under-active thyroid and weight gain

Sabastianni

Finding it very difficult to work against the above and not being able to exercise due to being disabled. Wish I could find something to speed my metabolism up. Go to see the Doc next Monday for a check on my bloods, still very depressing when most days I am under my cal intake!!!

I highly recommend "Overcoming Thyroid Disorders" by David Brownstein. It's a very informative book.

Lizzy622

Hey I am a 21 year old female and I have an under active thyroid and I am Hypoglycemic, on top of all that I am 181 and I can't loose weight which is making my asthma worse. I have not got my thyroid checked since last time I got checked my levels were normal. Need help please I can't do this on my own.

You have the first part down by getting your medication correct and your numbers where they should be. It is very import for you to check your macros and have a good balance of carbs to protein to fat at each meal and snack and to have a regular eating schedule. ( I use 45%/ 25% /30%.) This will keep your blood sugar more level. Also avoid processed carbs and sugar that enter the blood stream too fast. For weight loss I have found exercise to be my only hope. If I don't exercise at least 3 hours a week, I do not lose weight no matter what else I do.

Where did you learn about the macro value? I'd never heard that for thyroid. I limit my carbs for my insulin resistance and make sure I get sufficient protein to maintain as much lean body mass in caloric deficit, but I'd never heard of a macro balance for thyroid. Mine is autoimmune in nature so I avoid gluten to avoid triggers affecting my thyroid (I know gluten affects me, though dairy seems to be fine). As a result, I eat primally and it hits all my points for me (a less restrictive version of paleo where I can include dairy) but I don't follow a meal or daily macro close to what you're suggesting. I tend to have 15% carbs, 30% protein and 55% fat and that seems to work great for me.

Mine is just trial and error. If I go under 45% carbs, I have no energy. I have read tons of different articles though that say to keep blood sugar stable you need to eat balanced macros each meal or at least try to. Everyone is different as far as what macros work for them.

lindsey1979

Mine is just trial and error. If I go under 45% carbs, I have no energy. I have read tons of different articles though that say to keep blood sugar stable you need to eat balanced macros each meal or at least try to. Everyone is different as far as what macros work for them.

Interesting. I can see the blood sugar thing being somewhat stabilized by making sure that there are fat and protein there as well, and eating low glycemic carbs as much as possible and avoiding high glycemic carbs. My doc has me restrict them altogether in sheer quantity for that reason, but I also eat almost exclusively low glycemic carbs. But, I believe that's because of my insulin resistance, not thyroid issue. I hadn't heard that was an issue with thyroid. The only carb-thyroid connection I'd heard of was two-fold. That some hypo thyroid people struggle on a keto diet so restricting them to keto levels may not work well for some (I don't restrict mine enough to be keto) and that for those with an auto-immune based thyroid issue, many are triggered by gluten, so if that's an issue, to avoid it (it is an issue for me).

Psychgrrl

For purposes of diagnosis, TSH levels don't vary by lab. I know one of the other posters said that, but I believe it's incorrect -- at least for diagnostic purposes. It's that the old reference ranged used by labs was 5.0 (and still is for most labs). However, the the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists lowered the diagnostic value to 3.0 because they noticed that in the old reference range of 5.0 many in the upper range of that old reference range had hypothyroidism, so the results of the reference range was skewed. That's why they changed the upper level to 3.0 (and may change them to 2.5 -- there is talk of this being the appropriate level).

Unfortunately, the AACE recommendation is just that--a recommendation, not a mandate (and it was not a unanimous agreement to lower the recommended standards from 5 to 3). Labs still use other standards--Kaiser Permanente uses 4 (my health provider). This is a hotly contested topic (by people who treat and don't usually suffer from this disease) with some docs saying no treatment is necessary until you hit 10 or higher. It's important that your doc consider your quality of life and even more important for you to be your own advocate in your care. Go the the AACE website and print off the article summary about the change in recommendations and talk about your continuing symptoms as a reason to have your doc look at a change in meds.

Luckily my doc goes by a range of numbers as well as how I'm feeling in deciding medication levels. Hang in there and do some online research, you'll find some great info to help you get your point across.

Fuzzipeg

PLEASE LOOK AT THE SITE "STOP THE THYROID MADNESS".

This site helps you to understand the way you are tested for thyroid issues. It showed me that anyone not getting real help is one of too many, it feels as if they are holding on to a precious crock of gold which is only for the very very few, and they hold the only key.

You could also look at your national Thyroid support site. Hope you do not live in the UK.

editorgrrl

MFP has a Hypothyroidism and Hyperthyroidism group: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/770-hypothyroidism-and-hyperthyroidism

I have Hashimoto's (autoimmune thyroid disease) and lost weight more slowly than most, so be patient! But I did it just like everybody else—by eating at a deficit. Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants