Hypothyroidism - Can't lose weight!!!

Francesca3162

I have had hypothyroidism for over ten years and while it does make it more difficult to get the metabolism moving, with consistent effort on eating healthy, good exercise and sleep patterns... as well as optimum hydration I have managed to drop 30+ lbs since February by counting calories and walking mostly with a few Zumba classes thrown in to mix it up....

you just have to keep at it!!!

Good Luck!!!

datenshi

I was diagnosed about 20 years ago. It got worse during pregnancy. I alternate daily between 150 of Eltroxin and 175 of Synthroid since I really need around 165 but neither one is made in that dosage. I am doing pretty good with the weight loss so maybe it isn't just the thyroid causing the issue, it could be a combination of things. Also, there are some foods that make it harder for your body to absorb some of the medications so you might not actually be getting the dosage you need.

Take care,
Datenshi

4flamingoz

Welcome to the club that no one wants to belong to! I had arthritis in my big toe and had to stop running two years ago. I was still exercising but couldn't lose weight. Started experiencing weird symptoms and went online and started doing my own research. Long story short-my naturopath didn't want to prescribe Armour(which was the gold standard for 50 years)-I insisted and now my numbers are pretty good, and the symptoms are gone. Finally had surgery on my toe, and have just begun to start running again. The weight is slow to come off-I have to watch my carb intake more that most(always have), but I feel good. Endocrinologist didn't help me whatsoever-I never went back. Good luck, do a lot of research, and become a partner in health with your doctor.

Elizabeth_M

One thing that I have learned in this 5-month plateau of trying to lose weight (I'm on Eltroxin) is that no one's experience with hypothyroidism is the same. Some lose weight on 1200 cals a day - some on more. Some need to eat less carbs, some do not. Some are gluten sensitive, some are not. So on and so forth, blah blah. You have do find out what works for you, and that's the hard part. But do not give it time. Don't just sit there, waiting for the meds to work. Get your levels checked, and the best thing I could ever do - because now I feel more empowered - is read up on your condition. Check out the group on this site - hypothyroidism/hyperthyroidism - go to stop the thyroid madness on the net, and I am currently reading the Thyroid Diet revolution by Mary Shomon, a big eye opener.

I just went to my Dr. this week and while my levels are 'normal' I had her put me on Cytomel, a T3 med. There are TONS of people who are just on synthroid, eltroxin, levothyroxine, etc., that are NOT losing weight, because their T3 levels are not being addressed, amongst other potential issues such as adrenal fatigue.

This sucks. This is hard, I know! I did everything you did - and in the past, when I was not low-thyroid, i would lose weight. Now, I stay the same or gain. 6 months into my recent journey of trying to lose weight, I have lost 8-10 pounds. That was all in the 1st 6 weeks. Yes, you are getting healthy, still exercising and eating right, but, I know you want to lose weight! You can do this - but you have to be an advocate for yourself, Doctors generally don't.

donovanart

I also have it, turns out my thyroid stopped working all together, even to the point where I stopped sleeping 8 days straight, i feel asleep in the middle of making dinner and burnt my arm!! Couldnt believe it, I find it super difficult with weight now, I gained around 60 pounds in the past year, and now it's time to change.
Feel free to add me as a friend!!

crudd123

Take your measurements! I don't have hypothyroidism but I take medication that causes weight gain. I have to take it there is not an alternative med to take. My scale has been stuck for a year but I am exercising like a mad woman and I'm losing inches. I was so discouraged but took my measurements and I'd lost 2 inches off my bust, 4 inches off my waist, 2 inches off my hips and 1.5 inches off my neck! Don't give up just keep exercising and eating right. You'll have better cholesterol numbers and be smaller in clothes sizes! Don't worry about the scale. Just keep trying and know that you are not alone! There are a lot of people with similar situations! Cathy

Dayna154

Dont give up, you will find your answer. With the hypothyroidism it makes it harder so you have to work harder than most to lose less.

grantla56

I just signed onto MFP yesterday, per a friend's recommendation. She lost 40 lbs. I have looked over all of the posts re hypothyroidism that are posted here. I was diagnosed almost a yr ago. My dose was changed 3 times, levels are checked periodically. There is also another part of the equation where meds are concerned; an antidepressant. I have been tried on quite a few and it seemed as tough Zoloft was the answer for the longest time. I don't know if it is possible for a person's body to hit a plateau and have that drug not do the job. It just didn't seem to be making any difference. I was tried on Abilify at one time w/the Zoloft but that didin't help & cost me too much. I really get scared about the feelings I was having, returned to the doctor as much.
She suggested a new drug called Viibryd. I have been on this now for almost 1 month, it seems to have made a difference. I am so paranoid about taking any drugs because of weight gain as a side effect. According to the literature that is not indicated. I sit all day @ my job. I have really bad knees; arthritis, no cartilage in rt knee and just started getting gel injections. I had bunionectomy in Jan. and was all set to start walking again, but w/the knee situation was told that I cannot do the walking for exercise like I used to. I am going through a brief period of PT. I will continue to do the isometrics at home. I would like suggestions that don't cost a lot of money, need to have a gym membership (money or the lack of it is an issue for me) , that takes into account my limitations due to my knees that will help me to stay focused/motivated and help to loose the weight. I know if isn't just about the eating/calorie counting, etc. So sorry for the lengthy post. I am 56 and have hypertension and family history of heart disease, which is why this is important for me. My mom passed away @ 66. Thanks!

kittyhasclaws

I've got hypothyroidism as well. It's taken me five years to get it under control. I'm up to 50mcg of Synthroid, and I believe my last blood work had me right around a 2 for my TSH.

If you're not getting blood work done, that's definitely the first thing to do. Also, ensure you are taking your medication at the same time everyday. Make sure you wait your full hour to eat after taking it, and don't take it unless you've had an empty stomach for at least three hours. Don't take any vitamins or calcium supplements until four hours after taking it. Some with iron. They block the absorption.

My little ticker says that I've only lost 1 lb, but it's actually closer to 10 because I actually gained weight after being on here. Having a messed up thyroid sucks, and most people don't understand just how much harder it can be when you're already doing all the right things. I even got pissy with my doctor at one point and practically threw my food diary at him and told him, "Look, I'm not just gorging myself and eating crap!" It's frustrating, but man, as soon as that needle moved and that tape measure started shrinking, it made me all the more motivated!

spells1977

I have an underactive thyroid too and i'm on 200mg Thyroxine a day. I was only diagnosed with it years ago by accident when i had a blood test for something else. Suddenly it made sense why i had gained so much weight.

I started the tablets and thought all my excess weight would then disappear over night! That was so not the case!! I once moaned to my doctor that i was still really overweight even tho i was on my tablets. She just kinda looked at me as if i was mad lol and told me that the tabs were not a cure and basically i needed to get my back side in gear and diet.

For a few more years i lumbered through until i figured that i'm not going to let this condition win. I read up about it and decided to completely change my lifestyle.

I stopped drinking so much alcohol, started slimming world (and then once i'd lost quite a bit of weight i started on MFP). I also quit smoking so i could exersize without keeling over haha and very, VERY slowly i began to lose weight. It has taken ages because of the Thyroid problem but i really do believe the slower it is the more likely i'll be able to keep the weight off in the long run.

Anyway sorry for rambling. I guess what i'm trying to say is that i thought for about 8 years that i'd never be able to be slimmer because of this. But eventually i did manage to beat it. I just know unfortunately i can't eat or drink like my other friends as i only have to look at a cream cake to gain 7Ibs!! So this is now my lifestyle forever. I guess that's the biggest hurdle i've had to overcome is knowing that it's for life

gmtalian

Thank you! Thank you! You are all amazing people!!! Thanks for the advice, thanks for your stories! It means so much to me knowing I"m not alone. I DO NOT plan on giving up! I will get to where I want to be but most of all, I'm on my way to a healthier lifestyle. That's the bottom line. Again, thank you!

PS2CR

I was diagnosed hypothyroid (Hashimoto's disease) 4 years ago. Every time I get checked it seems my dose needs to go up. I'm now on 125mcg Synthroid (doc says no generic), and 5mcg of Liothyronine daily (a form of T4--gives me a tad bit more energy than just Synthroid alone). This particular thyroid disease means my thyroid will eventually stop working, so I expect the dosage will continue to increase (it seems to go up twice a year on the average). The illness made me very, very lethargic and moody even a year before diagnosis, so I have a lot of catching up to do, fitness-wise. It IS possible to lose weight, but while I used to control my weight with just daily exercise, I now have to get into the habit of counting calories as well. Tedious, but that's why I got this i-Phone app.

runner_gurl76

Bump for later

realme56

I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism when I was 40, started on meds (I was in a critical stage when diagnosed) lost a ton of weight but due to stress and old eating habits regained much of it.

I have gotten back to healthier habits and have lost 100#. My thyroid medication is being decreased and I do not take my blood pressure medications regularly. Maybe another 20# will let me get off that.

Thyroid can affect your weight but once treated you should be able to lose weight eating well and keeping your body moving.

superrjo

I've tried EVERYTHING and can't seem to lose weight. I've done weight watchers, the biggest loser 30 day jump start, Food Lover's diet, low carb diet, eaten between 1200-1300 calories, cut out soda and work out 3-4 days a week for 45 minutes on the treadmill. I've lost nothing. And trust me, I don't eat anything that I shouldn't, well maybe here and there. I've been told I eat the 90%/10% diet, but I was also told by a nutritionist that I wasn't doing anything wrong either. The only thing that I lost weight on was a shake diet, two shakes a day and meal between 600-800 calories...well of course I'd lose weight and unfortunately, it made me ill so I stopped. But I lost 10 lbs and have managed to maintain that. I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism 6 months ago and have been taking a low dosage of levothyroxide (sp?). My next step is to go see an endocrinologist and talk with a friend of mine who just became a nutritionist. I'll keep trying, till I find my answer and I FEEL completely healthy now but any thoughts on this matter would just lift my spirits about it all, i'm really starting to get depressed about it all. I like the way I look but I'm 5'3 180 lbs. I don't look it, i have an hour glass figure, but when I see myself in pictures, I HATE it!!!! :frown:

Hey, I have hypothyroidism and was diagnosed about 6 years ago now. I'm really sorry its affected you so badly - maybe I was lucky or maybe ive been on meds for so long that it doesnt matter! But, i lost 30lbs and luckily the weight shifted really easily. Definitely go see an endocrinologist, because the doctors tests for it just do a standard reading, but the levels may not be working right that your on right now even if it appears they're in the right range through simple blood tests. Its something I need to do because although my hypothyroidism doesnt affect my weight as such, I do have other symptoms like fatigue/tiredness and im very sensitive to cold which makes me think I need a proper breakdown of my levels. I really hope things get sorted for you and you're weightloss gets better! What dosage of levothyroxine are you on? Your body ,may also need time to adjust to it if you only started on meds a few months ago.

sandradi87

I have hypothyroidism as well and taking a low dose of levothyroxine. Make sure to get your blood work done every 2-3months. My mom's an Endocrinologist and every time I mention how hard it is for me to lose weight, she just asks me when is the last time I had my blood work done *rolls eye*.
Anyway, if you do go see an Endocrinologist, you can ask about Rx for weight loss (it's used more as a healthy "training" tool), but just be aware that weight loss is more likely your body water. If you don't want to go to that measure, then maybe kick up weight training? I'm struggling too, so that's really all I can think of.

It sucks b/c we have to work extra hard but at least we're more conscious of our health...g'luck!

cesmith5

Hi - I could have written exactly the same as you did. My doc's just increased my meds after a lot of pushing from me and has agreed to retest in 2/3 months - hubby says that's a result but I feel like it isn't - I'm obese and having been trying hard for 5/6 years without much success - at least I've stopped putting on now! Have been to dietician who's said I'm doing everything right and has no other answers so I've just decided to try and embrace who I am at the size I am. Still eat healthily and record on this site and still exercise but try not to obsess about it. At least for the next two months until I'm retested.

GymAnJuice

the thyroid diet by mary j shomon. cant recommend this book enough. i tried weight watchers, slimming world. lost 2lb at most the first week then nothing. after losing 1lb per week in here, i read this book and lost 4lb the first week best of luck :flowerforyou:

omma_to_3

Most of the people replying (including the OP) are probably not eating enough during the day. I mean, it sounds like you all are active and if you're only eating 1,200 calories a day, that is WAY too low - even for those of us (me included) who have hypo.

I work out between 45-60 minutes 5-6 days a week, alternating running days with a bootcamp class at the gym. I NEVER eat less than 2,000 calories a day - which would probably be the equivalent of eating back exercise calories. I've been losing around 2 pounds a week, and I'm on levothyroxine.

My suggestion: go to fat2fitradio.com and use the military body fat calculator first to determine your body fat percentage, then do the Calories and Metabolic Rate calculator to determine how many calories you should be eating each day based on your activity level. THIS WORKS!! Prior to following this, I was only eating 1,400 calories a day and NOT eating back exercise calories and wasn't losing weight. Upped my calories to what fat2fit suggested and the weight has been consistently falling off each week.

NOTE: If you eat the calories suggested by fat2fit DO NOT EAT BACK EXERCISE CALORIES.

This may work for some, but it didn't work for me. I upped my NET calorie goal to about my BMR for about 3 months. I went from losing 4 to 5 lbs. a month to losing 2.5 lbs. a month. The difference in my loss was about exactly what I bumped my net calorie goal up to. I just lowered it back down. The problem with methods like above is that the BMR calculations are just estimates and averages. Some of us are much lower than those estimates. I do eat back ALL my exercise calories though.

cstiles1960

I have been Hypothyroid for 25 years. I've been on levothyroxine for that entire time. My current dose is .188, but I was on .2. My doctor reduced the meds. Since then I have gained 15 pounds and am having a difficult time losing it. I also have done Weight Watchers, but I don't think their program takes special dietary needs into consideration. I have done some research and stumbled upon a program called The Hypothyroid Revolution Diet. I have started this plan, but still have some reservations. I'll give it a try and see if it helps at all. Is anyone else doing this plan?