Dr. Westin Childs Podcast: Thyroid | Weight Loss | Hormones

The answer is yes. Actually, both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism can lead to high blood sugar. This stems from a condition known as insulin resistance in which your cells become resistant to the effects of insulin. Insulin is supposed to help your body take up glucose and utilize it for energy. If it can't then the blood sugar will build up in your blood and you will experience high blood sugar. This condition stems from ANY disorder of thyroid function including both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism. And this is also true of thyroid medications. It's not the medications themselves which cause blood sugar but how much you are taking of them. It's possible for thyroid medication to both hurt or help your blood sugar, depending on your dose. In addition to this, hypothyroid patients also suffer from a high cortisol if they do not use an adequate dose of thyroid medication. High cortisol leads to further insulin resistance and can exacerbate high blood sugar. Because of this, if you have hypoth