Hypothyroid & diabetes

[Sweetkidmom]

This has only occurred to me in retrospect, but is there a link between auto-immune illnesses in parents and in their offspring? I'm hypothyroid and my daughter is diabetic. Does having one auto-immune illness increase your chances of having more than one? Anyone know?

Thks
Kay

[maverickmom (Kerri)]

From my understanding, yes. Not only are the odds increased but there are some that commonly occur together, such as thyroid and diabetes, celiac and diabetes and, rarely, addison's and diabetes. If you have more than 2 endocrine disorders, you have polyendocrine syndrome (there are different types depending on the particular mix of comorbid endocrine issues).

Also...autoimmune problems often run in families so yes, there appears to be a link between a parent having an autoimmune problem and the offspring having them as well. I have a friend with Lupus who has 8 children (6 bio and 2 adopted siblings). 2 of the 6 bio children have type 1 diabetes as well as one of the adopted children, and several of the 8 children have celiac. Definitely a hereditary link there...and possibly an environmental link as well.

[chappy]

Having either type 1 diabetes or hypothyroidism does increase your chance of getting the other since they are acquired via similar mechanisms. I haven't come across anything stating that autoimmune diseases are hereditary. I asked my doc about this at my last apt and he did confirm that there isn't any evidence indicating such a link, but I find it interesting that my mom has hypothyroidism, i am diabetic, and I have 2 sisters who had hyperthryoidism.

[nantomsuethom]

I have hypothyroidism (Hashimoto's syndrome) which runs in the family. Quite a few females on my mom's side of the family have it.
When Thomas was diagnosed his endo said that is probably where it stems from.

[rkt1]

Both my daughter and I had the flu at the same time. Within 6mons I was a full blown Type 1 diabetic and 3yrs later we found my daughter to have Hashimoto's hypothyroidism. My maternal aunt had RA and my maternal grandmother died of Alzhimers(sp?) I also now have RA and my daughter also now has PCOS.

We're waiting on genetic testing to come back, but it's believed we carry the same messed up genes.

[mcgiggles]

I am the mother of an 11 yr old daughter with T1 diabetes. I have hypothyroidism, her bio father has it too and also cancer. She has a very low IGA count and hypothyroidism so far.....the IGA wasn't investigated yet.......any thoughts on this.........?

[Ginger9909]

Hi,
I also find this interesting and read something about it in a book. I developed hashimotos (underactive thyroid) after my 2nd daughter was born. My mom & her sister also have an underactive thyroid. My 3rd daughter who is 21 months old just was diagnosed with diabetes. I do think there is some sort of connection going on. I know its probably normal to try to figure out why someone got this disease so I really believe the problem with the thyroid in my family had some kind of connection to this happening.

[bkfkmc]

I was also diagnosed Hypo (Hashimoto's) when my son was about 14 months old. I have had my 2 daughters since then. My son was just recently diagnosed Type 1 at age 5 1/2. Six weeks after his diabetes diagnosis, he was diagosed Hypothyroid as well. My husband's mother (deceased) was also Hypo. I really do believe there is a genetic link.

[Boo]

Yep, I have an underactive thyroid as well (along with my mother and sister). I have 3 sons, the oldest of which was diagnosed as Type 1 two years ago.

[Ben'sMommy]

My 2 yo son is Type 1 diabetic since he was 7 months old. I don't have any illnesses nor does my partner. (at least none that we are aware of!!!)
However, my sister has lupus, my aunt has scleraderma, both my parents have Hypothyroidism, as does my MIL.

I don't care what doctors tell me. A genetic connection between them all is screaming out at me.

[selketine]

I was diagnosed with hyperthyroid and Graves disease as a pre-teen and had my thyroid removed at the time. Both hyper and hypo thyroid runs in our family (hyper is more common). So does type 2 diabetes. William is the first with type 1.

[Momof4gr8kids]

We have Lupus, Graves, and T1. I asked the doc about this, and he said that it is a factor.

[sharon c]

this does explain things, i did not even know i was suffering from under active thyroid for years, just always felt tired and yukky, docs thought i was a hypocondriac, then my daughter was diagnosed with diabetes and they did tests on her and she has under active thyroid so they tested her sister - who was clear, and decided to test me and i did not for one minute think it would show anything, but it came back severely under active, so after taking tablets for a few months now i feel heaps better than i have in years and don't seem to be getting all the infections and colds i got before either.

[Hollyb]

There's a link with other autoimmune diseases but I think especially thyroid (thyroid and pancreas are both endocrine glands). No type I in my family but I have two siblings with hyperactive thyroid and my mom was diagnosed a few years ago with hypoactive thyroid. My son Aaron has only had D for a year and a half and already has an enlarged thyroid. His thyroid function is still normal but it looks like probably not for long...

[Twinklet]

I've read that there is a genetic link with autoimmune diseases, but environment also factors in (how exactly is unknown). We have *no one* on either side of our families who has any type of autoimmune disease. I'm sure someone, somewhere had to have been afflicted, but for now it appears to be random to us. :confused:

[frizzyrazzy]

We have a lot of hypothyroid my IL's and coincidentally my daughter was dx with hypothyroid 2 weeks before my son was dx with D. Later we discovered it was Hashimotos, which is autoimmune. In my own family, we have psoriasis and alopecia both of which are autoimmune. (that's my mom and my daughter for the psoriasis and alopecia for me) so the fact that so many of us see all these autoimmune issues makes me think there really is some connection.

[yeswe'rebothD]

Andie-- unfortunately as the phrase goes, "it has to start somewhere." Wish for you and all who don't have any family history, that it didn't have to be you.

I completely agree though as far as SOME part of it being genetic. I am T1 and have Hashimoto's (autoimmune hypothyroid), my oldest dd is T1, both my dad's parents were D (his dad T1 died at age 36 due to 20 years of little to no self-care, his mom T2), his sister-- not sure what type, I think she must fall under a T1.5 (or LADA). I have a second cousin (dad's side again) with T1, and my mom's mom has T2. I keep waiting for SOME autoimmune disorder to show up in our younger dd.

[melissajm]

In April of '03 I had the flu, and at this time my thyroid became enlarged. 5 months later I was pregnant w/ my daughter. Throughout my entire pregnancy with her, I had abnormal amounts of sugar in my urine. I went through all 3 tests for gestational diabetes, but I was not diagnosed. When my daughter was 23 months old she was diagnosed with T1 Diabetes. Two years ago I had to have my thyroid removed because it was getting larger & was wrapping around my trachea, making it hard to breathe at times. I think there must be a link...

Melissa

Mom to Benjamin-9, Nathan-8, Lillian-4 (DX'd 5/10/04) pumping w/ MM since 8/05

[Mom C]

I have an under active thyroid and I found out about this when Madison was born. Also 2 aunts on my husbands side have this as well.

[MLH]

I too developed hypothyroidism after my daughter was born. She has type 1 (age 5) and hypothyroid (age 8). My neighbor's hubby has type 1, their daughter has type 1 and celiac.

You can't tell me there is not a genetic link!

[Tiny]

I found this very interesting I asked my doctor this question when I found out I had hypothyroid if I could end up with diabetes since my dad had it my grandparents on my dad's side. My father was the oldest of ten kid, they all have diabetes. My aunt who is the youngest found out the same week my daughter was in the hospital for type 1.Here i was worried about myself getting diabetes and my daughter ends up with it. And my doctor still tells me I won't get diabetes. i don't see how that could be true because i just found out there is diabetes on my mother side that was never told to me.I already have seizures that no one in the family has. Till I found out my couzin a few years older then me has it to and that is on my mothers side.It is weird how you find things out after the fact. makes you wonder were was the information. Tiny

[Margaret O]

My son had two previous automimmune diseases prior to dx: Autoimmune Neutropenia and Ulcerative Colitis. He was on Prednisone for 5 years and may explain the diabetes- Type 1. I had gestational diabetes with him. He had back to back strep throats and within a month was diagnosed with T1. Immune system is very weak.

My DD has just been tested for Hashimotos disease. She has the antibodies for it ( I guess that means she may or may not get it) but does not have it now. She has a lot of hormonal problems at 15.

Our third child, DD, was adopted and is very healthy. She thinks she doesn't get enough attention because she is so healthy! We get a lot of phantom illnesses with her. :rolleyes:

[Mad Maz & Ecstatic Emma]

my nan has underactive thyroid, my mum got it when she was 23 - i got type 1 when i was 2yrs then when i was about 4 i got it as well - my mum got told that it does go hand in hand & is hereditary.

i know one thing - it really sucks lol - talk about energy zapping & feeling like a radiator most of the time lol :)

[skimom]

WHen my son was diagnosed , there was a long time spent getting family histories etc. THe questions of autoimmune diseases in the family was asked - my mom has lupus(affects pancreas and thyroid), uncle with MS, dad with Parkinsons,mother in law with RA - when I asked why they would ask , the response was that if you have an autoimmune history in your family , then you are at a higher risk of getting an autoimmune disease including T1.
i did some internett research and there are some doctors working out of
Australia that have indicated that there is a relationship between lupus and Type 1.
My kids endo has said there is a genetic link . By the way , 2 of my 3 kids have type 1 now (interestingly enough they are the only family members with the same blood type....)

[lil'Man'sMom]

I have hypothyroidism, dx between son #2 and son #3 (11 years apart). Really took exceptional care of myself when pregnant with #3, breast fed until he was two, not sickly during infancy or toddler. Did not miss a day of school in 2007 until May, out with the flu...dx with D 8/13/2007. He may have been predisposed to autoimmune and the illness kicked it in to drive. This is my theory as we have 0 family history of T1.

[Miss Champers]

My son aged 12 has type 1, my mum has hypothyroidism and pernicious aneamia and my auntie also had overactive thyroid.

[Mymeagan]

I have hypothyroidism too and before I got pregnant I asked if it could affect my baby and I was told if I took my synthroid all would be okay. I would not give up Meagan for anything, but I might have reconsidered having children knowing they were at risk because of this. If anyone knows of research out there linking this, please let me know. I was wondering about this myself.

[DylansMum]

I initially had an overactive thyroid (Graves Disease), had the radioactive iodine treatment and it caused my thyroid to go underactive. I was dx'd when Dylan was around 8mths old, as I had to stop breast feeding him to get treatment.
Dylan was dx'd neary 2 years ago at age 7.

Kim

[hmmmcormick]

My son was diagnosed with hypothyroidism 2 1/2 yrs. ago. We treat it with levothroid. He was recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I had no idea these were related until he was diagnosed with the D. Then they tell me that the risk for D was increased since he had hypothyroid. ARGH!

[melanie46721]

My father found out he was type 1 when he was 21 years old. He also has Hashimoto's syndrome. When I was 21, I also found out that I was type 1 and had Hashimoto's syndrome also. I would say that their is a good chance that auto-immune disorders are hereditary. My dad and I even grew up in different environments which discounts that aspect. He grew up in MI and I grew up in IN.

[blessed]

I too am type 1 and have Hashimotos's and Thyroid cancer (diagn. Nov.07) and have some kind of marker in my labs indicating Lupis. (no real symptoms yet) But I firmly believe that thyroid and diabetes go hand in. I was gestational with him but not my second child. 2nd child doesn't have diabetes at this point. I firmly believe that it is all related. Look at how many have posted!

[Tabithas_storm]

My 13 year old was diagnosed with diabetes 4 years ago, last year, during normal lab checks, we were told that she had antibodies for thyroid problems. At that point we didn't know if it would be hyper or hypo thyroidism. She is now on a very low dose of synthroid, and we just have to keep an eye on it. She also has problems with the pituitary and adrenal glands. We were told that those were damaged during the initial illness that brought her to the hospital.

Here's the kicker.... no one in my family has any of these diseases. Nor in her dad's family. The doctor's said it all started from a severe case of strep that had her in for emergency surgery to have her tonsils and adnoids taken out. 7months later, she was back in the hospital for her initial visit for diabetes.

I hope that this is the last surprise we will recieve as far as her health. I know that there are several diseases that go hand in hand with diabetes. There is also something called Polyglandular Autoimmune Disorder. If you look it up, it tells you all the stuff that CAN BE linked together through the autoimmune responses. Addison's, graves disease, ciliac, thyroid issues, diabetes, and there are a couple more. My daughter's endo checks for antibodies yearly, just so we can stay on top of it all. That is how we caught the thyroid issues before it became a problem.

This is an aweful disease to live with, but I am thankful for all the medical advances that have been made over the years.

[liveitxloveit]

I have thyroid problems; mine is too big. But I think it runs in my family, because my sister does too. Unless she's diabetic too? :eek: