Hashimotos, Hypothyroid and not losing weight.

deannalfisher

tinaski3 wrote: »

Duchy82 wrote: »

deannalfisher wrote: »

1) can you open up your diary - that will help us to help you?
2) with hashi's - how is your blood work? TSH, T4, T3, Free T4 etc levels

^^Point 2 is important here, if you are 100% sure that your logging is accurate (weighing your solids in g and liquids in ml/cups/spoons) and you are only losing a lb over 3 weeks then I can only assume that your medication isn't optimised for you and it may be worth going back to the doctors. You want your TSH below 1 and your T4 at the top end of normal in an ideal world.

Thank you for your information. When I was diagnosed 15 years ago, I did not question anything and just started taking Synthroid. After feeling terrible for a few months I was on a dosage that seemed to work for me. I wish I would have asked more questions, and looked for other alternatives to taking a pill because I am not sure I really have Hashi's. But I was desperate to feel better. Now I am on such a low dosage of Levothyroxine but know that I couldnt just go off of it now because it would cause my body problems. So now I am hypothyroid, have other symptoms, but my blood work is always in the "normal" range.

did you recently switch from synthroid to levo? while they are chemically the same, thyroid meds are one of those ones where they don't advise switching because the fillers can be different and cause issues...

I was on levo, got switched to synthroid and just went back to levo - and its night and day difference

CSARdiver

danipals1 wrote: »

Duchy82 wrote: »

deannalfisher wrote: »

1) can you open up your diary - that will help us to help you?
2) with hashi's - how is your blood work? TSH, T4, T3, Free T4 etc levels

^^Point 2 is important here, if you are 100% sure that your logging is accurate (weighing your solids in g and liquids in ml/cups/spoons) and you are only losing a lb over 3 weeks then I can only assume that your medication isn't optimised for you and it may be worth going back to the doctors. You want your TSH below 1 and your T4 at the top end of normal in an ideal world.

Unfortunately, finding a doctor to follow this guideline is virtually impossible. I.still can't find one that will go by the max TSH of 3.5 rather than the old 5.5 much less have a goal for *optimal*. I have been at 3.4 for a year and won't adjust because it is in the range of normal. Most frustrating condition to deal with.

Sadly this is true, and all the more reason why we need to fire the bad physicians and promote the good ones. I went through ~10 endocrinologists until I found one willing to work with me and get my TSH down. This is especially disturbing as I had a total thyroidectomy due to cancer and best practices dictates that TSH is kept below 0.2 to minimize risk of recurrence.

Doctors work better with data that how an individual feels, so hit them with peer reviewed articles such as:

https://www.aace.com/files/hypothyroidism_guidelines.pdf

It's a bit difficult to reject this when confronted with the best practices of the endocrinology board.

I will also say that it is nearly impossible to maintain hormonal balance if you are overweight. Hormones a free cycling and simply being overweight can cause imbalance. The best thing you can do is weight loss through safe and moderate diet and exercise.

AnnPT77

Also: Don't be afraid to be polite, but very, very assertive with your doctor. This may or may not be an issue for (any of) you, and some doctors respond poorly to polite assertiveness . . . but it's also true that some people, perhaps especially women, don't push back when the doctor says "your test results are normal so you should stay on this drug at this dosage".

One of the conversational tactics I've found most effective is "The current situation is hindering my everyday life in the following ways . . . (list)." Use the pithiest things you can think of that are true, even beyond "don't feel good": Difficulty concentrating at work so productivity is suffering and may threaten employment; too tired to take best, most active care of children; unable to effectively complete chores at home; etc.

deannalfisher

even things you think may be unrelated - like for me, after working out I felt like I wasn't recovering properly - legs felt heavy and just sluggish...but a tweak in my meds helped

Duchy82

danipals1 wrote: »

Duchy82 wrote: »

deannalfisher wrote: »

1) can you open up your diary - that will help us to help you?
2) with hashi's - how is your blood work? TSH, T4, T3, Free T4 etc levels

^^Point 2 is important here, if you are 100% sure that your logging is accurate (weighing your solids in g and liquids in ml/cups/spoons) and you are only losing a lb over 3 weeks then I can only assume that your medication isn't optimised for you and it may be worth going back to the doctors. You want your TSH below 1 and your T4 at the top end of normal in an ideal world.

Unfortunately, finding a doctor to follow this guideline is virtually impossible. I.still can't find one that will go by the max TSH of 3.5 rather than the old 5.5 much less have a goal for *optimal*. I have been at 3.4 for a year and won't adjust because it is in the range of normal. Most frustrating condition to deal with.

Oh I agree fully you have to find a doctor that is willing to work with you and that can be very difficult. I have been very lucky that I have a gp (not even and endo) who is happy for me to control my dosage based on symptoms as well as blood tests and wasn't remotely bothered my TSH was low out of range as long as I felt my symptoms were controlled. Unfortunately I never get FT3 tested as that seems and near impossibility in the UK unless you pay for it privately but I have never felt I needed to.