Recently started meds for hypothyroidism

wide2bride

Hi FitPals!

After some crazy hormonal changes and a very interesting year I've just recently been put on medication for hypothyroidism. I am familiar with the set backs that an under active thyroid creates (which could invariably be what brought me unknowingly to myfitnesspal in the first place. However, I am unfamiliar with "the cure" or how long it may take to notice changes. Is it likely that should I keep my diet in balance that I may all of a sudden start to see the changes I thought I deserved all along?

If anyone has had similar experiences please enlighten me with your stories!

MoreBean13

Well, some people report feeling better within a few weeks of starting medication- having more energy and vitality. For the next few months you will be getting regular blood work done to check your thyroid levels and adjust your medication. Getting the dosage correct for hypothyroid is trial and error- they try a dose, then check blood work a few weeks later and adjust up or down depending on what happens. It took me about a year to get the correct dosage and have my thyroid stabilized. During that time of adjusting, you may experience a whole gamut of different symptoms and swings, that you should take note of and report to your doctor.

As for weight loss, what the medicine does is allows you to start losing weight. Theoretically when the levels are all stabilized your body should react just like a person with a healthy thyroid. Realistically, you should expect that your progress may always be a bit slower and more hard-earned than everybody else. It has to do with the fluctuations of your thyroid on a day-to-day basis. Taking the hormones is not a weight-loss cure. But on the upside, you WILL be able to lose weight and have energy to do what you need, even if it takes you a bit longer to lose the weight. For me, one of the lessons I learned was that to keep the scale moving, I had to get 15 minutes plus of moderate exercise every single day- or around 100 cals worth of dedicated exercise.

What you should do in the meantime is learn everything you can about interactions with the medication and different foods and vitamins so that you aren't blocking it's absorption. Learn about the effects of iodine and saturated fat on thyroid function, and the interactions with fiber, calcium, soy etc. Take your medicine in the morning with a full glass of water and no food for a full hour at least, and if you take any other vitamins you might want to start taking them in the evening. Do your research and you'll do great.

Keiras_Mom

I agree with everything above. I take my medication in the middle of the night though, just so I don't have to worry about when I eat or take my supplements. I wake up several times per night anyway, so it works great for me, but if you sleep through the night, first thing in the morning is good.

MoreBean13

I agree with everything above. I take my medication in the middle of the night though, just so I don't have to worry about when I eat or take my supplements. I wake up several times per night anyway, so it works great for me, but if you sleep through the night, first thing in the morning is good.

Oh yeah I did the nighttime trick for a while too- that works. I had to put my pills in one of those senior-citizen pill minder things because I often couldn't remember when I woke up if I had taken it or not. I still use the pill minder. It's damn useful.

wide2bride

THANK YOU so much for the great info!

This makes me very hopeful for progress. I will have to try to be patient as I seem to have lost some of this character trait over time with excessive and obsessive food management and exercise. I recently sprained my ankle and it has given me the time to realize a lot For example: I am capable of maintaining my weight through diet alone although it is difficult. It has also helped me get in touch with hunger vs. cravings and the importance of my food choices.

I was instructed by my Dr to take my medications in the morning 30 minutes prior to a meal. So it doesn't necessarily matter if I wait longer if you all took yours in the middle of the night then? I do wake continuously through sleep cycles so this would be possible for me as well.

I do take green tea supplements and a digestive enzyme twice a day but I don't think these interfere with the thyroid meds and I am also on Loestrin for estrogen needs. I thought that I read birth control can interfere with thyroid medication, but my Dr. would have mentioned this if he was concerned right?

Keiras_Mom

There's a lot of good information at stopthethyroidmadness.com and I personally would google whatever supplements/medications you're on with "interactions with levothyroxine" or whatever thyroid med you're on as well to find out if they affect the absorption. I know iron and dairy are big ones. Coffee is also thought to inhibit absorption, so if you're a coffee drinker, you have to leave some time between your pill and your coffee.

I recently read an article about a small study where they had patients take their thyroid meds before bed instead of in the morning, and they found that all of the participants had increased efficacy of their thyroid meds. It was something to do with the length of time the medication was in the small intestine or something similar. I take another medication at bed time, plus I might have a snack close to bedtime, so the middle of the night works best for me.

Good luck. It's a long road, sometimes, to get optimized on your medication, but well worth it. TD is something you'll have to live with the rest of your life, so develop a good relationship with your doctor and read all you can. Doctors aren't always up on the latest studies and literature, especially with TD, so it's best to arm yourself with as much knowledge as you can and advocate for yourself.

wide2bride

Absolutely wonderful information as this is new research for me! For a while I thought I had PCOS or a list of other things as I ended up having many hormonal issues and just today was put on steroids for Gout!! Which I thought was a terrible ankle sprain! It has definitely been one hell of a ride for me and I am ALL ABOUT educating myself I have learned SOOOO much about my body and nutrition as the days weeks and months go on with each new thing. I will absolutely be looking into all of the above things as this diagnosis truly makes sense to me right down to the constipation stuff which I had no idea was linked.

Thanks again pals