Hypothyroidism

bobbietaylor733

I just found out that I have an unactive thyroid and was put on Levothyroxine, was wondering if anyone could tell me what I am up against when it comes to weight gain? I have gained over 10 lbs in the last 2 months and am scared to death that the scale will keep climbing, no matter how hard I exercise and watch what I eat. I have read some post of others telling they changed their eating habits and used supplements to help calm the symptoms, if anyone could please share those with me I would be grateful.

cbhubbybubble

I was diagnosed hypothyroid 20+ years ago. My doc figures I'd actually had the problem all through high school, but it kind of came to a head in University. I almost blew an entire semester because I just didn't have the energy to get to class or do the work. I've been on medication for it since. I don't recall gaining a particularly large amount of weight around the time it got really bad, but I've had a slow steady gain over the years. I've never been thin my whole life, though and I really do attribute my weight to my choices and not my thyroid overall. Your 10lb recent gain may be related to the loss of energy making you less active for sure and my hypothyroid can play a role in making it more difficult taking weight off, especially if my med amounts aren't right. However, now that you are on medication, you should notice a better ability to take it off, if you dosage is correct. As my doctor explained it to me....the medication to regulate your thyroid won't make you lose weight per se, but regulating the thyroid can make it easier to take the weight off, should I choose to.

Like any lifelong medical condition, you need to stay on top of it and compensate for it. No matter how well regulated you are there will be symptoms to combat and sometimes they'll present more frequently depending on how regulated you are - dry skin, fatigue(dose too low), depression (dose too low), insomnia (dose too high), anxiety(dose too high), etc. Because I've been living with it so long I've come to recognize when something has changed and my dose may no longer be stable. I was on a stable does for years and know that can make a huge difference in your overall feeling of health, but the last few years, we can't stabilize me well for some reason. I started in Uni with a does of 50 and am now on 200. When my doc is away and I have to see someone filling in, the other docs have all been aghast that I'm on a dose that high and say it's hugely unusual. I've recently been referred to a specialist about the instability, so we'll see where that goes.

Good luck and feel free to message me. I'm no expert, but I've been there for a lot of years.

ultrafishboy

Join the hypothyroid group on MFP for more information and insight.

cbhubbybubble

Good suggestion...I'm just learning the site and didn't know there was such a thing. I may even join myself

omma_to_3

It may take up to 6 months (sometimes longer) for them to find the right dosage of meds for you and get your numbers stabilized. You might gain some weight in that time, but hopefully not a lot. Once your numbers are stabilized, you can gain or lose weight like anyone else. You'll need to have your numbers checked at least annually (or maybe even every 6 months) but it's a very, very manageable condition.