Anyone with Hypothyroidism doing LCHF or Keto
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bowlerae
Posts: 555 Member
Not sure if there is a thread regarding hypothyroidism.
My roommate has it and is currently doing Whole30. She has seen some of my Keto meals, particularly BPC, and is very convinced it would not work for her. She currently eats low-moderate carb, low fat, high protein. Would LCHF or Keto work for someone with hypothyroidism?
My roommate has it and is currently doing Whole30. She has seen some of my Keto meals, particularly BPC, and is very convinced it would not work for her. She currently eats low-moderate carb, low fat, high protein. Would LCHF or Keto work for someone with hypothyroidism?
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Low carb in general definitely works with hypothyroidsim, @bowlerae. In fact, it was my endocrinologist who put me on the low carb path in the first place. Whether keto does is an individual issue. I can tell you that the stress of going keto tanked my thyroid function (there were other contributing factors, such as working phyiscally hard labor outdoors for 4 days without proper electrolytes/fluids, and we haven't identified what was the most significant). I'm not sure what my current game plan is, as with finally getting my thyroid back level again (which took me about 18 months), I'm kind of scared to go keto again, as I can't handle more hits like that (tripled my TSH well above acceptable range for anyone, much less for my age group), but I can't find my level eating with just traditional low carb. I keep hitting the binge/behave/stress/binge, etc. cycle, and it is doing my head in.
But for many others on keto with hypothyroidism, it has improved all their numbers and symptoms. I just know with the added issue of my insulin resistance, I could never go full throttle paleo either, with all the fruits and "naturally sweetened" items... So for me, I think it is all about finding your level.
And BPC may not work for her. In fact, Leanne Vogel of healthfulpursuit.com makes a Rocket Fuel Latte geared more for women's hormone balance and minimizing insulin reactions, and such. I despise coffee (no matter my numerous and different attempts to start a love affair with it), and can't bring myself to try her recipe...but other folks LOVE it...
Take what works for you. Try out other things that interest you. Make your program fit you. Succeed in your life and in your goals...4 -
I had a complete thyroidectomy in 2010, and I have battled hypothyroidism since. Since the surgery I have gained 20 pounds. The only way I can lose is to eat LCHF (at max, I can lose 1/2 pound a week). If I don't eat LCHF, I gain. I am also gluten and sugar-free. I have gained and lost the same 8 pounds for a year! It is so frustrating, but I do think that LCHF is the only way to win at this game
. Best of luck to your friend! 5 -
@knitormiss that Rocket Fuel Latte sounds amazing and I can't wait to try it. I will also recommend it to my roommate.1
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http://www.ketotic.org/2014/12/the-effect-of-ketogenic-diets-on.html
http://perfecthealthdiet.com/category/disease/hypothyroidism/
It appears the people to have success with LCHF when hypothyroid...I just did a quick google search, others might have individual stories or better studies.1 -
@knitormiss that Rocket Fuel Latte sounds amazing and I can't wait to try it. I will also recommend it to my roommate.
@bowlerae - you'll notice, too, that she has 3-4 variations of the recipe. Additionally, in the podcast (or transcript of it), Leanne clearly outlines what you can change within her recipes versus what is an integral part of the recipe and it's success. She also outlines her keto journey, from former carb cycling to no longer doing so - from all manner of AS to using things like Lucuma Powder and Yacon Syrup with minimal glycemic impact. She talks about fasting and all manner of interesting things.
As a woman with many hormonal issues, I think Leanne appeals particularly to me because she has faced many similar types of issues - or variations therein. I find the majority of her podcasts very enlightening.2 -
@bowlerae - I have hypothryoidism, too. It works for me and I think, but cannot be sure, that this WOE is the reason why I've had to reduce my level of Synthroid. This is odd because my thyroid is failing due to a bout of thyroiditis about15 years ago. They said once it started to fail, I would need increasing amounts of medication over time and that was what was happening until I started eating LCHF - mostly at Keto levels - this past spring. I started getting hyper symptoms and my TSH did show a big drop.4
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I should clarify something I said above, too. My fear of going keto again is partially because I can't do this step down naturally and ease in business. I'm all or nothing. I'm 400 grams of carbs or 20 grams of carbs. Going 150 - 30 - 100 - 40 - 80 - 5 cannot be good for me...overall. I'm just struggling, because I'm a food addict, through and through, and the siren song of foods gets me, particularly during stressful times...
I felt FABULOUS on keto...until I didn't. Along the way, I just hit a wall. I go back to see my endocrinologist in about a month, and hope to work through some better strategies for me.3 -
Following this thread because I have quite high anti-TPO levels although all other levels were in the 'normal' range. This is even though I have been LCHF since Feb 2014. I have other auto-immune problems that may have a bearing on this anyhow. Getting my 6 mo. retest in another 3 weeks so we'll see what the numbers say then.2
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KnitOrMiss wrote: »I should clarify something I said above, too. My fear of going keto again is partially because I can't do this step down naturally and ease in business. I'm all or nothing. I'm 400 grams of carbs or 20 grams of carbs. Going 150 - 30 - 100 - 40 - 80 - 5 cannot be good for me...overall. I'm just struggling, because I'm a food addict, through and through, and the siren song of foods gets me, particularly during stressful times...
I felt FABULOUS on keto...until I didn't. Along the way, I just hit a wall. I go back to see my endocrinologist in about a month, and hope to work through some better strategies for me.
Have you had your Reverse T3 tested? Every time I raise, I feel great and then I crash. That usually means high RT3. It's also why extreme calorie cutting and strenuous exercise are not good for thyroid patients.
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@gentlereader75 - My Reverse T3 was above the range on the lab's options, and I'm taking a T3 medication twice a day, but I feel good taking it, then sometimes (maybe 50% of the time), I crash as bad as a full carb load. I was considering asking my endo about the compounded extended release form, but I've heard bad/questionable things about that, too...0
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KnitOrMiss wrote: »@gentlereader75 - My Reverse T3 was above the range on the lab's options, and I'm taking a T3 medication twice a day, but I feel good taking it, then sometimes (maybe 50% of the time), I crash as bad as a full carb load. I was considering asking my endo about the compounded extended release form, but I've heard bad/questionable things about that, too...
I'm so sorry the T3 isn't working for you. Maybe you need to lower your T4 and add another dose of T3? I've also heard bad things about extended release T3. Hope you can get things adjusted--I know how frustrating it is.0 -
Yeah, my endocrinologist is great, I'm just currently wondering whether to keep on for the next month until I see him again or begin the discussion over email before then...0
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Not keto but low carb and hypothyroid. It's worked out well for me, most of the time though I plateau'd after losing 50 pounds and I'm sort of stuck. I've recently read that coffee can be the bad guy there as people with thyroid issues can react to caffeine by producing huge spikes in cortisol that in turn produces reverse T3s which effectively shut down your T3s which are the key metabolic elements to a healthy metabolic rate of calorie burn.
At least that how is I interpreted it.
So that's a tip I'm testing now, cutting down on my excessive coffee drinking. I've heard there's a double bonus in that another huge cortisol producer is lack of sleep. Coffee reduction should help there too.
I hope that's some use to you.4 -
I am keto (mostly) and hypothyroid. It has improved my lab numbers but I am not necessarily feeling better. I have been able to consistently lose weight on keto where I cannot with any other way of eating. I just started seeing a new endocrinologist last week and started taking Armour in addition to recently increased doses of levothyroxine (T4) and liothyronine (T3). His plan is to wean me off the T4 and T3 and get me feeling better. I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and my antibody levels have reduced eating keto. Recent lab results show that I have elevated Reverse T3. I also have other medical issues that come into play and I eat very low calorie because of an impaired digestive system. I do not partake of BPC because I do not eat any dairy and do not like coffee.
I think your roommate will have to experiment to see what works best for her. I was able to lose a little weight with Whole30 but I could not sustain that way of eating. I did the same with the Dukan Diet. I do not know how my thyroid was functioning at that time.1 -
I have hashi's. I take almost a full replacement dose of natural desiccated thyroid.
I honestly haven't noticed any real change to my thyroid. My energy is slightly higher and steadier but I attributed that to steadier blood glucose. Otherwise, no change.1 -
KnitOrMiss wrote: »@gentlereader75 - My Reverse T3 was above the range on the lab's options, and I'm taking a T3 medication twice a day, but I feel good taking it, then sometimes (maybe 50% of the time), I crash as bad as a full carb load. I was considering asking my endo about the compounded extended release form, but I've heard bad/questionable things about that, too...
You should at least try the extended release. My body seems to over-react to everything and I'm always the one who experiences the rare side effects. I know other people have had successs with it.
I might try just taking a tiny dose of Cytomel again at some point, maybe half a 5 mcg tab daily. I took it once before and had nausea (no cramps), but that was on a larger dose. I do need the T3, that's clear.
Toadqueen, I do feel much better since I switched from Synthroid to natural desiccated thyroid.
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@LauraCoth - You aren't the only one with weird side effects. I won't have any of the normal reactions, but if there is some half@$$ random side effect that only 1 in 1,000,000,000 people have, Murphy's Law is I will get that, or something equally as crappy. Hence my reluctance. Plus, having just moved, I don't have confidence in any compounding pharmacy here. I'm seriously tempted to have my old place make it (trusted and proven for a decade with me!!) and mail it to me, but I'm worried about temperature control and such. I had a check that was mailed from 20 minutes away took 8 days to be delivered!!!
Like I said, I plan to talk with my doc about it. He hadn't wanted to switch me to NDT back when I asked about it, but that was when I was feeling good and level with my meds. He was concerned about me feeling good, then going back to feeling crappy again for a long while before I could get level on the NDT, but since he's been adjusting my meds for the past 18 months, I think I'll revisit that topic as well... I did agree with his reasoning before...but that was far before we got to this point...
The generic of Cytomel doesn't seem to make me nauseated, but it raises my thermal factor - like I'll be sweating inside a room set at 70 degrees unless I have a fan on me...seems 4-8 hours, either side of a dose.
@JennifrClaire - Interesting info about the caffeine/crash situation. I've been on this party bus too long, and haven't been able to function without caffeine in a long while. I only take it M-F, none on the weekends, etc. I might try switching and weaning to see if I can help my situation, as that might explain why sometimes I have that bonk/narc effect in the AM's after my T3 med, and other times I don't...particularly my PM dose... For me, the hardest thing is med timing. I generally don't eat breakfast until 9 or so, when I get hungry...which means lunch is usually 2-3 pm, which is nearly always almost on top of my second dose of T3 meds. It was hinted at that food with the T3 isn't an issue the same way it is with T4 meds, but I'm wondering how much that is true....1 -
I have Hashimoto's, which is pretty well controlled with Levothyroxine (according to TSH).
But I also have type 1 diabetes, so there are a number of other factors that make my experience a worse example than most...
For me, cutting carbs has done amazing things for BG control - that was expected. It also allowed me to finally (after 2+ years of this not being true) lose weight in accordance with calorie consumption, meaning that weight loss follows at the rate I would expect based on CICO... finally!
ETA: Thyroid didn't seem to change much with LCHF... was well controlled with meds before and after starting this WOE.1 -
So glad this thread started....I am hypothyroid and currently take medication. I eat LCHF and seem to feel pretty good, also it seems as if my energy level has increased. I walk 2 miles 5 days a week. But the weight is not going any where. I read how people lost a good bit at the beginning, but not me. Don't get me wrong, I have lost some weight 7 lbs to be exact and that's since March so comes out to around 1 pound a month. Was hoping for more than that. I was just wondering this morning if my medication may cause me not to loose weight. I go back to the doc in a couple weeks and will consult with her about it all and get more blood work.2
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KnitOrMiss wrote: »Like I said, I plan to talk with my doc about it. He hadn't wanted to switch me to NDT back when I asked about it, but that was when I was feeling good and level with my meds. He was concerned about me feeling good, then going back to feeling crappy again for a long while before I could get level on the NDT, but since he's been adjusting my meds for the past 18 months, I think I'll revisit that topic as well... I did agree with his reasoning before...but that was far before we got to this point...
The only negative thing that happened to me when I first started with the NDT was heart pounding at night when I was trying to go to sleep. It was obnoxious for a couple of months, then it didn't bother me any longer. What was significant for me was that after about 4 months I realized I hadn't had a foot cramp for ages, my body temperature control was better, I no longer got dizzy spells in the afternoon, my digestive system worked better, and my hair wasn't so frizzy.
Once I got accustomed to the NDT, and was sleeping better with the addition of the progesterone, I started to have this feeling of great inner calm, like my body was finally relaxing at the cellular level after being tense for decades. And now my doctor has written in my file that I can't tolerate the synthetics, so I won't ever go back.
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