Puberty hormones cause insulin resistance even in non-diabetic teens. Unless there’s an underlying issue there shouldn’t be a rise in blood sugar.
She was tested for all that for her dignostics of Beta thalassemia trait. Even though they say BTM does not cause any symptoms, I and daughter have a hard time keeping our energy levels up by the end of the day.
You can check your MCH, MCV, MCHC, on your RBC differential. There you’ll find that the rbcs are not in the normal range.
Appreciate you all taking time to reply.
I would do the antibody testing for sure. I don’t think a few finger sticks is going to cause a lot of anxiety, she will know anyway if you do antibody testing. I wouldn’t wait until it gets to the point of worse symptoms etc. because then you’re getting closer to dka and you don’t want that to happen. That is what happened to me and If I had been diagnosed early, I could easily have been diagnosed two years before I went into dka, I would have avoided serious complications including damage to my vision and I think my management would have been much easier probably too with less fluctuations.
I think weight loss when you’re eating a lot is definitely what you need to look out for, as well as drinking tons and urinating a lot, blurry vision, yeast infections etc.
As for the thyroid issues, I’m not sure if she has hashimotos? Hashimotos can be helped by eating a gluten free diet. Thyroid meds can cause raises in bg. When I went up to 50mcg my bg started going up so I had to go back to 25mcg. My father who also has hashimotos with much higher antibodies and tsh than me had to stop levothyroxine completely because it spiked his bp too much. They said his t4 is ok and it shouldn’t be too high in someone with heart disease and his other issues. I’m also thin, so is my father. He gained weight on levo. I have been losing weight but I’m not sure if that is the cause, I think it’s something else.
I take my levo at night because hormones are better absorbed at night, usually though it is really early am when I go to sleep. I think the cycles of tsh and thyroid hormone levels also make nighttime a better time to take the medication.
This makes total sense, I would think the higher the levels of T4 and T3 the higher blood sugar, blood pressure, and heart rate would be. When my T4 and T3 were super high (two to three times normal levels) my blood sugar was high constantly and what brought me to the hospital where I was diagnosed was that my heart rate and blood pressure had both spiked and stayed dangerously high. When I started thyroid medication (that blocks the thyroid, so my T4 and T3 would come down) my blood sugar went on a crazy rollercoaster between high and low for months until my TSH was finally back in range. Now things have settled down, though my blood sugar (and heart rate and blood pressure) remain way more volatile than they were before I developed thyroid issues.
This reminds me of a thread here a while ago from someone in a similar situation: thyroid issues that were not well controlled and concerns that they were developing Type 1 due to borderline high blood sugar levels. Between both of these threads and experiences from users here, it seems that thyroid levels being out of whack can have a really dramatic impact on blood sugar levels, and it’s probably best to get thyroid stuff sorted out before worrying that another autoimmune disease is developing (especially if antibody tests are negative).
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Hi,
Having thyroid optimised is critical for blood sugar management.
I think antibody testing is probably a good idea. testing positive on antibodies would warrant closer monitoring, though testing negative does not absolutely clear a potential problem.
I think that early detection of diabetes, if it were to develop, is really important. Occasional finger sticks to test post eating blood sugars should not be traumatic for a 12 year old. Set the lancing device at the lowest setting. [I test my kids occasionally; my 4 year old has great levels, my 7 yo, not so great - but ok to watch; both kids love being tested! I have to refuse them so I don’t run out of strips]. Testing also doesn’t need to be done every day. What I would start is do a blood sugar check after a high carb meal (about 90 - 120 mins post eating). If the number looks good (say less than 120), then I would be greatly reassured, and would test again after a heavy meal, a few days later. After that occasional checks and do check Hba1c at least every 6 months when she is getting other blood work done (such as for thyroid).
If her post eat tests come back high (truly non diabetic children would rarely go above 100), but if you are getting numbers consistently higher than say 140 after eating, I would be wanting to check more frequently and to record this and then take it to discuss with her paediatrician. I would also want to be looking at lower carb eating / paleo style - type 1 grit has great info and food choices… and the kids thrive.
Regarding her not gaining weight… not necessarily a big problem… have to look at the pattern over time, and girls typically do slow down their growth once they start to menstruate. I’d also want to see that her energy levels are good etc… all the other indicators of good health…
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Your daughter needs to be consistent with her thyroid medication (I think you both already know this), but I would recommend testing her for celiac disease because of her low Vitamin D levels and her weight loss. Here is a strong link between diabetes, autoimmine thyroiditis and celiac disease. Please do the research!
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Anything going on with her periods? Could that be a factor at all?