Hashimoto's and Hypothyroidism

Amercado71

Has anyone with Hashimoto's or Hypothyroidism had success with weight loss? I have gained quite a bit of weight over the past year. I'm taking medication for the hypothyroidism, but I'm still not sure my dosage is correct. I'm still fatigued all the time and I'm not sure how much of that is thyroid and how much is weight.

Triskele2

I have Hashimoto's and am not having any trouble losing weight. Have been taking synthroid for years though so I feel great. It can take awhile to get the dosage just right.

Amercado71

Well that's good to hear. I have heard so much negativety about weight loss when you have hashi's and hypo. I think a lot of my fatigue is the extra weight. I've seen so many things that say too much exercise can cause more problems than help as far as fatigue goes. Just want to get healthy this time. I'm not putting a number on where I want to be. :-)

Kalikel

I don't have a thyroid and you don't get more hypo than that. I'm closing in on 100 pounds lost, every ounce of it was lost after I began the Synthroid.

It does take time to get those levels adjusted! Even after they're correct, it can change as time goes on, so keep your appointments as the years go on. Doctors generally won't give you more meds than will carry you to your next appointment, anyway...they know people won't come back unless they need the pills, lol, but it's important to be seen. So never skip.

I was extremely tired and out of breath because of my gigantic thyroid, plus vitamin deficiencies. When it all got straightened out, I felt like a whole new person - a person with energy, who could do stuff and not be whipped just going to the bathroom.

Tell the endo about your fatigue. Take your pills correctly. If you don't know the rules about how to take Synthroid, visit the Synthroid website. With any luck at all, things will get MUCH better. I hope you have the success I have. Not everyone does. I know I'm really lucky. But you might and I'll cross my fingers for you.

Amercado71

Kalikel wrote: »

I don't have a thyroid and you don't get more hypo than that. I'm closing in on 100 pounds lost, every ounce of it was lost after I began the Synthroid.

It does take time to get those levels adjusted! Even after they're correct, it can change as time goes on, so keep your appointments as the years go on. Doctors generally won't give you more meds than will carry you to your next appointment, anyway...they know people won't come back unless they need the pills, lol, but it's important to be seen. So never skip.

I was extremely tired and out of breath because of my gigantic thyroid, plus vitamin deficiencies. When it all got straightened out, I felt like a whole new person - a person with energy, who could do stuff and not be whipped just going to the bathroom.

Tell the endo about your fatigue. Take your pills correctly. If you don't know the rules about how to take Synthroid, visit the Synthroid website. With any luck at all, things will get MUCH better. I hope you have the success I have. Not everyone does. I know I'm really lucky. But you might and I'll cross my fingers for you.

Thank you! I'm actually on Levo. My doctor doesn't seem to want to switch me to Synthroid. :-( In any case I will keep on my appointments and thank u again for the advice. Congrats on your success! :-)

vixtris

Hi. I am hypo. I've lost almost 60 lbs this year alone, around 100 or so total. It took me a few doctor visits to finally get my dosage right. Make sure you make it clear to your doctor that you want to get your tsh level as close to perfect as possible. When your dosage is correct and they tell you your levels are good, its literally as easy as calories in, calories out. Be sure to weigh everything you consume with a food scale and measuring cups. It would also be a good idea to get a heart rate monitor if you will be exercising too, because over estimating your burn can destroy your progress (if you eat back exercise calories).

Amercado71

Congrats Vixtris! Thank you for the info/advice. I'm feeling better already about being able to get this weight off!

CoffeeNCardio

OP, my husband had his thyroid surgically removed in December of '13. He's had some synthroid dosing issues too. You'll get there, it just takes time to get the right dose going, just never hesitate to call your doc and say "Look, this isn't working." He/she should happily get you re-tested or just call in a different dose. I know they write those scripts out for like 6 months, but that DOES NOT mean you're stuck with that until the end of the script. Your needs come first, not the paper trail.

Also, hubby has a terrible time trying to KEEP weight on. He had lost so much weight before the surgery because his thyroid was running on triple-power and it's like being on meth basically. Now he has no thyroid at all and is having issues GAINING. So I guess my point is, don't be disheartened. All people are different, and thyroid issues may affect one person in a totally different way than another weight-wise. Your hashimoto's is not a sentence of being overweight and you can't do anything about it. It's just gonna take some adjustments of your dosage, and a few tweaks of your CICO than the average joe:) You can do this:)

Kalikel

Amercado71 wrote: »

Kalikel wrote: »

I don't have a thyroid and you don't get more hypo than that. I'm closing in on 100 pounds lost, every ounce of it was lost after I began the Synthroid.

It does take time to get those levels adjusted! Even after they're correct, it can change as time goes on, so keep your appointments as the years go on. Doctors generally won't give you more meds than will carry you to your next appointment, anyway...they know people won't come back unless they need the pills, lol, but it's important to be seen. So never skip.

I was extremely tired and out of breath because of my gigantic thyroid, plus vitamin deficiencies. When it all got straightened out, I felt like a whole new person - a person with energy, who could do stuff and not be whipped just going to the bathroom.

Tell the endo about your fatigue. Take your pills correctly. If you don't know the rules about how to take Synthroid, visit the Synthroid website. With any luck at all, things will get MUCH better. I hope you have the success I have. Not everyone does. I know I'm really lucky. But you might and I'll cross my fingers for you.

Thank you! I'm actually on Levo. My doctor doesn't seem to want to switch me to Synthroid. :-( In any case I will keep on my appointments and thank u again for the advice. Congrats on your success! :-)

Levo is generic Synthroid. If you want the name brand, I'm sure your doctor would prescribe it. It costs more, though, and if you rely on your insurance, it's unlikely that they'll pay for the name brand. It's the same stuff, though.

Thanks for the congrats. I tend to lose slower than others, even with the Synthroid, but I'm so damn happy to be losing that I generally don't even care. Sometimes I wish it would come off faster, but mostly, I'm deliriously happy. After so many years of trying and banging my head against a wall, it's just a joy to diet and lose weight. Nothing could've made me happier.

I do work hard. I don't want to give the impression that it happened without work. LOTS of work. But when you're used to trying, doing everything right and failing...then trying and succeeding? It's the BEST!!!

Again, I know how lucky I am and that not everyone has the success I've had. I'm not trying to be all, "If I can do it, you can, you big, lazy, doof!" or "This pill is magic and if you take it, you'll lose weight, too!" I know others struggle more. But some of us get lucky and I truly hope you do, too.

Amercado71

CoffeeNCardio wrote: »

OP, my husband had his thyroid surgically removed in December of '13. He's had some synthroid dosing issues too. You'll get there, it just takes time to get the right dose going, just never hesitate to call your doc and say "Look, this isn't working." He/she should happily get you re-tested or just call in a different dose. I know they write those scripts out for like 6 months, but that DOES NOT mean you're stuck with that until the end of the script. Your needs come first, not the paper trail.

Also, hubby has a terrible time trying to KEEP weight on. He had lost so much weight before the surgery because his thyroid was running on triple-power and it's like being on meth basically. Now he has no thyroid at all and is having issues GAINING. So I guess my point is, don't be disheartened. All people are different, and thyroid issues may affect one person in a totally different way than another weight-wise. Your hashimoto's is not a sentence of being overweight and you can't do anything about it. It's just gonna take some adjustments of your dosage, and a few tweaks of your CICO than the average joe:) You can do this:)

Thank you! I'm feeling much better hearing that there are success stories. I know it will take work and that's fine. I can do this! Thank u!

Moondoggie9155

I am hashi's on armour thyroid. it's important to watch your t4 and free t4 levels as well not just ths. You may find that adding some t3 to your levo may help with you. Along with a Vitamin D supplementation which hashi/hypo people tend to be low on.
I have lost weight when I eat well and exercise. But i also know that sometimes my levels fluctuate alot because that is what hashis does. I've learned "for me" medicine isn't enough.....that no coffee atleast with my meds and going gluten free and dairy and refine sugar free and close to paleo diet is important for my thyroid and energy levels. I also take 5000iu D every night with magnesium and atleast 1000 vit. C all to support my thryoid. Of course everyone is different and you will find what works for you.
It took me a while to get my levels better and find a dose that works for me.
be patient and gentle with yourself with stress reduction and diet....you will get there!

tiffkittyw

Hi there! I was just diagnosed as hypo at the end of October and put on Levo so my TSH is not stable yet. My next lab work is scheduled for beginning of December to see how things are going. Anyhow although I'm very tired each day I manage to wake up early and go to the gym for an hour and then keep moving the rest of the day until I hit 10,000 steps. It's a lot of work when you are so tired, but I've lost 17 lbs since end of August. I do have to eat no more than 1,300 net calories if I want to lose 1lb a week and it would be less without the exercise. I just want you to not give up hope since you can absolutely lose weight once you figure out your CICO.

lindsey1979

FWIW, many of us that have Hashi's have other things going on as well that needed to be corrected. It's not uncommon for someone with a long untreated thyroid problem to have other systems negatively impacted. When I finally got diagnosed properly, my doc checked for a whole bunch of other things -- most of which I didn't know about at all. From what I can remember, that included liver enzymes, blood sugar issues (A1C), adrenal issues (cortisol, DHEA and probably some others) and common vitamin/mineral deficiencies (D, iron, magnesium, iodine, etc.). Many of these can also have symptoms similar to an underperforming thyroid -- like fatigue, weight gain/difficulty losing weight, etc.

In my case, in addition to the thyroid, I also had abysmally low Vitamin D, magnesium and DHEA levels and insulin resistance. Once I got those figured out with the thyroid, it was like night and day -- and I generally lost in line with my expected numbers. Sometimes a little slower, but well within the range of a "normal person".

I also found diet changes to be really helpful. I did a strict Paleo diet initially as an elimination diet and then slowly started working things back in if I felt good. I found that a lot of grains really didn't do well with me. I suspect it's gluten as that's a common trigger for autoimmune diseases and I don't seem to have any problem with oats (which are gluten free). I also found that I felt much better when I cut down on added sugar (usually mostly found in some of the highly processed foods I was eating). So getting most of my carbs from fruits and veggies rather than grain sources (except for the occasional steel cut oats for breakfast) or added sugar made a huge difference for me personally.

Pawsforme

I started Levo on 6/24 and have lost 20 pounds since then, and relatively easily. It did take about six weeks for the medication to kick in. For that time period I was barely managing to maintain on 1100-1200 calories a day. After six weeks or so I started losing a pound or two a week. Be patient and work with your doctor to get your dosage right. I know it sounds trite, but since getting my thyroid numbers back in the normal range I truly feel like I've come back from the dead.

Kalikel

Pawsforme wrote: »

I started Levo on 6/24 and have lost 20 pounds since then, and relatively easily. It did take about six weeks for the medication to kick in. For that time period I was barely managing to maintain on 1100-1200 calories a day. After six weeks or so I started losing a pound or two a week. Be patient and work with your doctor to get your dosage right. I know it sounds trite, but since getting my thyroid numbers back in the normal range I truly feel like I've come back from the dead.

It's not trite. It's so true. It's a huge thing. The difference in unbelievable for some of us. Others get the pills and nothing changes, really. But for some, there's a HUGE before and after as the pills go - and I don't mean weight, I mean LIFE. Before and after with the weight, too, of course.

Lkshmacklin

I'm having a hard time losing this weight I don't have a thyroid I've been on meds since I was 18 but I'm closing in on 40 and the lbs keep adding I could really use some advise.

lae10715

I have had a thyroid condition for the last 20 years and I am still having a hard time maintaining a healthy weight. It could be due to an injury that doesn't allow me to exercise vigorously but I welcome any tips and advice.

TakingBackForever

My partner has Hashimotos he was put on medication but decided to stop. He has lost 180 pounds over 3 years, and is maintaining now!