Does losing weight affect the dosage of thyroid medication?

goingforahundred

I had a dr. appt on October of last year that changed my life. My weight was horrible, I found out I have arthritis in my back on one of my feet. I tumor marker test came back positive for cancer and a few other things. Needless to say it was an eye opener and I left there knowing I had to change my life or I was going to have a miserable experience with the rest of my life. One of the tests that came back was my TSH level. It was .0006. The doctor decided to keep me on the same dose since I had no symptoms of getting too much medication. I went back again this month and had the exact same reading and she is lowering my dosage of Cytomel. I take .2 mg of levothyroxine and 25mcg of cytomel, now the cytomel will be cut in half each day. I wonder why it was okay before when I weighed 245 and now that I am down to 197 it isn't okay, even though the readings are the same. I have worked very hard to lose this weight and I guess maybe I think she is thinking I am losing weight because of getting too much medication, when in fact it is because I counting my calories and actually getting some exercise for the first time in 20 years. I am going to do what she says and I am going to keep on losing weight. If I lose another 50 pounds will my medication need to be lowered again? Does your weight affect the amount of medication you need in your system?

editorgrrl

MFP has a Hypothyroidism & Hyperthyroidism group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/753-hypothyroidism-and-hyperthyroidism

If you have Hashimoto's (autoimmune thyroid disease), your body is attacking your thyroid. It responds to the attacks by producing erratic amounts of thyroid hormones.

Your endocrinologist should be checking your levels regularly & adjusting your meds accordingly. A good endo will treat based on both levels & symptoms, since "normal" isn't one-size-fits-all.

(My meds increased as my weight went down. But everybody's different.)