It seems to me that nearly every female in the diabetes online community has thyroid issues also. I got curious about this and did some reading. Nearly a third of Type 1 patients have thyroid disorders, usually an underactive thyroid. It does indeed affect more women than men. This is because if you have one auto-immune disease, like Type 1, you are at higher risk for another. As if people with diabetes need another challenge. The linked article also cites a higher than normal incidence of thyroid disease in Type 2 diabetics, but no statistics are given.

A casual search of the web didn't turn up any other laymen's articles on the subject. If you have a medical or scientific background, or just like to torture yourself with difficult to read articles (as I do), this article is very interesting, seeming to see a link between insulin resistance, obesity, infertility and insulin secretion.

I wonder if there's an increased thyroid finding just because we visit endocrinologists for our Type 2 and they naturally look for other endocrine problems. I do know that many general practice doctors have tested me for thyroid function in the past due to my weight, but I've never been treated for it until my present specialist took over. In our modern day, most people can claim at least one of the symptoms - fatigue.

Then I found out that the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists suggests treatment at the high end of the "normal" TSH range - from 3.0 - 5.0 uu/ml. Then I looked up a couple of my old, pre-Type 2 diagnosis tests and sure enough they were "normal" - 3.5 or so - but in the range of normal that the AACE recommends be considered suspect.

I would have thought that AACE were considered the experts and that other MDs might follow their guidelines. That's not the case after all.

So, what is my point? If you have any of the symptoms of hypothyroidism, ask what your TSH is and discuss it with your doctor. Some major symptoms are weight gain, loss or thinning of eyebrows, dry or thinning hair, cold intolerance and thin, brittle fingernails.

I can also tell you that I have a lot of little baby hairs growing in along my hairline since starting treatment. Although difficult to work into a hair style, these thrill me. I don't want to add a receding hairline to my list of complaints!