Appetite fluctuations, anyone?

Stripeness

Ugh! My appetite is completely decoupled from my activity levels, and I'm aggravated. It isn't increasing when I work out, and yet some days when I don't work out, I'm STARVING. I am hitting my carb/fat/protein ratio pretty close consistently, and there's no other "aHA!" hiding in food habits.

I remember very clearly that I used to be hungry/tired in some proportion to how much working out I was doing. Now it's like food/energy are completely decoupled from what I'm doing.

Does anyone else experience this?

editorgrrl

Yes, my appetite often seems to have a mind of its own, and my non-Hashi's friends just don't get it. Sometimes I'm _ravenous_ even though I've just eaten, and my friends will tell me to eat more fiber.

So I can offer you lots of empathy (I feel your pain), but I'm afraid I have no advice for you. Sometimes I go to bed hungry. Sometimes I go over my calorie goal. Sometimes I easily make goal, so it sort of balances out. I'm losing really slowly, but I am losing. But yeah, it's hard.

Maybe someone else has found the answer?

Edited to say that I guess my advice is to just keep logging & keep moving. It took me a whole year to lose 20 pounds, but hey, I lost 20 lbs.! (And trust me when I say if I can do it, you can, too.)

Stripeness

Thanks - it's good to know I'm not hallucinating (well maybe I am, but I've got company!). Yeah, I'm just gonna follow your example and log and exercise, and ignore the stomach signals. Because they are out of whack.

editorgrrl

We may both be bonkers, because I tried to talk to my endo about it & he could not have cared less.

It's kind of like noise pollution. You learn to live w/ it, but it's stressful.

Robin052

Hi there,

I feel my appetite fluctuate with seasons changing and also my mental status. When I lost my baby brother in 2009 and had no job, I lost quite a bit of weight. No hunger at all. I feel pretty much alone in this world and I only have 2 friends. One lives in another country and the other another state. I'm on disability for back issues so I have to be limited with exercise which sucks. I like to walk my dog and I know it's good for her and me. Then the mind starts to fight it.

I suffer from depression but even all this time I have been an exercise maniac. I lost it somehow. I get frustrated with my endocrinologist sometimes(only once so far). Most pissed at my primary for not catching my quick weight gain. I had to say something to her to notice. I take synthroid for my hypothyroidism(75 mcg) a day. I went from 50 to 75. My sugars have been really good but that's because I make the effort even though I am Type 2 diabetic(no meds).

Seems like the doctors are not listening to people and that is frustrating. I haven't been feeling well today so I've only gotten about 300 calories in for today. That's okay. I'm here if anyone else wants to vent, LOL.

Robin

editorgrrl

It's nice to know I'm not the only one who's just not that into her endo. I'm on 88mcg Synthroid, and I feel so much better than when I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's more than a year ago. I'm less tired, I've lost weight, and my thinking is so much clearer.

It gets better.

Stripeness

You're right. It does get better. And my endo was worse than my primary (who put me on 75mcg Synthroid). He said he has exactly the same readings/symptoms as I had, but he "just ignores it & works through it". I kid you not.

No. Because if he had the brain fog that I get, he'd be up to his *kitten* in lawsuits for mixing up patient records, messing up prescriptions, etc. I have NEVER failed to be damned grateful that I *don't* have to be mentally at 100% and have some flexibility to do brainless tasks when I'm really offline.

Honestly, I am not impressed with what our medical education system turns out. And as a bio major, I got to see pre-meds up close. To be blunt, we're weeding out the best in favor of grade monkeys and filling quotas.
</rant>

On a positive note? Today I took a Thyroid Support tablet (iodine, selenium, chromium), and some "Clarity" tea - gingko & some other relatively mild yet encouraging plants. Brain fog has cleared. Tomorrow I'll double-check all tea ingredients to ensure safety. But for now? I'm basking in the glow.

MY NOUNS HAVE COME BACK. WOOOOO! (gotta celebrate the little things!)

editorgrrl

I took a Thyroid Support tablet (iodine, selenium, chromium), and some "Clarity" tea - gingko & some other relatively mild yet encouraging plants. Brain fog has cleared. Tomorrow I'll double-check all tea ingredients to ensure safety.

I'd def. be interested in hearing how you feel on the supplement. The brain fog is the worst. (And another thing my friends just don't understand. They think I just need to pay attention.)

I can't take caffeine, and I steer clear of stimulants, so the tea isn't for me. I'm happy you've found something that works for you, though.

Stripeness

Definitely gonna post reviews! I just posted descriptions & links to ingredients on my MFP blog, so as not to spam here :-)

The tea is caffeine-free, btw (not pushing it at you & I totally respect we all have different lines re: what we consume!)

It WILL get better!

editorgrrl

I totally respect we all have different lines re: what we consume!

This is a total derail, but I read your blog and you called popcorn "junk food." I never apologize for eating popcorn for dinner. In fact, I occasionally eat popcorn for breakfast. After all, it's a whole grain with lots o' fiber.[/derail]

After reading the Friendship & Intro thread http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/830821-friendship-intro-thread I'm going to start drinking a full glass of water w/ my Synthroid. After two weeks, I'll think about adding a Thyroid Support nutritional supplement. (I feel slightly rebellious even talking about it, w/ the bad rap supplements are getting in the media these days.)

Stripeness

What's a thread without a derail? ;-)
Sorry - calling popcorn "junk food" was poor wording on my part. Popcorn's inherently quite healthy, I agree! However, I don't make popcorn at home anymore, and only indulge at the movie theater. Even though I don't let them add "butter", it is still crazily UNhealthy. And tasty.

(true confessions here) I also eat my unhealthy movie popcorn in mass quantity. It's one of *those* foods.

Please do post your results on the <whispers> supplements if you try them :-)

And enjoy your breakfast popcorn! (today my breakfast is ravioli!)

editorgrrl

It's too soon to tell for sure, but I recently started taking my Synthroid with a full glass of water (and waiting a full hour before eating), and my hunger hasn't been out of control.

But as I type this, I realize the pendulum may have swung the other way; perhaps I'm less hungry than I should be? Another variable: I went from 75mcg to 88mcg a month or so ago. Perhaps everything's just falling into place for me dosage-wise (after more than a year).

Sometimes hunger would hit me like a Hulk-style rage. It was scary to feel so out of control. So whatever was causing it, I'm enjoying its absence (however long it may last).

Mithrakana

So I know this post is a few months old, but I am an editor and a girl and have Hashimoto's and am sitting here ravenously destroying a pile of gluten-free green pea and corn chips after having already demolished a bowl of tomato soup, some tacos, more tacos, a mango, and I don't know - you know - maybe a house cat?

I call it a "Hashi's upswing" when this happens to me, and it DOES happen. Not a ton of literature about it, doctors give you the shrug, but it is logical. For me, it usually lasts for a few days regardless of my activity level just like you said. I will stand in the kitchen and scream "EAT THE PLANET!!! EAT THE PLANETTTT AHHHHHHHHHHH!" and my husband knows: I'm about to inhale the kitchen. I am also wound tighter than a rubber band and feel like my eyes are going to pop out!

I take NatureThroid, which is a Rx desiccated pig thyroid like Armour. I used to take Levoxyl and Levothyroxine, it didn't work as well for me and the upswings were much more frequent (not to mention the ole fingernails were wretched and my hair was still thin, etc. I know you know.) I'd like to say, if you're still struggling with the appetite swings ladies, see if you can find an endo who will Rx piggy gland. I find my Hashi's is much better managed all around, and my weight loss efforts - while still painstakingly slow - seem to stick better.

I'd also like to share that when I'm on a Hashi's downswing, I have to set timers to remind me to feed myself or I just...don't eat. Zero appetite, can hardly stomach 1/4 cup of food.

Not the case tonight. I haven't eaten donuts in years. I ate four today. Hashi's is frustrating for a recovering binge eater, am I right? You have my empathy!

allergictodiets

I'm glad that someone started this thread.. I have Hashi's ( diagnosed hypo in 2009, Hashi in 2012 ) and struggling to maintain ( I would like to lose about 10 lbs ). I almost never get ravenously hungry - I only get cravings for certain foods. What happens to me though is that sometimes I feel no hunger at all but I am obviously low on energy because I feel like I am about to faint or I start shaking.

krennie8

yeah, my appetite changes by the day. Some days I do my 1320 calories and I feel fine, others I want to eat everything in sight. I'm not sure it's Hashi's related, I figure it's pretty normal to do that. In general when I want to eat a lot, it's after about 3 days of eating perfectly and idk why but I crave salty/fatty foods bad. Like I want to eat a whole pan of mac & cheese. It's very rare that I want something sweet and if I do fruit generally suffices.

321blueeyes

wow, reading this has convinced me that i need to firmly ask my doc for the Hashi's antibody tests. all these feelings sound shockingly like my own! i'm diagnosed hypo & taking 88mcg levothyroxine, but so far have only had TSH tests.

charleigh78

I am rarely truly hungry but sometimes it does hit me. I wonder if it is the sporadic nature of our thyroids? Sometimes it can kick out some hormones and other times it just does nothing. I used to have stronger fluctuations in hunger but I think my thyroid does very little now. My last scan showed a very small, atrophied gland. Just a thought.

allergictodiets

wow, reading this has convinced me that i need to firmly ask my doc for the Hashi's antibody tests. all these feelings sound shockingly like my own! i'm diagnosed hypo & taking 88mcg levothyroxine, but so far have only had TSH tests.

Watch out, as you can have Hashi and no / very little antibodies in your blood. I was diagnosed based on an ultrasound only.

survivor1952

Does anyone know if there is a way to "bookmark" a thread? This is one I would like to keep coming back to see other people's input.

I beat myself up all the time because I will be soooo good with my food intake & then I will have a day (or days) where I am totally out of control. I assumed it was my thyroid but I also hated myself for lack of willpower. I take my synthroid in the middle of the night, after a bathroom wake-up & always with a full glass of water. Yes, the water may cause another potty break but I was told from the start to take the synthroid with a full glass of water & not to eat or take meds at least an hour after taking the synthroid. This schedule works best for me.

Along with the eating out of control spells, I experience weeks where I am comfortable temperature wise & then all of a sudden I go through days of freezing. I am past menopause so I can't cycle it from hormones.

Keep the comments coming. This is an excellent thread.

editorgrrl

Does anyone know if there is a way to "bookmark" a thread? This is one I would like to keep coming back to see other people's input.

It'll stay on your "my topics" page (there's a link near the top of every message boards page) until you comment in 25 more threads. Your best bet is to actually bookmark this page in your browser.

broox80

Mine never did fluctuate!! I was always, just hungry. Last week I dropped 3 pounds because I was netting around 600, which is CAAARAZAY low for me!!!! I have no medical facts to back up this next statement but this is what I think. I think that us awesome folk with cray cray thyroids have periods of time when the thyroid returns to normal function on its own and is just boosted by our meds? Dont know if thats possible, but it seems very viable!!!