Hypothyroidism & Weight Loss

walker137

Hello! I have had several false starts with my fitness journey the last couple of years (since my 3rd & final baby girl was born over 2 years ago), and have gotten discouraged because I would do all the right things and not see much progress (and I’m obese, so I have lots of room for progress). Well, this past week, I saw a GP for an unrelated issue, and she suggested we do my standard lab work since I had not had it done, other than for pregnancies, since 2014, and it turns out, I have pretty severe hypothyroidism. So this weekend I’ve started on medication for that, but I thought I’d post to see if anyone else has experience with this, and whether you’ve noticed a difference in fitness and how you feel, energy levels, etc., with medication and how quickly. I’ve Googled, but am interested in real personal experience if you have it to share. Thanks!

ragingbunny

I’ve had Hashimoto’s for nearly 20 years - so my thyroid is slowly being destroyed. I’ve generally been able to tell when I was due for a bump in my medication. The fatigue and lack of focus is noticeable and having the right dose makes a huge impact. That being said, my weight has yo-yo’d quite a bit over the years. It’s not that the fat just melts off when my dosage is correct, but rather I have the physical and mental energy to put in the hard work required for weight loss. So my view is this - loosing weight and keeping it off is nearly impossible when your thyroid is not treated properly - but getting it fixed is not a magic bullet - but it does help. I’m glad you are able to address your thyroid issues, and you will feel much better and more energetic with the proper meds.

AnnPT77

There's a really good thread here about hypothyroidism and weight management, written by a guy who's a scientist in the field, hypothyroid himself, who lost weight via calorie counting. It's a good counterbalance to some of the wild claims (mostly related to marketing supplements, books, programs and what-not) on the web. It's here:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10767046/hypothyroidism-and-weight-management

I, too, am severely hypothyroid. I was diagnosed around 22 years ago, shortly after completing cancer treatment (for breast cancer, not thyroid).

Before I was diagnosed, I felt really fatigued, and I would wake up very stiff and creaky every morning. Treatment gradually brought things back to normal with how I felt.

Because overdosing thyroid medication is also a bad thing, and because each individual requires different doses to normalize (even with the same initial test results), the usual practice is to start us on a low dose, give that time to balance out in the body, then do another round of blood tests, and at that point adjust the dosage again if necessary. Because of that, it can take a while to step up the dosage to the right personalized level.

That was true for me, but I did start feeling better fairly quickly at first, then there was incremental improvement as the dosage was tweaked up to the right level for me. I've needed a few dosage adjustments since. (I have blood tests for this every 6 months now, but I can get them sooner if I feel off - usually, for me change is so gradual that I don't need to do that.)

By the time I got around to seriously trying to lose weight (and meant it), I'd been taking the medication for 14-15 years. At that point, I found I lost weight pretty much as anyone else does with calorie counting: Start with the MFP calorie needs estimate, track carefully for 4-6 weeks, then adjust calorie level if necessary to achieve a sensibly moderate and sustainable but satisfying weight loss rate. Since loss, I've been at a healthy weight for 7+ years.

Different people will have different subjective experiences. While the mechanics of weight loss are pretty simple (with calorie counting), the subjective part of it will be challenging at times for anyone and everyone. When there's something unusual about us, it's easy to fall into "this is hard because I'm hypo" or "this is hard because I'm approaching menopause" or "this is hard because I'm over 40".

I'd encourage you not to fall into that kind of thinking, that some unchangeable thing is somehow weight loss doom. Hypothyroidism isn't that: Quite a few people here lose weight while hypo. IMO, the only point of thinking about obstacles and challenges is to figure out how we can get over, around, through or otherwise past them, and reach our goals. It won't be easy every second, but if you stick with a good routine - not too extreme to keep up with over the weeks and months it will take to lose a meaningful total amount of weight - you can succeed.

Best wishes!

yirara

the most important thing is the singlemost common thing mostly overlooked by doctors: the dosage of medication is right when you feel normal and energetic, and your brain works again. if a doctor insists that you're in range but still feel not right then the dosage is not right yet.