A1c result

My 13 year old daughter is having a lot of problems. One of them being hypothyroidism. She is dealing with a lot of fatigue, headache, dizziness, and other issues. We were in the ER the other day and the NP asked if she had been tested for diabetes. Since she had not, she did an A1C test with a result of 6.1

I have since tested her blood sugar and it was 115 fasting this morning. It was 115 before supper last night. It went up to 185 1 1/2 hours after pizza and dr. pepper for supper and small piece of cake.

Is this common with hypothyroidism, is this pre-diabetes and should we do more than just repeat the A1C in 2 months as suggested. Thank you for your help, Becky

[Anita Ramsetty, MD]

Hello,
If your daughter's hypothyroidism is autoimmune in origin(often called Aotuimmune thyroid disease or Hashimoto's, or was previously Graves disease before she became low) then there is a higher chance of Type 1 DM developing. If not, then some of the glucose abnormalities may be from increased weight if she has gained weight from her thyroid disease. These are the two common instances when thyroid disease is linked to diabetes.
The fasting number is not normal but still not in diabetes range, neither is the post-meal number. But they do show some abnormality in glucose handling so I agree it should be followed closely. While you wait for the repeat test in 2 months, try to have your daughter cut back on sweets, sodas, junk food, cakes, cookies etc. if she eats these regularly. If she is overweight, some increased exercise should also help with glucose handling. Some of this will be difficult given she has not been feeling well from her hypothyroidism, but continue to encourage her through this, follow up closely with her doctor, and I am sure she will be okay.
Take care.

[beckyinva]

Thank you for your response.  She does have Hashimotos and her TPO antibodies are still elevated at 140. The first thing I did was have her cut her Dr Pepper use. She is on diet Dr Pepper and her blood sugars are down around 90 fasting now.  Thankfully she hasn't been a big sweet eater, but since her diagnosis, she went from 75lbs last October and is now up to 132. She was under weight and would eat like a bird. After the thyroid medication started, she started growing, eating a lot, developed her breasts and started her period. In a matter of 6 months this took place. So, now instead of being underweight and tiny, she does have some extra weight that she has never had before.
So,  I will definitely keep a close check on her sugars. Thank you for your advice.
Becky