When Everything Falls Into Place

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This was originally posted to my blog, Diabetes Odyssey.

This past week has been full of joy, excitement, and renewal of motivation. It has also had a sobering, humbling kind of effect, this I was expecting so it wasn’t a bad thing but a good and happy one.

For those of you new to my blog or that haven’t been keeping up, let me give you a few points of fact to help you fully understand this post:

  • I have been struggling with hypothyroidism for the past year + some.
  • I am a type 1 diabetic
    -Although I was on a thyroid medication (synthetic) and my labs were saying everything was in range, I still continued to have bad hypothyroid symptoms including very bad insulin resistance and weight gain with the inability to lose.

A bit over a week ago I switched from a synthetic thyroid medication (Levothyroxine) to a natural desiccated thyroid (Armour) medication. Immediately, IMMEDIATELY, the insulin resistance went way, way down. It isn’t totally gone (probably because I have other illnesses that contribute to insulin resistance) but it is massively improved.

I was shocked - and super super excited- at how immediate the improvement happened. My BG’s went from the 300’s to below 100 within 4 hours with no changes to my lifestyle or medications other than the thyroid medication. I changed nothing but the thyroid medication for the first three days just so I could see what the thyroid medication was doing to me. So one week in and here’s what I’ve noticed:

   -The insulin resistance is markedly improved
   -my acne is clearing up
   - I have more energy and less fatigue and sleepiness
   -I sleep better.  Way better!
   -I feel less muscle weakness in my arms and legs

For so long I was trying so hard to get my BG’s under control and lose weight. No matter how hard I tried, no matter how healthy I ate and how much exercise I got and how much insulin I pumped into my body I could not bring my BG’s down or lose even one pound! It was a vicious circle.

I’m sure you can imagine the frustration and hopelessness! I just gave up for a while. Why try if you know nothing will work!

I knew this wasn’t my fault, I was doing everything right, so something else was going on here! So I did my research and discovered the well-known issue many hypothyroid patients have with synthetic thyroid medication.

I changed my thyroid medication and, viola, all of a sudden everything is as it should have been all along!

Now I am re-motivated to do my part. I’m going back to eating right and getting plenty of exercise.

Now I just need to get labs done in a few weeks to see if my thyroid levels are in the sweet spot. I’m sure there will be some dose adjustments, but all is good!

Hopefully soon I will start to see weight-loss! I already feel a million times lighter! :smiley:

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I hope very much that you take this as a huge message that your ability to control your blood sugars is not totally in your control. You cannot blame yourself for this stuff, and you should take this experience as indisputable proof that your blood sugar control has been hijacked by factors that are not under your control. You should look in the mirror and remind yourself about how much you are a total hero.

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I’m so happy that you’re feeling better! I hope it keeps up for the long run.

I didn’t know that hypothyroidism could cause insulin resistance. I thought only hyperthyroidism did. My blood sugars have been crazy (250-300+) for the past two months or so, so I’m wondering if my thyroid is out of whack. I thought it must be high if my BG was high, but it seems it could be in either direction. I don’t see my endocrinologist until the latter part of December, but I think I’ll do my bloodwork sooner.

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I’m not sure if it is the hypothyroidism itself, or a side effect of the synthetic medication…I’ve heard both explanations. I really don’t care which one is true because in the end it would have been the same result, a change in medication to one that actually works for me.

I hope you can find a reason for your high BG and get it fixed soon. Nothing is worse than that frustration!

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Wow that is great! I’m scared to say it but my Bg is also better on t3 although I’m on a tiny dose and only for two weeks or so. I just hope it keeps up. My symptoms are by no means resolved yet though. I may need more and something else may be wrong.

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I am a huge fan of Armour. I have been on it for over 20 years! I am thankful that my old GP insisted on it. Over the years other doctors have encouraged synthetic thyroid replacement, but I held firm. Why change something if it is working?

Disclosures: Hashimoto’s, celiac disease and TD2.

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