Does hypothyreoidism cause weight gain?

yirara

Unplanned experiment.

Background: I've had hashimoto for years, mostly well controlled with levothyroxine.

Since the beginning of the year I've been trying to keep control of my weight I'd lost weight years ago and have maintained since. Since January it became a lot more difficult to maintain, and in the end I completely lost control. I gained weight. Not much, mind, but it was super difficult to eat at maintenance for some reason. I ate what I usually ate, got hungry nearly immediately again, ate more. And generally didn't feel well and stopped working out because I didn't have the energy for it and wasn't happy. I managed to maintain for 2-3 weeks, then fell off the wagon again, and with all of this I gained very slowly.

Two weeks ago I ended up getting a blood test and found that my TSH was 8.9 and fT3 and fT4 only at 20% within range (50-60 is better). Ooops! Can't be, I'm on medication, right? Checked my medication and found that the tablets were way out of date, and have likely been out of date for ages.

So basically: I wasn't really treated for many months. I did gain weight. But I didn't gain weight because my body stopped burning energy (my diary shows that I gained what I'd expect based on what I ate), but because I ate too much because I was hungry and was craving odd things, because I moved less, because I stopped working out, because I slept more instead of being awake, because I went to the local supermarket after work instead of cycling to the weekend market, cooked less and hence moved less in the kitchen, because.. well, basically all reasons why one burns tiny bits of less energy. Being big time hypothyroid doesn't mean your body stops burning energy, but it makes you do all sorts of things that conserve energy and makes you eat more. Yes, you can still lose weight, but it's a lot harder. If you think you're hypothyroid get it checked out and make sure you get treated for symptoms, not for numbers on a blood test.

MikePTY

yirara wrote: »

Unplanned experiment.

Background: I've had hashimoto for years, mostly well controlled with levothyroxine.

Since the beginning of the year I've been trying to keep control of my weight I'd lost weight years ago and have maintained since. Since January it became a lot more difficult to maintain, and in the end I completely lost control. I gained weight. Not much, mind, but it was super difficult to eat at maintenance for some reason. I ate what I usually ate, got hungry nearly immediately again, ate more. And generally didn't feel well and stopped working out because I didn't have the energy for it and wasn't happy. I managed to maintain for 2-3 weeks, then fell off the wagon again, and with all of this I gained very slowly.

Two weeks ago I ended up getting a blood test and found that my TSH was 8.9 and fT3 and fT4 only at 20% within range (50-60 is better). Ooops! Can't be, I'm on medication, right? Checked my medication and found that the tablets were way out of date, and have likely been out of date for ages.

So basically: I wasn't really treated for many months. I did gain weight. But I didn't gain weight because my body stopped burning energy (my diary shows that I gained what I'd expect based on what I ate), but because I ate too much because I was hungry and was craving odd things, because I moved less, because I stopped working out, because I slept more instead of being awake, because I went to the local supermarket after work instead of cycling to the weekend market, cooked less and hence moved less in the kitchen, because.. well, basically all reasons why one burns tiny bits of less energy. Being big time hypothyroid doesn't mean your body stops burning energy, but it makes you do all sorts of things that conserve energy and makes you eat more. Yes, you can still lose weight, but it's a lot harder. If you think you're hypothyroid get it checked out and make sure you get treated for symptoms, not for numbers on a blood test.

I think this is what my wife is learning with weight loss on PCOS as well. It's not that her body can't lose weight, it's that the symptoms related to her PCOS (sleeping a lot, getting intense hunger and food cravings, not having energy to cook, being in too much pain to go to a gym, etc) caused her to intake too many calories and not burn enough calories. Now that she has made progress in fixing the two, she has been able to start losing weight.

yirara

MikePTY wrote: »

yirara wrote: »

Unplanned experiment.

Background: I've had hashimoto for years, mostly well controlled with levothyroxine.

Since the beginning of the year I've been trying to keep control of my weight I'd lost weight years ago and have maintained since. Since January it became a lot more difficult to maintain, and in the end I completely lost control. I gained weight. Not much, mind, but it was super difficult to eat at maintenance for some reason. I ate what I usually ate, got hungry nearly immediately again, ate more. And generally didn't feel well and stopped working out because I didn't have the energy for it and wasn't happy. I managed to maintain for 2-3 weeks, then fell off the wagon again, and with all of this I gained very slowly.

Two weeks ago I ended up getting a blood test and found that my TSH was 8.9 and fT3 and fT4 only at 20% within range (50-60 is better). Ooops! Can't be, I'm on medication, right? Checked my medication and found that the tablets were way out of date, and have likely been out of date for ages.

So basically: I wasn't really treated for many months. I did gain weight. But I didn't gain weight because my body stopped burning energy (my diary shows that I gained what I'd expect based on what I ate), but because I ate too much because I was hungry and was craving odd things, because I moved less, because I stopped working out, because I slept more instead of being awake, because I went to the local supermarket after work instead of cycling to the weekend market, cooked less and hence moved less in the kitchen, because.. well, basically all reasons why one burns tiny bits of less energy. Being big time hypothyroid doesn't mean your body stops burning energy, but it makes you do all sorts of things that conserve energy and makes you eat more. Yes, you can still lose weight, but it's a lot harder. If you think you're hypothyroid get it checked out and make sure you get treated for symptoms, not for numbers on a blood test.

I think this is what my wife is learning with weight loss on PCOS as well. It's not that her body can't lose weight, it's that the symptoms related to her PCOS (sleeping a lot, getting intense hunger and food cravings, not having energy to cook, being in too much pain to go to a gym, etc) caused her to intake too many calories and not burn enough calories. Now that she has made progress in fixing the two, she has been able to start losing weight.

*hugs* to your wife! It must be tough, especially if also pain is involved. Babysteps are probably the way to go. Maybe she also finds some form of movement that actually help against the pain instead of making it worse: a mild form of yoga, going to a pool or hot tub, maybe a partner massage course (no, not that kind of massage, but who knows...). All the best to your wife and you

MikePTY

yirara wrote: »

MikePTY wrote: »

yirara wrote: »

Unplanned experiment.

Background: I've had hashimoto for years, mostly well controlled with levothyroxine.

Since the beginning of the year I've been trying to keep control of my weight I'd lost weight years ago and have maintained since. Since January it became a lot more difficult to maintain, and in the end I completely lost control. I gained weight. Not much, mind, but it was super difficult to eat at maintenance for some reason. I ate what I usually ate, got hungry nearly immediately again, ate more. And generally didn't feel well and stopped working out because I didn't have the energy for it and wasn't happy. I managed to maintain for 2-3 weeks, then fell off the wagon again, and with all of this I gained very slowly.

Two weeks ago I ended up getting a blood test and found that my TSH was 8.9 and fT3 and fT4 only at 20% within range (50-60 is better). Ooops! Can't be, I'm on medication, right? Checked my medication and found that the tablets were way out of date, and have likely been out of date for ages.

So basically: I wasn't really treated for many months. I did gain weight. But I didn't gain weight because my body stopped burning energy (my diary shows that I gained what I'd expect based on what I ate), but because I ate too much because I was hungry and was craving odd things, because I moved less, because I stopped working out, because I slept more instead of being awake, because I went to the local supermarket after work instead of cycling to the weekend market, cooked less and hence moved less in the kitchen, because.. well, basically all reasons why one burns tiny bits of less energy. Being big time hypothyroid doesn't mean your body stops burning energy, but it makes you do all sorts of things that conserve energy and makes you eat more. Yes, you can still lose weight, but it's a lot harder. If you think you're hypothyroid get it checked out and make sure you get treated for symptoms, not for numbers on a blood test.

I think this is what my wife is learning with weight loss on PCOS as well. It's not that her body can't lose weight, it's that the symptoms related to her PCOS (sleeping a lot, getting intense hunger and food cravings, not having energy to cook, being in too much pain to go to a gym, etc) caused her to intake too many calories and not burn enough calories. Now that she has made progress in fixing the two, she has been able to start losing weight.

*hugs* to your wife! It must be tough, especially if also pain is involved. Babysteps are probably the way to go. Maybe she also finds some form of movement that actually help against the pain instead of making it worse: a mild form of yoga, going to a pool or hot tub, maybe a partner massage course (no, not that kind of massage, but who knows...). All the best to your wife and you

She actually goes to the gym twice a week now. What helped was finding something she really enjoyed, which was a gym that does jump rope fitness classes. So that has helped a lot because she is excited to go and enjoys it. She's down 16 pounds so far.

yirara

MikePTY wrote: »

yirara wrote: »

MikePTY wrote: »

yirara wrote: »

Unplanned experiment.

Background: I've had hashimoto for years, mostly well controlled with levothyroxine.

Since the beginning of the year I've been trying to keep control of my weight I'd lost weight years ago and have maintained since. Since January it became a lot more difficult to maintain, and in the end I completely lost control. I gained weight. Not much, mind, but it was super difficult to eat at maintenance for some reason. I ate what I usually ate, got hungry nearly immediately again, ate more. And generally didn't feel well and stopped working out because I didn't have the energy for it and wasn't happy. I managed to maintain for 2-3 weeks, then fell off the wagon again, and with all of this I gained very slowly.

Two weeks ago I ended up getting a blood test and found that my TSH was 8.9 and fT3 and fT4 only at 20% within range (50-60 is better). Ooops! Can't be, I'm on medication, right? Checked my medication and found that the tablets were way out of date, and have likely been out of date for ages.

So basically: I wasn't really treated for many months. I did gain weight. But I didn't gain weight because my body stopped burning energy (my diary shows that I gained what I'd expect based on what I ate), but because I ate too much because I was hungry and was craving odd things, because I moved less, because I stopped working out, because I slept more instead of being awake, because I went to the local supermarket after work instead of cycling to the weekend market, cooked less and hence moved less in the kitchen, because.. well, basically all reasons why one burns tiny bits of less energy. Being big time hypothyroid doesn't mean your body stops burning energy, but it makes you do all sorts of things that conserve energy and makes you eat more. Yes, you can still lose weight, but it's a lot harder. If you think you're hypothyroid get it checked out and make sure you get treated for symptoms, not for numbers on a blood test.

I think this is what my wife is learning with weight loss on PCOS as well. It's not that her body can't lose weight, it's that the symptoms related to her PCOS (sleeping a lot, getting intense hunger and food cravings, not having energy to cook, being in too much pain to go to a gym, etc) caused her to intake too many calories and not burn enough calories. Now that she has made progress in fixing the two, she has been able to start losing weight.

*hugs* to your wife! It must be tough, especially if also pain is involved. Babysteps are probably the way to go. Maybe she also finds some form of movement that actually help against the pain instead of making it worse: a mild form of yoga, going to a pool or hot tub, maybe a partner massage course (no, not that kind of massage, but who knows...). All the best to your wife and you

She actually goes to the gym twice a week now. What helped was finding something she really enjoyed, which was a gym that does jump rope fitness classes. So that has helped a lot because she is excited to go and enjoys it. She's down 16 pounds so far.

That's great to hear! And 16lbs is amazing. Well done to here