I have had Hashimoto’s for 16 years.
Do you have thyroid disease, and if so which one?
I have Hashimoto’s disease (autoimmune hypothyroidism) diagnosed at the same time as Type 1 autoimmune diabetes. At age 35. A statistic I read long ago was that a majority of women with Type 1 diabetes, over the age of 40, also have Hashimoto’s. Would be interesting to know how that correlates to those on tudiabetes.
Melitta
I have Graves disease (autoimmune hyperthyroid). Diagnosed mid 20’s. I was diagnosed at 38 with diabetes (misdiagnosed as T2 but later as T1/LADA by my endo)
Ditto Graves disease. I had my thyroid destroyed by radiation at age 46 and was misdiagnosed Type 2 at age 58 (rediagnosed LADA two months ago).
How would you know if you have any of these diseases? I don’t have an endo. My Doctor specializes in diabetes and hypertension.
molly, your MD would have to run a TSH and/or T4 and/or T3 on you.
Interesting. Had not heard the 50% statistic. I know thyroid disease is very common – like one in ten.
My MD ran a stat TSH on me and upped my T4 dose while I hospitalized too. One reason I was rather relentless in getting GADA run!
Would a Dr. just randomly run these tests or are there symptoms first that would make them want to?
They are supposed to screen women over 50. But I got it in my 30’s so … I would ask!
I have tested strongly positive for antibodies related to Hashimoto’s (I think the upper bound was 60 and my reading was 600). But my TSH is still within the lab defined value of “normal” (around 2.5-3.5). So I am not yet treating it.
Almost every woman on both sides of my family has hypothyroidism. I assume that at least many of the cases are autoimmune related.
I think this is highly connected to autoimmune diabetes (both type 1/1.5). I was diagnosed with type 1/LADA diabetes at the age of 21, but was considered type 1 because of sudden onset.
? Eltoxin?
Oh … never had heard of it … I am on levoxyl which is a generic.
Diagnosed with Grave’s Disease in 1984. Given radioactive iodine to destroy thyroid. Diagnosed as T2 in 2000 (oral meds did not work for me but docs just kept writing those prescriptions). Saw endo in early 2003 who took one look at me and my numbers and said I was a T! without a doubt. After reading Using Insulin (my endo is one of the co-authors), T1.5 appears to be the more likely culprit. I don’t really care whether I am a T1 or T1.5, insulin changed my life and so did radioactive iodine!
To me it is interesting, because I can view this as a chronic illness of a much longer duration. This has all been going on behind the scens for all these years – it is not something that occurred suddenly, although exacerbations might be due to recent events, the onset surely was not.
I think you are absolutely right. I can look at pictures taken long before my diagnosis of Grave’s and can see the swelling in my neck, the weight loss, hyperactivity but feeling totally exhausted, etc. Before diagnosis I could eat a dozen donuts every night and lose weight. In fact I asked the doc before the radioactive iodine if we could just leave that aspect of Grave;s alone, LOL. Now all I have to do is look at a donut and gain weight!
I have read that thyroid disease is the most underdiagnosed disease. Your MD could run a full female panel (that is what my PGP called it) It’s only about 20$ more than the Thyroid test and includes a few other tests. A Physician Asst recommended that for me once when I went for a thyroid checkup. It was this test that caught my diabetes. It should be no big deal for them to check if you ask and honestly it’s such a simple test I think it should be done at least yearly; especially when someone shows unusual signs of rapid weight gain or loss, hair loss, lethargy , insomnia or menstrual changes (in women of course LOL)
Ditto radiation…not once but twice 
and during my childbearing years. I had to wait 2yrs before I could even consider getting pregnant. Oddly for me, I have 2 autoimmunes and NO history of either in my family…
OMG same for me…My friends used to get so P.O’d at the way I ate and would not gain an ounce…different story now… For me the symptoms had been gradually building but I felt I could rationalize them. Then I got hit with the whole toxic storm. After I was diagnosed, I could look back about 5 years and see the symptoms starting…
I have a friend on a parent’s forum, just dx’d with Graves’ – storm, actually! and I had always thought her eyes looked a bit that way. Now I know I was not imagining it.
I have Hashimoto’s disease (autoimmune hypothyroidism) diagnosed at the same time as Type 1 autoimmune diabetes. At age 37. At least thats what they tell me.
Hi, I have had Hashimoto’s since 1989-20 years! I also have Lupus(systemic) Just diagnosed with LADA in May 09.
Liz H.