Hashimotos and staying motivated

emmalpoppy

Anyone else have hashimotos? How do you stay motivated when your body is working against you? And how have you managed to find a good balance between exercise and calorie intake? I've only recently been put on medication and I'm not sure it is really helping any. Some days I'm so overly exhausted for no reason it's really hard to get to the gym for a workout.

CSARdiver

Welcome aboard!

I would start here:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/753-hypothyroidism-and-hyperthyroidism

I had a total thyroidectomy due to cancer 15 years ago. Put on ~75 lbs with the transition from military to civilian life, but once I started logging intake and working out I've lost >50 so far. Hashimotos is different however - what are your TSH, TT4, FT4, TT3, FT3, RT3 levels?

editorgrrl

I have Hashimoto's (autoimmune thyroid disease). I lost more slowly than most MFPers, so be patient.

I followed the advice in the Sexypants post: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

Exercise for fitness; log to lose weight. Logging works.

emmalpoppy

Thank you both. Can't remember all my numbers but tsh is about 2.8 now. Was 2.1 when put on medication and it went the wrong way. We are aiming for 1 or when I feel better. T4 and t3 are normal range, exact number I'm not sure, but my anti thyroid antibodies are about 2,000 and only continue to rise. What is rt3?

I was 128lb a year ago so being 148 now is tough. I'm logging my food intake and trying for weight training with cardio. But some days I can't eat because I feel nauseously full after 1 bite and some days constantly starving. Also some days I'm just dragging and others I'm bouncing off the wall.

I was on Tirosint and that is amazing but $100 a month after my insurance "discount" was killing me so I'm on synthroid now.

editorgrrl

emmalpoppy wrote: »

I was 128lb a year ago so being 148 now is tough. I'm logging my food intake and trying for weight training with cardio. But some days I can't eat because I feel nauseously full after 1 bite and some days constantly starving. Also some days I'm just dragging and others I'm bouncing off the wall.

Take rest days when you're too tired to exercise. And look at your nutrition for the past 7 days, not just today. (It's easier to see in the app.) If you eat fewer calories than you burn, you will lose weight.

Set your goal to .5 lb. per week for every 25 lbs. you're overweight, and be patient. Learn to log everything you eat & drink accurately and honestly. Logging works.

emmalpoppy

I'm actually having a hard getting enough calories. I eat healthy and nutrient dense foods but at the end of the day can have a huge (400-700) calorie deficit. I have to be gluten free which is where most my weight came. I started eating gluten again and because of how it reacts with my system I retain tons of water, among other issues. So because I'm now back to gluten free and hashimotos I'm having a really hard time finding ways to get in enough healthy calories. Pretty much everything I love has goitrogens lol or its just bad for the thyroid.

editorgrrl

emmalpoppy wrote: »

Because I'm now back to gluten free and hashimotos I'm having a really hard time finding ways to get in enough healthy calories. Pretty much everything I love has goitrogens lol or its just bad for the thyroid.

According to the Mayo Clinic (and my endocrinologist), there's no such thing as a thyroid diet: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hypothyroidism/expert-answers/hypothyroidism-diet/faq-20058554

Although claims about hypothyroidism diets abound, there's no evidence that eating or avoiding certain foods will improve thyroid function in people with hypothyroidism.

emmalpoppy

Nope but my body tells me there is. My antibodies skyrocket when on a gluten filled diet and my body has serious water retention issues. Not to mention my brother is severe celiacs. It doesn't do anything about thyroid function but it does lessen the swelling which helps in not choking on all my food.

lithezebra

I have Hashimoto's and my body works for me. Even when I hadn't been diagnosed and my TSH level was out of control, I exercised every day and was only at the upper end of the healthy weight range for my height. I have not found that I can eat more now that my thyroid levels are normal.

I agree with editorgrrl. There is no such thing as a thyroid diet. If you want to eat goitrogens, eat them regularly, have your TSH levels tested, and adjust your meds accordingly. That said, I have problems with wheat too. It makes me tired entirely independently of my TSH.

If you must have a hormonal problem, Hashimoto's is one that is easy and inexpensive to treat.

LKArgh

Get medicated, make sure that you are on the right dosage and if you suspect there are other autoimmune issues, get checked. Talk to an endocrinologist if you have not already discussed your concerns with one, and if you are not happy with the answers, get a second opinion. In general, once you are on the right meds, life with Hashimoto's is not much different than life without it. You are at elevated risk for some medical issues on the long run, so you need to keep up with your appointments and check-ups, and that's it.

emmalpoppy

I'm sorry but life with hashimotos is not easy to live with or to medicate. I have an amazing Endocrinologist that took years to get. The medication that works best for me is far to expensive. And no I can't cut back elsewhere as I'm already on bare minimums and paying for my blood work and doctors is extremely expensive.

My tsh numbers are in the normal range, we treat based on how I feel. I also have an extremely enlarged thyroid but no nodules so there's nothing they can do at the moment except remove part and I cannot afford that nor do I want that option.

My joints hurt everywhere, brain fog is pretty bad and some days I absolutely cannot stay awake no matter what. We can't just up my meds drastically as that can cause it to go hyper which would be worse since I already have a heart murmur. So every 3 months we adjust as needed but little by little.

I'm glad you both have had it easy but unfortunately hashimotos treats everyone different. Yes it's gotten better since medication but it's far from easy.

lithezebra

emmalpoppy wrote: »

My joints hurt everywhere, brain fog is pretty bad and some days I absolutely cannot stay awake no matter what. We can't just up my meds drastically as that can cause it to go hyper which would be worse since I already have a heart murmur. So every 3 months we adjust as needed but little by little.

That's exactly what wheat does to me, even when my thyroid numbers are perfect. Have you tried going strictly gluten free, and have you been tested for celiac disease?

P.S. If you haven't, you should get tested first, then go gluten free, so you don't have to do what I'm doing, which is to reintroduce gluten in order to be tested, and feel like crap again after feeling a zillion times better.

emmalpoppy

I was gluten free for 3 years, it helped but not completely. Since moving to the south it's been hard but I'm back to being gluten free, only a week though so I won't see results yet. I was tested but because there is no test that can accurately and 100% determine if you have it or not who knows. My brother is celiacs though.

But I found this a few months back and it perfectly describes the disease for those that may have gotten lucky.

Hi. My name is Hashimoto's. I'm an invisible autoimmune disease that attacks your thyroid gland causing you to become hypothyroid.
I am now velcroed to you for life. If you have hypothyroidism, you probably have me. I am the number one cause of it in the U.S. and many other places around the world.
I'm so sneaky--I don't always show up in your blood work.
Others around you can't see me or hear me, but YOUR body feels me.
I can attack you anywhere and any way I please.
I can cause severe pain or, if I'm in a good mood, I can just cause you to ache all over.
Remember when you and energy ran around together and had fun?
I took energy from you, and gave you exhaustion. Try to have fun now.
I can take good sleep from you and in its place, give you brain fog and lack of concentration.
I can make you want to sleep 24/7, and I can also cause insomnia.
I can make you tremble internally or make you feel cold or hot when everyone else feels normal.
I can also give you swollen hands and feet, swollen face and eyelids, swollen everything.
I can make you feel very anxious with panic attacks or very depressed. I can also cause other mental health problems. You know crazy mood swings? That's me. Crying for no reason? Angry for no reason? That's probably me too.
I can make your hair fall out, become dry and brittle, cause acne, cause dry skin, the sky is the limit with me.
I can make you gain weight and no matter what you eat or how much you exercise, I can keep that weight on you. I can also make you lose weight. I don't discriminate.
Some of my other autoimmune disease friends often join me, giving you even more to deal with.
If you have something planned, or are looking forward to a great day, I can take that away from you. You didn't ask for me. I chose you for various reasons:
That virus or viruses you had that you never really recovered from, or that car accident, or maybe it was the years of abuse and trauma (I thrive on stress.) You may have a family history of me. Whatever the cause, I'm here to stay.
I hear you're going to see a doctor to try and get rid of me. That makes me laugh. Just try. You will have to go to many, many doctors until you find one who can help you effectively.
You will be put on the wrong medication for you, pain pills, sleeping pills, energy pills, told you are suffering from anxiety or depression, given anti-anxiety pills and antidepressants.
There are so many other ways I can make you sick and miserable, the list is endless - that high cholesterol, gall bladder issue, blood pressure issue, blood sugar issue, heart issue among others? That's probably me.
Can't get pregnant, or have had a miscarriage?
That's probably me too.
Shortness of breath or "air hunger?" Yep, probably me.
Liver enzymes elevated? Yep, probably me.
Teeth and gum problems? TMJ?
Hives? Yep, probably me.
I told you the list was endless.
You may be given a TENs unit, get massaged, told if you just sleep and exercise properly I will go away.
You'll be told to think positively, you'll be poked, prodded, and MOST OF ALL, not taken seriously when you try to explain to the endless number of doctors you've seen, just how debilitating I am and how ill and exhausted you really feel. In all probability you will get a referral from these 'understanding' (clueless) doctors, to see a psychiatrist.
Your family, friends and co-workers will all listen to you until they just get tired of hearing about how I make you feel, and just how debilitating I can be.
Some of them will say things like "Oh, you are just having a bad day" or "Well, remember, you can't do the things you use to do 20 YEARS ago", not hearing that you said 20 DAYS ago.
They'll also say things like, "if you just get up and move, get outside and do things, you'll feel better." They won't understand that I take away the 'gas' that powers your body and mind to ENABLE you to do those things.
Some will start talking behind your back, they'll call you a hypochondriac, while you slowly feel that you are losing your dignity trying to make them understand, especially if you are in the middle of a conversation with a "normal" person, and can't remember what you were going to say next. You'll be told things like, "Oh, my grandmother had that, and she's fine on her medication" when you desperately want to explain that I don't impose myself upon everyone in the exact same way, and just because that grandmother is fine on the medication SHE'S taking, doesn't mean it will work for you.
They will not understand that having this disease impacts your body from the top of your head to the tip of your toes, and that every cell and every body system and organ requires the proper amount and the right kind of of thyroid hormone medication for YOU.
Not what works for someone else.
The only place you will get the kind of support and understanding in dealing with me is with other people that have me. They are really the only ones who can truly understand.
I am Hashimoto's Disease.