There are some people on these forums who are on "stay in bed" diets.

The author is also a type 1 diabetic in very good control as well as an exercise physiologist and CDE.

Diabetes creates a very high risk of heart disease and heart attacks and the poorer the control, the greater the risk. I don't really think about the loss of 13 years as I do everything possible to stay in control and also practice calorie restriction because it extends longevity. I have been exercising for many years on a regular basis.

Dr. Bernstein is in his 70s and has had diabetes for 50+ years. He still going strong.

Thanks Susan! That is reassuring. My Father ultimately had a heart attack which caused his passing. However, I know he had heart problems not sure exactly what because he hid things from us. My Mother ran into his cardiologist at the hospital. He asked about my Father not knowing about his death. The cardiologist said that he could have easily fixed what was wrong with my Father's heart - again no details. My dad did have staph which we think had returned at the point of his death - no autopsy. So, that may have been a huge factor in his passing. Again my father did little toward tight control of BG. So, it's always nice to here that there are many people with diabetes who have lived a long, virtually problem free, life with control.

~Danielle

What's the goal for doing that?
I don't think you have a lot of choice, I don't think they treat Hashi's with RAI, they just let you sputter usually. The other option is taking thyroid suppressing drugs and just suppress it entirely. I don't know if that's ever how they treat it, but there are drugs that will suppress the thyroid. Then you can go on full replacement.

The palpitations are annoying and disturbing. I hates them. But some of the other hyperthyroid symptoms I hate even worse, like insomnia and heat sensitivity.

It would show you how well you can or cannot metabolize glucose. If your blood sugars rose to over 200, it would be indicative of diabetes. If you don't subject your body to the conditions that make diabetes apparent, you'll never know you have a problem.



I'm not crazy about the weird heartbeat either. It makes me feel jumpy and it feels like my heart is going to jump out of my chest. I also hate the hand tremors. Insomnia - well I don't want to sleep much anyway. Sleep is scary for a type 1. BG can go into the toilet when I'm asleep. I'm going to keep sputtering for a while longer, I suppose.

Oh, I already know I have a problem, thanks to metering when I've had some very sugary dessert. I don't know exactly how severe it is, though.

I guess if I wanted to go the medical route for treatment I'd gear up the carbs a few days and then get an GTT done.

But I think I'm not ready for that. I'm of the philosophy that drugs are to be avoided, they're always like Trojan horses, angry guys with spears hiding inside.

In the meantime I'm going to ask for a fasting A1C and fasting insulin test, as well as getting my TSH checked again. I could have low insulin and highish FBG for some reason.

Oh yeah, the tremors. I had forgotten about them! Me too. So annoying when you try to eat soup!

Yes thyroid medicines do increase blood sugar and the mechanism they do that is by increasing the adrenal hormones. Especially who have hashimotos with high anti thyroid anti body.

I know adrenal fatigue is something noone believes around here but all my debilitating fatigue goes away with the slightest dose of pregnenolone and my thyroid is perfect on it too(i only do the basala body temperature test).

In Schwarzbein she warns people of taking high thyroid doses since it is detrimental to insuline resistence and adrenal fatigue too. I did try a trial dose of armour thyroid when my TSH was 4, it did nothing to me. I now keep it at 2 with pregnenolone alone. Now since i am reducing the dosage, I have to go and get checked soon but my basal temperature hasnt dropped.

Also estrogen plays with thyroid sending it low, so in theory you might have low thyroid if you are ovulating.Progesterone also seems to help thyroid and the mechanism is by reducing upopposed estrogen.

I have come to conclusion that giving any self regulating hormone(barring insuline) will never balance the body it will only pull you to some other extreme . Even if you do take this the lowest dosage is alwasy better.This only means we need to dig deeper and find the real cause hormone imbalance in the body, it could be virus , toxicity who knows.

Well, my thyroid is dead so I must take thyroid hormones or else I'll join my thyroid in the afterlife.

I've just been reading how a TSH > 1 bodes poorly for heart disease. *sigh*

I don't blame you for not wanting to take diabetes meds. I'm not thrilled about the future prospect of taking thyroid meds. I'm not on any meds except for insulin.

Oh! Do you have hashimoto's? Usually that you have to take thyroid meds with that. But it sounds like you're going hyper... I know Hashi's kind of yanks you around, but I thought the general trend was hypothyroid with Hashi's. I had Graves disease which makes you hyperthyroid.

There are foods you can eat that'll suppress thyroid. Raw cruciferous veggies, soy, raw turnips. There are more, google goitrogenic food and you can probably find a list.

No, I'm borderline hyper and sputtering. I sometimes test hyper and sometimes almost hyper. It has been getting a bit worse for the past 2 or 3 years, but I've been borderline for about 15. The hand tremors started about 2 years ago and then the heart palps. I suppose I'm on my way to having Graves. The doc always says hyper with sputters.

I like cruciferous veggies and I'll eat tofu if it would help.

Thanks, Nancy.

Isnt it surprising that all the goitrogenic foods are also high in copper.
In her book on chronic fatigue Ann Louise Gittleman describes how copper toxicity can actually cause the entire metabolic syndrome including thyroid.

She recommends lwo carb as well. Her book was really good read.

I havetype two diabetes controlled with metformin for two years and I also have Graves disease treated with radio active iodine so have had a non functioning thryoid for over twenty-five years. I have been fighting the battle of the bulge off and on since then. I now have some nerve damage in my foot making it difficult to walk without pain. Doctor said if I don't get the weight off I will be walking with a walker by the time I am sixty. I started Atkins on Aug. 7 and have lost almost ten pounds so far. I really enjoy this thread and hope to get ideas and support. Thank you for being here. Regards Pam

Make sure you're getting enough thyroid hormone... man, I've been low on it for years now and it makes losing weight a really bummer. Don't accept the word "normal". Get your actual thyroid results and research them. Or ask someone like me. Your TSH should be around 1, don't allow it to languish in the 3-4 or even 5 area. Your doctor will most likely call it normal, but it isn't.

Welcome to the Big D forum, Pam!

Thank you for the welcome everyone. I take a huge dose of throid medication because my Doctor and I go more how I feel rather than what my T4 and T3 levels are at the time of the blood test. I take .225mcg of synthroid and .25mg of cytomel. My blood pressure is stable at this dosage other wise it is 100 over 50 and sometimes even lower and I was having dizzy spells. My resting heart rate is 70 and he is happy about that too. Regards Pam