link between type 1 diabetes and thyroid diseases and autoimmune diseases?

Hello @Elias DT1 Type 1 is not a cause for other auto immune conditions, however once diagnosed with one auto immune condition then you have an increased likelihood/predisposition of acquiring other auto immune condition due to your bodies response, I personally have an under active thyroid, so it's something to be mindful of.

This may help inform you:

https://jdrf.org.uk/information-support/about-type-1-diabetes/other-autoimmune-conditions/

I was diagnosed with Graves (overactive thyroid) and the same time as Type 1 three years ago. In comparison to the diabetics the Greaves is nightmare! Recently with it having gone into remission it’s returned and has/is making life a lot more difficult; glucose levels all over the place and significant weight loss (over 9kg in about 6 weeks) and the weight just wont go back on; l didn’t have it to lose in the first place. The tablets given to slow things down can/do affect your white blood cell count making the risk of serious infection worrying.

As said before different autoimmune conditions often go hand-in-hand....great isn’t it!

Hey Andy

I can so relate as I am in exactly the same boat. Am having a nightmare with Graves, sugars all over the place, always exhausted - I even feel more tired when I wake up than when I went to bed. Am also trying to tested again for Addisons disease. It's rare (8000 cases in the UK) but I pray it does get confirmed.
Also had misdiagnosed inflammatory bowel disease (colitis) for over 6 years - finally got put on steroids and although blood sugars became difficult , I felt amazing....but had to come off them so am back to square one but atleast in the last year I found a decent endocrinologist in Croydon, and a decent GP (on about my 8th!!!)
My consultant put me on Tresiba as my background insulin and that seems to be helping too...seem to finally be making progress after 14 years as T1....
ps - have never emailed / commented on this site but you are so akin that I thought to say hi and would be happy to chat offline
Best wishes
Jimbo

AndyRob said:

I was diagnosed with Graves (overactive thyroid) and the same time as Type 1 three years ago. In comparison to the diabetics the Greaves is nightmare! Recently with it having gone into remission it’s returned and has/is making life a lot more difficult; glucose levels all over the place and significant weight loss (over 9kg in about 6 weeks) and the weight just wont go back on; l didn’t have it to lose in the first place. The tablets given to slow things down can/do affect your white blood cell count making the risk of serious infection worrying.

As said before different autoimmune conditions often go hand-in-hand....great isn’t it!

Click to expand...

I had an overactive thyroid which was operated on to remove most of it before being diagnosed with T1. Thyroid became underactive after the op (that was the plan) so on thyroxine. Much easier to control and doesn't affect my BG. Good luck

Elias DT1 said:

I want an answer to the question and what is the cause of each other and what is the consequence, ie: is type 1 diabetes a cause for thyroidism and other autoimmune diseases or a consequence?

Click to expand...

I had infectious hepatitis aged six some 45 years later im now have LADA and use insulin i was told at the onset that this is the only link they can see why I now have diabetes

Hi

Elias DT1 said:

I want an answer to the question and what is the cause of each other and what is the consequence, ie: is type 1 diabetes a cause for thyroidism and other autoimmune diseases or a consequence?

Click to expand...

Multiple autoimmune diseases seem to be quite common, you can see this on other forums as well. I have vitiligo, Hashimotos disease and type 1 LADA diabetes, in that order, onset age 20, 40 and 50.

There is a strong family history of thyroid disease from my mother's side. As far as I know the only other diabetic in my family was my Dad who was diagnosed T2 in his 70's. I had an over-active thyroid in my teens, resolved by 90% thyroidectomy age 18, then fine till age 41 when, diagnosed with under-active thyroid. I have now been on on a fairly stable dose of levothyroxine for almost 17 years.

I was diagnosed with T2 diabetes 7 years ago. At the time this made sense, as a fat middle-aged person with a diabetic parent. Initially I did reasonably well on a low carb diet, lots of exercise and then metformin; I never had the miraculous remission others have found, but did well enough to be congratulated as an exemplar by my GP practice. Last year things began to deteriorate, I simply couldn't get my blood sugars into single digits; I had lost a third of my body weight very slowly and deliberately over 7 years and finally got to the point where I no longer wanted to lose any more weight however I found I kept losing weight and my blood sugars just kept going up....additional diabetes meds did nothing, I started insulin in July and have subsequently been diagnosed with LADA.

When I was first diagnosed with diabetes I read as much as I could and one phrase stayed with me - something like "patients with thyroid disease tend to end up on insulin earlier than others" (if anyone else knows who wrote this I would love to know as I have not been able to find that quote again). At the time I thought I was T2 and hoped I could avoid this through diet and exercise choices, however it has proved to be my own personal experience.

Obviously my story is a single personal history, and we are all different. The original poster's question was about cause and effect. In my case I think I can feel confident that thyroid disease predated diabetes and that there is an association, but whether I would have gone on to develop diabetes without the additional genetic risk and/or the weight gain I had in mid-life I am not sure. I guess I will also never know how much of my mid-life weight gain was due to thyroid disease and how much due to diabetes. My personal experience is that hyperthyroid disease is far more difficult to manage than hypothyroid disease.

Essentially the whole business sucks.....wishing you all well xx

Yes me too i had an overactive thyroid, had the radioactive treatment in 2007 now on thyroxine. Then out of the blue was diagnosed T1 in 2011.