Dealing with Hashimotos/Diabetes...

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-07-2003
Dealing with Hashimotos/Diabetes...
5
Sun, 11-07-2004 - 6:34pm

Hi there!


I've been reading up a bit but I thought I'd join in and say hello.  I'm actually just getting started on things but here's the story!


In the last year my 19 year old daughter was acting very erratic, suddenly dropped 30 pounds, had the tremors in her hands and in general was "bouncing off the walls" and we were panicked thinking ... first year of college, could it be drugs, what's going on!!!!  So I sent her to the doctor for a full blood work up and he noted that her symptoms were very much on key with hyperthyroidism and her neck felt enlarged so he sent her for an ultrasound.  The ultrasound came back hyperthyroidism with graves but her blood work simply didn't jive at all. So he sent her to the endocrinologist and after reviewing everything.. her history of huge weight gain a few years back and whole sluggish change in her personality to suddenly going in this opposite direction - he believes that she has Hashimotos disease and is watching her TSH level because he said that it's not enough yet to start her on meds but once it gets close to 2.0 he will.  He said that he doesn't believe it's hyper because the blood work doesn't suggest it and her symptoms keep going back and forth between hyper and hypo.. her thyroid is still enlarged and rubbery feeling.. so he's watching her and checking her levels every 3 months.


Anyway, I also went in for a consult with a slew of blood work I had done in the last few months for my family doctor (glucose tolerance test, tsh, etc.) because I clearly have symptoms of diabetes and numerous symptoms of hypothyroid and both run heavily in my family.  So he did a very thorough review of my records and said that I am definitely diabetic and that my other doctors should have been treating me all along for that (apparently though my 1/2 hour and 1 hour levels were definitely in the diabetic range - the 2 hour read was 2 points below so instead of looking at the whole picture - they just looked at the 2 points and said no, glucose intolerant and not diabetic and that was that.  As for my tsh - it was at 1.35 but he said that my thryoid is also enlarged and rubbery feeling so he believes that I also have Hashimotos and he's going to retest both my daughter and I in late January and gauge things from there. 


I know that the labs vary in their "ranges" and my lab shows up to 4.0 in normal range but my doctor said that once it's close to 2.0 with symptoms - there is a thyroid problem and it should be treated.  I wondered if anyone else was having problems with the family doctors recognizing these ranges and what their endocrinologists were saying about when to start medication, etc.  This is all still new to me and since the TSH number isn't noticeably high, I still wonder where I'm at with things.  We're going to talk more in January when I go back but in the meantime - I feel like I'm FINALLY being heard by a doctor for all the problems I've had over the years.  I'm about to turn 50 and all my life I was a beanpole and suddenly in the last few years I have literally blown up in weight and nothing.. not working out..not dieting.. nothing works!  Now that he's got me on glucophage for the diabetes, I'm finally starting to lose weight but he said that I was in an impossible situation with the diabetes and thyroid and it's a no wonder I couldn't lose no matter how hard I tried.


Anyway - just checking in and seeing if anyone had any input!  Like I said.. I'm still learning!


Jill

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2001
Sun, 11-07-2004 - 7:10pm
Hi Jill - first of all, I have to say, you have a wonderful doctor!! If you spend even 5 minutes reading some of the posts here, you'll see that your doctor stands out as one of the best! I'm not exxagerating. If more doctors were like yours, there would be so much less misery over being hypothyroid. It sounds as if everything he's doing is exactly on target. Not only does he know the correct ranges for diagnosing and treating hypothyroidism, he reconizes all the symptoms that you have as belonging to hypothyroidism. Totally amazing! I'm not kidding. Usually, it takes visiting a few doctors to find one who knows this much. So you are in good hands. I hope you start to feel better soon. And perhaps your doctor could be cloned and sent across the country making home visits to all the women still ailing on this board!! I hope your daughter is feeling better, too.

By the way, Hashimoto's is an autoimmune condition that usually causes hypothyroidism. You can have Hashi's but not hypo but once you have one autoimmune condition, you're more susceptable to having others. Which is what diabetes is. So it isn't surprising or uncommon for you to have both. There are a bunch of links at the top of this board for good articles here on ivillage. Check them out when you have time. I hope this helps. Cathy :)

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-07-2003
Sun, 11-07-2004 - 10:33pm

Hi Cathy!


Thank you so much for your reply!

Avatar for cl_calley7
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Sun, 11-07-2004 - 10:38pm

Hi Jill,


In addition to Cathy's help, we also have a new feature on diabetes:


***Live Well with Diabetes***
Affecting more than 18 million Americans, diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control calls it "the epidemic of our lifetime," and it's no wonder -- diabetes kills more people globally than AIDS.

 

Calley7

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-07-2003
Sun, 11-07-2004 - 10:46pm

Thanks so much!! I'm going to check it out!!


iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2001
Sun, 11-07-2004 - 10:58pm
Hi Jill - I think yours is a great example of why we have to be aggressive in getting outselves diagnosed and cared for properly. Sometimes, it's justt he hardest thing to do when you aren't feeling well, but it's the most important thing you can do. Thanks so much for sharing your story. I'm so glad things ended up so well for you. Stay in touch! Cathy :)