How Long Before the Weight Started Coming Off?

vixtris

Hello everyone,

I was just bumped up on my levothyroxine medication from 50 mcg to 75 mcg. My TSH was like, 3.7 or something while on the 50 mcg. I was using a generic brand but now I am using Synthroid. It hasnt been a week yet, but almost.

I just found a new doctor, an endocrinologist, as my regular doctor didnt want to bump my meds up from the 50 mcg (she said the level was great). My new doctor disagrees (and so do I) and wants to try to get the level to around 2. Although, I hear getting it to 1 would be even better, he might try to go for it if I ask him because he seemed pretty lenient.

My symptoms arent TOO crazy. Cold feet, fatigue, headaches, trouble sleeping (pain when sleeping and trouble falling to sleep), and hair getting thinner (I swear I had really thick hair!! wtf >.<) are my top major symptoms. And of course, not being able to lose weight!! I do cardio (elliptical) and weights. I take a multivitamin, fish oil, biotin, and a caffeine pill in the morning with breakfast and then at night I take my thyroid med before bed.

Anyways, at the beginning of April when I started trying to really lose weight again, the scale read 186. Now a month and a half later it reads 184-185. Not much of a difference. Same goes for measurements, nothing changed there. How long did it take you guys for the meds to adjust and start losing weight? Perhaps that even now I am not taking a high enough dosage of the medicine?

indianarose2

How's your diet?

vixtris

about 1400 cals a day, around 150 carbs, 80 protein, almost never go over in fat and sugars mostly come from fruits.

MCLA4mom

Medication was not what helped me lose. Sad but true:( It did help me feel better though

indianarose2

Your diet sounds very good! Drinking lots of water too? The scale hasn't moved much for me yet (I've been exercising more and eating properly for a few months now - you can check out my diary if you'd like) but my clothes are fitting better. My last med adjustment was about 1.5 months ago. I wish I could respond to you as a success story but I'm afraid that is a work in progress! I did hire a fitness coach who is guiding and watching my exercise and nutrition to make sure I am eating and exercising optimally. I FEEL so much better with the 5-6 days of exercise a week and better eating (building habits is Stage 1) and now we are working on watching calories closer and working out with greater intensity. I think the body takes time to adjust to these changes and perhaps being hypo it might take even longer. Don't give up!!

I hope a true success story responds to your question! ;-) In the meantime, I hope this helps a little!

fiberartist219

For me, it was really slow and it came in waves... and I'm not done yet.

I couldn't focus on the weight loss though. I tried for months and didn't drop a pound or lose any inches. However, I started to feel better.... and then as I felt better, I would have more energy, and I was becoming more active...

and THEN the weight started to come off and I was able to adjust some of the meds I was on (for other issues) and then it came off like a normal person.

So, if you work out and eat right for a couple months and don't see any changes, don't fret, because the work is worth doing, regardless of what the scale says.

LizGozza

I've only been on Armour for 3.5 weeks (30mg) and I'm on the young side, no kids, no hashis, etc. So mine may vary greatly from others. At first nothing really moved, then I had my period and that was terrible. Worst PMS I've ever had. But afterwards I dropped 5 pounds in a week, and have slowly started seeing it going down (.5 pounds the next week)
however, I don't eat anything processed, take out, etc. That means no 'lean" or diet products or anything of the like. Everything is simple ingredients and mostly south beach type foods (low glycemic) fruits, veggies, complex carbs, meat, nuts, limited dairy (I'm lactose intolerant) I've also cut out alcohol for a month to help jump start and hopefully help my insulin resistance, and gluten to help push it into gear as well.
I walk over 2 hours a day, do some weight stuff at home, and "toil like a French peasent" for 3-6 hours in my yard on the weekends (my Endo has a thing about how were meant to be French peasents toiling in the field all day)
I can't say if this will continue to work, if I'll stop losing for months, etc. But I personally feel better doing my body right. My thyroid symptoms are still there, but as I said I just started a few weeks ago.

vixtris

Thanks for the responses guys. It is very discouraging that I have been physically workout out and also changing my diet and nothing has changed. when I was first put on levothyroxine (a couple years ago) I did lose some weight without any diet or exercise changes. I thought that maybe it wouldnt be so hard now, but I guess thats not the case. I am still young and no kids as like you Liz, I guess I just need to stay motivated and keep working at it. I am actually on my tom right now and it feels like symptoms are worse when on it, especially with sadness rearing its ugly head (and not to mention cravings arent helping lol). and indianarose2, yes I am drinking lots of water ^^ its the only thing I drink.

JinxRita

I have Hashimoto's, and have been unmedicated for a majority of the time...initially by choice (I was young and did not understand that I was 'sick') and now by a lack of medical care/money. I started my journey on January 2, 2012 and focused mainly on staying in my calorie goals as much as possible, and by exercising as per my MFP guidelines. I lost about 28 pounds by August of that year. When I moved, I had no space or time to exercise, so I focused more on my diet - I stopped drinking as much soda, started drinking more water, had more salads and less meat, etc. I managed to lose about another 23 pounds from September to now.

The point I'm trying to make is this: It -is- fully possible to lose weight, but it definitely takes a lot of time and discipline. Most weeks my scale doesn't seem to move at all, and it is -so- very frustrating...but the weight will come off, bit by bit. Just be patient and stick with it.

indianarose2

vixtrix - Thanks for asking the question! Everyone's posts helped me as well!!! :flowerforyou: I guess the moral to this story is stick to it and don't give up. Maybe we need to stop watching the scale and just keep doing what is good for our health!

strawberrytoast

As minority says slowly but surely. It does happen but don't expect quick results. And try not to get disheartened it will only get you back to square one. 2 1/2 years its taken me to get 30 odd pounds off and I've kind of given up at the moment. Still sticking to my calories but the exercise has gone out the window. If you get like this nothing happens so stick with it! :flowerforyou:

KathleenSweetie

I found too that levo for my hypothyroid helps me feel better every day and more motivated to keep on my track of eating healthy - I take 100 mg every morning since I no longer produce this hormone (pituitary issue and recent adrenal gland issue). I was moving along just fine since starting levo the past 6 months and I saw patterns in my wt plateaus.
My exercise is limited (side effects of cabergoline) but I try to always move some way every day. I pay incredible attention to eating very balanced - stopped soda over a year ago, cut back on beef (was really making me not feel well for some reason), increased protein through nuts, switched from butter to olive oil, cut way back on white flour products, no fried foods.
But recently my pituitary acted up again and I saw my weight really jump up (8 lbs). No changes in calories, increased water.. It's starting to become more balanced over past week thankfully!
I guess what I'm getting at, Vixtres, is I too don't see my weight drop continually in spite of so much effort. And without that "reward" (wt loss), I catch myself feeling frustrated and questioning what could I be doing wrong. But then I try to constantly remind myself that most importantly I'm putting better, healthier food choices in my body and that has to be helping my body/mind a whole lot more than focusing on getting rid of pounds.
(P.S. I was at 221 in Oct 2012 when I started my journey and I am down to 184.)

jadedone

Here is what I have found. (and I really need to update my ticker).

I was diagnosed as hypo about 4 years ago at this point. I started, seriously, trying to lose at the beginning of last year. At that point, I was pretty well regulated, and my blood tests were good.

At that point I lost pretty steadily. Around a pound to 1.5 per week. Then I hit a plateau, started eating more, and that broke the plateau. All in all I was down almost 50 pounds at the end of the summer.

Then another plateau hit. I tried more exercise, less exercise, intuitive eating.....basically everything. The weight crept up again. I did blood tests, and my levels were back up to about 4 (from a previous low of 1.5). I regained 20 pounds and have been holding there for the past 6 months or so. Low energy = less exercise for me, so I did not workout as hard or often.

I decided to "start over" and got a new dosage of Synthroid about 3 months ago. Paying more attention to calories and so on. So far, nothing has budged, but my energy is closer to normal again.

I decided that I think I might need to go lower in calories to make progress again (unfortunately). I have been eating under my TDEE but that really isn't enough.

For now, I am going to drop my calories a bit more, and see if that helps. And work on different kinds of workouts.

I am totally jealous of people who can make small changes for big results. I don't have any of those small wins available. I pretty much cut out drinking soda when I was 14. (I have 1-2 a month, and have been on that schedule since then). I eat mostly clean and minimally processed and have been for 10 years. I switched to EVOO about 14 years ago. I don't eat tons of "white" food. Basically all that is left is paleo.

cjaaron

I have hashi's and I did not lose much while on Synthroid, when I switched to Armor about a month in I started loosing. My energy level is much better and many symptoms are going away (finally). I also have been eating (mostly) anti-inflammatory foods. I feel like the anti-inflammatory foods have kick started my weigh loss. I've only been loosing for a few weeks after unsuccessfully trying for a year.

KathleenSweetie

I have hashi's and I did not lose much while on Synthroid, when I switched to Armor about a month in I started loosing. My energy level is much better and many symptoms are going away (finally). I also have been eating (mostly) anti-inflammatory foods. I feel like the anti-inflammatory foods have kick started my weigh loss. I've only been loosing for a few weeks after unsuccessfully trying for a year.

I never heard of Armour before now. I just read up on it - provides TH4 and TH3, rather than how levo works (just TH4 which is expected to be converted to TH3). Interesting... I'm going to discuss this with my endo as I don't produce the hormone at all on my own. And, I had a set back (energy, etc.) a couple weeks ago.

ArtsyGeekette

I have been diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, PCOS and Insulin Resistance. Since March 2013, I am now down 32lbs by going on Keto (very low carbohydrates/high natural fat) and it is a world of positive difference. My hair is nice and thick, my skin has cleared up, I am not as sick as I used to be and my blood sugar levels are now even and on the normal side (86 to 100) I have cut out artificial foods and drinks. I use natural or low-glycemic sweeteners such as liquid sucralose or liquid stevia and keep usage minimal for coffee/tea.

I exercise 3 times a week max and minimal is twice a week with strenght training followed by cardio. I haven't felt this good in 4 years.

Hypothyroidism and Insulin Resistance go hand-in-hand. Once you cut back on excess carbs/sugars, the weight will start to shed off. Here's an article, especially for those who are also taking Metformin, to describe why getting control of your blood sugars now is important: http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2012/05/30/hypothyroidism-insulin-resistance-and-metformin/ [Note: I am not a doctor. This information should be also discussed with your doctor and any other findings that may help your personal condition.]

Low fat and/or Low Calorie might not be a good option for us who are hypothyroid as it triggers a starvation response in the body and may be signaling your body to store more fat. EEK! Once I started eating my calories at 70%+ fat, 20% protein and 10% carbs, I started to see my lingering brain fog disappear, my lethargy turned into "DO ALL THE THINGS!" and I felt more sociable and less crabby/depressed.

Feel free to message me if you want to find out more and what you can do personally to take your life back from thyroid issues.

LizGozza

I second the keto approach, before diagnosed it was the only thing that worked to get weight off.
I do keto via south beach phase 2. I can't do phase 1 unfortunately (I'm hypoglycemic as well, having no sugars from fruit and 0 complex carbs makes me faint) but I still would lose 2 pounds a week on it.
everyone is different however, its best to find what works for you!

cjaaron

[/quote]
I never heard of Armour before now. I just read up on it - provides TH4 and TH3, rather than how levo works (just TH4 which is expected to be converted to TH3). Interesting... I'm going to discuss this with my endo as I don't produce the hormone at all on my own. And, I had a set back (energy, etc.) a couple weeks ago.
[/quote]

Go to "Stop The Thyroid Madness" and check out Mary Shomon's articles about Thyroid Disease before you see your endo. Be an informed consumer.