Friendship & Intro Thread

pinkandgrn1908

Hi my name is Karen. I've been dealing with Hypothyroidism since 2011. Struggling to lose weight. Just got a new Endo who suggested I follow an 800 calorie/day diet and exercise. Been doing that for 4 days now. Not too bad, just load up on fruits and veggies and have fish or chicken twice a day for protein. Keeping my fingers crossed that I can make my goal weight in a year and level out on 1200 calories a day. Currently 220 lbs and would like to be 140-159 lbs.

Fit_Natasha

I am so glad I found this group! I was diagnosed with Graves Disease (hyperthyroid) six month ago. Still learning a lot about my condition. Started my weight loss month ago with MFP.

MomIsBlessed

Hi, my name is Kelly & I am new to the site and just recently diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I have struggled with my weight my whole life. I am 40 years old and a mom to a wonderful 4 year old. I gained to my highest weight while I was pregnant with my daughter and have yet to lose more that 5 lbs. I am hopeful that now that I have been diagnosed that I will finally be able to get the weight off. Having my daughter has made me more aware of my health and well-being. Any advice or tips with dealing with this condition would be greatly appreciated. Looking forward to getting to know everyone.

staceyjeanne1

Hi my name is Stacey and I am new to this site(newer to MFP as well). I have been struggling with trying to lose weight for over a year and a half now. I have been on Weight Watchers, no carb eating, low carb eating, dairy free, the paleo, eating more calories, eating less calories, etc.. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's(antibodies present but T3,T4, and TSH within normal range) last month. My endo put me on 25mcg of levothyroxine and it hasn't helped with my weight at all :sad:(I don't have a lot of symptoms other than inability to lose weight, moodiness, and mild leg cramps which the meds have helped with leg cramps and moodiness) I will lose a lb. and gain it back the next week. It's very discouraging. I am looking for anything that has helped someone who went through something similar to me. I get walk 30-60 mins. a day(brisk). I have a problem with my right knee so I can't do anything really intense. I have to eat organic low/no carb all the time otherwise I gain weight rapidly. Thank you for any suggestions anyone can give!!

JennT92008

My name is Jennifer and I just started using myfitnesspal again. I have been a member on and off for about 2 years. I have Hashimotos and doing very well with it for now. Although, the medicine does not seem to affect my weight loss....just when it is off I gain weight. :grumble: And that is very discouraging (probably when I am not a great user of myfitnesspal).

debbylee22

:flowerforyou: Welcome to all of you,
Sorry I've been on vacation, so am not able to keep up on the boards at this time. But I hope you're getting the answers you are looking for. Please check out the links, they have so much helpful information in them. Especially StopTheThyroid Madness.com. There is hope! and you can be well & thin again! :happy:

ynf80

Hi everyone. I was diagnosed with hashimoto / hypo thyroiditis just coming up to a year ago. I have been on levothyroxine (started on 25mg now up too 100mg).

Being in the UK the GP's here do not have a clue and there seems to be no way to see a specialist unless you go private.

Would love to keep in touch with people who have this condition and share what does and doesn't work for everyone. Feel free to add me as a friend.

ELEANOR43da

Hi, I just became a member 2 weeks ago and believe I am very blessed to have found this group. I have hypothyroidism, been on medication for 4 years now. Seems like shedding a pound is near impossible, but am hoping this will help. I have heart palpitations , never sleep at night but during the day,have dry hair and at times it begins to fall out. I get depressed easy at how much I have to struggle. Its great to know there are others here and to be able to hear how your breaking through .

PaulVanda

Hi all. I have been on MFP for a couple of months but have just found this group. I was diagnosed with autoimmune hypothyroidism around 6 weeks ago. Explained quite a bit for me - extreme tiredness, always cold, dry skin patches. I am on a starting dose of 25mcg Levothyroxine and am to go back for repeat bloods after the first 3 months. Pretty sure that the dose will have to go up as I have not noticed any change in the symptoms yet. On a positive note, I am getting the weight off by sticking to the MFP targets coupled with getting back to my running routines that had been neglected for a few years. It will be good to share experiences and support with you all on here. I would particularly like to get in touch with any other runners out there with similar problems.

toddka1

PaulVanda,

I'm not sure I would call myself a real runner (compared to my hubby who has run marathons). I now have Hypothyroidism following a severe bout of hyperthyroidism and Hashimotos thyroiditis. I do run a little (usually 2-3 miles at a time) and have come to somewhat enjoy it again. My transition from overactive to underactive made it take a really long time to get the meds somewhat stabilized and it seemed to take a long while before I started to feel more like myself.

If you are already seeing the scale budge, then you are having some success. Some of the other symptoms may take longer to disappear and some may stay wtih you (I always feel like my skin is dry no matter how much water I drink or lotion I use).

hockeyMumof2

I am in the same boat!! I empathize with you!! I was diagnosed 4 years ago as well, after gaining 30 lbs over 2 years. By the time, I realized it wasn't just normal weight gain bc I didn't exercise enough, or because I wasn't counting calories, and age related slower metabolism it was late in the game. My husband is active duty military so we move around every 2-3 years, so I didn't have a physician that knew what I was like before. The first few visits I was shamed into believing it was my fault, and I needed to try harder to lose weight. Finally because of an accident and some other health problems I have, which cause fatigue and arthritis, it was discovered, but I was started on only 25mcg of levothyroxine, and I continued to gain weight. A year later, increased to 50mcg and with strict 1200 calorie diet, and exercise I can somewhat maintain my weight, but still not successful at losing. It is an uphill battle isn't it? I recently heard about trying a gluten/dairy free diet, and its worth a try. I will post my results,wish me luck!

Morgaine_on_the_move

Hi, I'm Shelley. I am 29, and I was diagnosed with it when I was 24. I come from a long line of people with Hashimoto's on both sides of my family, so I knew my chances were pretty good of getting it. I was on 88 and doing really well, and then I got pregnant and had to up my dose to 125. My levels have been a little all over the place since getting pregnant, but I will deliver in late August or early September and they'll settle out then ( so my endo told me).

I am lucky in that I had no problems getting pregnant, which must mean that it's being managed well. I was excited to get pregnant right away because even my doctor told me that I might have trouble.

I find it interesting that my labwork goes up and down with my tsh levels...when my tsh is relatively low, my cholesterol and blood sugar values are good. When my tsh level is higher, they aren't so great. I wonder if anyone else has noticed this? Also, I can't seem to get my Vitamin D much above 30, even with taking 50,000 once a week and getting a little sun and eating some enriched foods.

autumnmriley

Hello! I am 27 years old, and have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism for 3 years. However, 3 months ago was the first time I did not have to increase my dosage in the entire time I've been taking synthroid. My weight and energy levels are the biggest indication for how my thyroid is holding up. Now that my levels have been stable for the last 2 tests, I am ready to start getting my butt in gear and really losing weight.

allybeee

Hi,
i am new to the group, i am after a bit of advice. I was diagnosed with IBS a few yers ago and simply by cutting out most wheat products and drinking peppermint tea, cooking mostly from scratch also, i manage to keep it fairly under control. As it is an umbrella term the diagnosis was not much help however i lived with it. I would say for the past few months things have changed.

I firstly thought god my hair seems to be a lot thinner and stopped wearing it in pony tails so much as this can thin it, then my hands started getting incredibly dry and cold all the time even if i felt rather warm. and get impossibly hot at night in bed. I find it extremely difficult to lose weight, usually i had to manage this by doing lots of exercise. but now i am injured and have been since sept,it is proving slow to heal and i cannot really do much. I feel tired all the time, achey, quite down at times and generally fed up. i eat clean, i am a vegetarian, my diet is fairly gluten free what with avoiding wheat and i eat very little processed food also. After feeling rather tired and nauseous the other day i decided to look into it a bit more and /hypothyroidism/ came up as a possible cause.
I have not been to the doc yet i had a right nightmare getting diagnosed with IBS previously so i want to be ready for anything i may get asked. Can anyone advise me the best course of action? thank you.

autumnmriley

Hey there allybee!!
I can understand your fears, it sounds like you have had a rough go of it. Quite honestly, I was terrified to learn that I would be "stuck" with this for the rest of my life. From my experiences, and looking into it, your symptoms sound familiar... although there are many things that mirror the same symptoms. The best indication would be through bloodwork, to check your TSH and T4 (if I'm remembering them correctly) levels. It takes a long time (longer than I would have liked) to get to a good balance with the medications, so I would definitely recommend talking to your doctors as soon as possible. And ALSO, if possible, I would consider finding a family doctor you like and respect... no one should go through a nightmare getting diagnosed. But be aware, that doctors are not magicians and will probably want to rule out a variety of options before settling on any one diagnose. I forget all of the other things they ruled out for me.

Best of luck!!!

ahope2277

So I'm new to the world of thyroid problems: what my doctor thought was post partum thyroiditis turned out to be hyperthyroid caused by a toxic nodule. I don't feel terrible but I don't feel great: heart palps, hair loss, anxiety, sweating, itchy, etc. But scarily, I just can't seem to lose a pound. I'm currently on a very low dose of Tapazole until I make the decision between surgical removal and radiation. I'm in the process of getting a 2nd opinion so I can feel at peace with the decision. I just can't shake my worry about weight gain with any of these solutions. I feel really alone with this bc none of my friends or family have much experience with this issue. I'm very excited to have found this board!

jillmann06

Hi everyone, Here's my saga. I was diagnosed hypo about 18 months ago. I was immediately put on Synthroid. I gained 25 pounds, was moody, exhaused and frustrated. My fluxuatine lab results made my doctor switch doses every 6 weeks for over a year. I found a website www.stopthethyroidmaddness.com. I began doing research on Natural Desiccated Thyroid options and took my information to the doc. She refused to switch my medications until I told her if she didn't switch me to Armour I would find a doctor who would. She reluctently agreed and I switched to Armour. Within a week I was a different person. I was happier and more energized. My mood swings disappeared and I even got my sex drive back. Both of those were especially appreciated by my husband! Oh and I also lost 15 pounds in 3 months! I still have some to go but seeing the scale go down was great progress. I ordered the Stop The Thyroid Maddess book and read it from cover to cover. If I could go back in time I would read that book before I see the doctor. It lists alternative tests that can provide additional information to discuss with your doctor and breaks down suppliments/vitamin information. The most challenging part I found was getting my doctor to listen to me. (She has since changed other patients to Armour). Once I had her on board things started moving. Best advice I have is get educated and be an active participant in your treatment.

debbylee22

Very common. So thankful for that site stopthethyroidmadness.com & book.:flowerforyou:

abbiegayle12

New to mfp, diagnosed with Graves 5 yrs ago, had RAI and am no hypothyroid. I have gained 70 lbs since the RAI. I have never taken the same dose of meds for more than 3 months . It has been a very frustrating few years,hoping to turn it around.

toothpastechica

Hi, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism at 11 years old and have been on some form of medication since. Currently on synthroid and seem to have found a good dosage as it hasn't changed in a year and a half and I have felt better then I have in years! I have always struggled with staying in shape (it just seems to take a lot more out of me then other people), and decided this spring that I am done with excuses. Hoping MFP, this group and signing up for a few 5k's will help me to stay motivated. I don't want to lose much, just want to be healthier.