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marciagens

Trying to build a community of like women. Told I have hypothyroidism and high cholesterol. I am post menopausal and want to use good and excersise to heal myself. Please comment if I can follow and are in my position.

AnnPT77

As a post menopausal woman, reaching a healthy weight brought my cholesterol down into the normal range . . . part way through loss, actually. However, I don't think I have familial hypercholesterolemia (genetic predisposition), and that condition can be more challenging. (I was also quite active exercise-wise, but had been since my late 40s while remaining both obese and with high cholesterol.)

I'm also severely hypothyroid, though properly medicated for it. I'm pretty sure that has a genetic component, in my case: My dad was hypothyroid, too. There may be other factors, though: I've read that breast cancer survivors have a higher incidence after treatment, too, and I'm in that group.

There's a good thread here about hypothyroidism and weight loss, written by a guy who's a scientist in the field, himself hypothyroid, who lost weight by calorie counting:

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

That's a good counter to the marketing-oriented clickbait nonsense about hypothyroidism that's all over the web these days. Unfortunately, diet nor exercise are likely to "cure" hypothyroidism, though weight loss changes the medication dosage required, for some. (For me, no change.)

Chemotherapy put me in menopause at about age 45. I started being athletically active at 46-47. but as I said, stayed overweight/obese for another dozen years. At 59, I finally committed to losing weight. A key reason for me was that my doctor was increasingly insistent that I take a statin for high cholesterol, and I didn't want to do it. Brain fog is a potential side effect, and I figured I'd already given up enough cognitive bandwidth to chemotherapy!

Part way through weight loss (having lost around half the 50 or so pounds I needed to lose), my cholesterol dropped back into the normal range, and has stayed there every since. (I'm now 68, 5'5", lower 130s pounds.)

In my experience, very substantial quality of life and health improvements resulted from first becoming more active/fit, then later reaching a healthy weight. The combination is gangbusters.

I'm cheering for you to succeed: The results are worth the effort!

cmriverside

^ What Ann said.

I didn't have to go into forced menopause due to cancer, but I did need to lose weight (80 pounds) during early menopause and I've been successfully treated for hypothyroidism for about 30 years. My weight has been stable at 21-22 BMI for 16 years after weight loss.

Hypothyroid isn't "healed" by diet or weight loss. It requires one tiny inexpensive pill per day for life. The sooner you get your thyroid managed, the better it will be for you, and it will also make weight loss easier.

My cholesterol and every other physical ailment and complaint I had other than that were changed or healed with weight loss and regular moderate exercise.