was hyperthyroid and now she’s well. My endo told me that lots of type1 have hypothyroidism.

Some time ago, I read a statistic that said that of women with Type 1 (autoimmune) diabetes, by age 40 about 80% also have hypothyroidism. I was diagnosed with Type 1 in 1995, and shortly thereafter was diagnosed with autoimmune hypothyroidism (Hashimoto’s Disease). My only symptom was that I was SO cold all the time. I still have Polarfleece socks from that experience!

I went to my doctor last friday (30th May) and asked to be tested for hypothyroidism as I’d read about the fact that it was common in female type 1s (which I am!) and, to my knowledge, I’ve never been tested for it in 30 years of being type 1. The only symptoms I’ve had are feeling the cold more (I never used to feel cold till about a year ago when all of a sudden I need to sleep under two duvets even through the summer!) and not being able to lose any weight despite changing my diet and exercising.

I should get the results on tuesday/wednesday this week.

Interesing story. My daughter (age 7) has a somewhat similar story to you. She was diagnosed with Graves disease and we ablated her thyroid about a year ago. She has been relatively stable on Synthroid. However, we are now in the process of testing her for diabetes. We did antobody testing and her GAD65 came back high and the insulin and IA-2 are WNL… All of htese diease are autoimmune issues. I had no idea that it is also a hereditary trait.