Under active thyroid

[Robin1956]

Hello everyone,
I'm looking for some advice.
I have been a type two diabetic for 20+ years and for 10 years I controlled it with meds and diet then my readings started to drift higher and I was put on to insulin twice a day. This brought my readings back down to around the 7-8 mark in the mornings before eating. Two years ago the Dr discovered I had an under active thyroid and they put me on Thyroxin for this and immediately my blood glucose levels started to climb. where I was taking 22 units of insulin twice per day, I went up to 48 units twice a day and even then I could only reduce my readings to 9-10 most days. About 3 months ago the Dr said I probably need more thyroxine and increased the dose, again my readings went up and I am now taking 50 units of insulin twice a day and still struggling to get readings below 10. I walk about 4 miles every day with my dog, I try and eat a pretty healthy low carb diet but I really don't know what to do. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

 

[JMK1954]

Do you mean you are taking Levothyroxine tablets ? It's fairly common for people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes to have a thyroid problem too and the right dose is very important. Was the decision to change the dose based on blood test results ?
Do you know what your Hba1c level was when it was last tested ?

 

[Dandelade]

Hi Robin, it sounds like your levothyroxine is not yet optimally medicated. I’m hypothyroid too and if you’ve just recently started levo it takes moths to it right but it can be done.

My understanding is if your thyroid hormones are too low you won’t be able to metabolise glucose enough and levels will raise. So theoretically getting the right thyroid hormone levels will take this factor out of the equation. But easier said than done - it’s a lot of faffing with dosage, waiting 8 weeks, retesting, learning all about tsh, t4 and t3 so that you can advocate for yourself with your gp (they often just get the tsh in range, which sometimes is enough).

Do you know your tsh, free t4, and free t3 readings at all? The folks over at health unlocked forum (thyroid uk charity) are a really helpful bunch. I’m not an expert but happy to share my experiences it if helps. Hope you get some answers.

 

[Bewilderedbutterfly]

Hello everyone,
I'm looking for some advice.
I have been a type two diabetic for 20+ years and for 10 years I controlled it with meds and diet then my readings started to drift higher and I was put on to insulin twice a day. This brought my readings back down to around the 7-8 mark in the mornings before eating. Two years ago the Dr discovered I had an under active thyroid and they put me on Thyroxin for this and immediately my blood glucose levels started to climb. where I was taking 22 units of insulin twice per day, I went up to 48 units twice a day and even then I could only reduce my readings to 9-10 most days. About 3 months ago the Dr said I probably need more thyroxine and increased the dose, again my readings went up and I am now taking 50 units of insulin twice a day and still struggling to get readings below 10. I walk about 4 miles every day with my dog, I try and eat a pretty healthy low carb diet but I really don't know what to do. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

Hi Robin Im hypo too and on levo..I did find I increased my glucose readings slightly when I increased levo but that was years ago now and I somehow managed to get my readigns down again with low carb although they never go as low as Id like but then Im very inactive

Have you had a full thyroid function test to include T3 ? to show you how well the medication is or isnt working ?
I find my Gp just goes along with standard results and it isnt always helpful as each person is so individual with their tyhroid levels.

 

[AndBreathe]

I have hypothyroidism, treated with Levothyroxine and Liothyronine. I was living with T2 before my thyroid went west.

I honestly have to say that hypothyroidism and treatment for it has had no impact on my blood glucose.

As has already been said, it can take a long time to titrate medications to the correct doses. It drove me bonkers.

I don't know how often you are having your thyroid monitored, or if your GP is just increasing your dose and leaving you to it.