Type 1, Hashimoto's, and other autoimmune conditions

We type 1s, especially female, often develop Hashimoto’s over time. I was diagnosed a few years ago. It took some time for me to require levothyroxine, but I’ve been on it now for about a couple of years. I started out at 25 and now have been taking 50 mcg for a few months.

Having two autoimmune diseases makes me cautious about potentially developing any others. Last year, I had a bad bacterial infection with a constant, productive cough. It wasn’t COVID, but it was bad enough to leave me dehydrated. I didn’t know I was dehydrated though and thought my joint stiffness, dry mouth, etc. might be Sjogren’s or rheumatoid arthritis. Thankfully both were ruled out after a series of tests, but I did learn I have trigger finger in my left pinky.

Do you have any other autoimmune conditions in addition to type 1?

I’ve been on Synthroid for years (112mcg now) due to an underactive thyroid. My mother had the same and I thought it was hereditary - she did not have diabetes. I didn’t learn until relatively recently that one autoimmune condition could make it more likely we might develop more.
Even so - and this does not exactly answer your question - I’m cautious about making a connection between “the likelihood.” I’ve heard it said that diabetes will make us more susceptible than others to develop most anything.
You caught a cold? It’s because of diabetes. (Even if everyone else in your class or office caught it.)
You developed a frozen shoulder? It’s because of diabetes. (Both of mine froze over time. My orthopedic surgeon said it’s common among tennis players because of the way they reach, and I believe my kitchen setup was the likely culprit.)
Your knees are going bad? It’s because of diabetes. (I was once told I would definitely need knee replacements at some point - not a matter of "if but “when.” (I’ve lived in a house on a terrace for 60 years - daily stair climbs are great for the heart but not for the knees). Both my parents developed osteo arthritis due to age and those steps, and my neighbor had hip replacement due to her stairs - no diabetes with any of them.
The statements above are not factual but based on assumptions. Sometimes things happen due to lifestyle, habits or age - but diabetes gets the blame. I know people with other autoimmune disorders who never get another so I don’t knew why diabetes is considered “the culprit”. Then again I don’t know if they face that assumption.
I prefer to simply think “stuff happens” and deal with it when/if it does rather than assume some loose cause and effect.

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Our daughter was diagnosed with celiac at 5, T1D at 6, and Hashimoto’s at 12. We were told that folks with one autoimmune disorder were more likely to have other autoimmune disorders than those who had none. Not hugely more likely, but statistically significantly more likely. And it’s certainly true that the percentage of other kids with celiac is consistently higher at diabetes camp than in her other summer camps, for whatever that’s worth.

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I also have primary biliary cirrhosis. My body attacked the cells lining the bile ducts. Raynaud’s disease, my fingertips go white when temps are cold. Hashimotos. T1D for 50years.

So I don’t have a diagnosis of another true autoimmune disease. However I do have a couple of things that doctors told me were more likely to happen just because I’m diabetic. I have hypothyroid so I take levothyroxine every morning.

I also have a heart arrhythmia called afib that I was diagnosed with over the summer. I was super upset when I was diagnosed with that one because I’ve taken care of my diabetes for 17 years (that’s when I was diagnosed) and it felt like a complication. They told me it actually wasn’t complication based but basically I was more than likely always going to get it. The risk factors for it are being diabetic, genetic component(my dad has it), thyroid issues even if on meds, and being female. So basically I had every risk factor you can have for it, I was just diagnosed 30-40 years earlier than most people are. On one hand I’m still a little annoyed, but on the other I’m happy I know I have it as it’s even more encouragement for me to take my cardiovascular health seriously and also to just be monitored over the years and be put on meds if I need them in the future or have a procedure before it turns into anything bad (if it ever does).

Totally understand your mindset though- I’ve had those thoughts before as well but I feel like we kinda just have to take it as it comes and if we do happen to get diagnosed with something else, we’ll deal with it since it’s what we’ve always had to do.