Graves Disease and Hypothyroidism and effect of dramatic change in diet.

Doc0862

First 6 weeks of my life style change I felt great, lost 45 pounds and was getting stronger physically. Been feeling increasingly bad last couple of weeks and have not been losing weight like i know that i should have. I started doing a lot of research and at first thought it was blood sugar thing but here is what is actually wrong. (this may help someone else) I have a hereditary condition called Graves disease. they had to kill my thyroid with radioactive iodine about 15 years ago now. I have been very steady so I only have to go to the Doctor once every 6 months for a level check. NOW I have changed my lifestyle so dramatically and started eating healthy namely high fiber, low fat so what has happened is the OPPOSITE of what I thought. I thought that as I lost weight the thyroid hormone supplement would need to be lowered due to less body mass. What is actually happening is the change in diet has greatly affected the way my body ABSORBS the hormone supplement. Fiber is one thing that inhibits absorption of the hormones and so now I have gone extremely low. I will have to go to my doctor every 2 to 3 months until we get my levels back up to normal. I will need to keep steady on my diet so it will not need to be continually adjusted. All my symptoms are now clearly apparent. Tired for no reason, depression at times, weight bobbing up and down in about a 5 pound range, muscle aches, joint pains, mood swings and all. Tricky part about the thyroid supplement is it takes 2 to 4 weeks to adjust or for me to feel it. I must suffer thru but if i had know this in advance i would have went to the doctor mid February. Hope this info saves someone else from suffering like I am right now. OK Back to work.......

Thanks but don't need advise. This is only meant to be an informative post to possibly inform others who may have hypothyroidism or Graves disease what can happen if we change our diet in an extreme manner like I have done.

Fuzzipeg

I'm pleased your finding your best way. Contrary to what many think there is nothing simple about anything thyroid/endocrine system related. I'd not realised high fibre intake restricts thyroid hormone absorption. Could this be why many medications say to take on an empty stomach? A 2 - 4 even 6 week delay for a medication change to settle down is fairly standard for thyroid related medications it seems it needs to translate into your cells.

All the very best, hope you fee well soon.