Hypothyroid?

Hi

I have been hypothyroid for almost 12 years.

I struggle with my weight going up and down 10-15 lbs. Weight loss can be slow at times but if I am disciplined with my food and exercise it does happen.

Feel free to add me.

Karen

I'm Hypo, but lost the majority of my weight before being diagnosed (took about 2 years!). Once on Meds I was able to lose those last 10 (took almost another year), but I find it a struggle to maintain and eat like a normal person would. I still have to limit my calorie intake to a small deficit in order to stay where I'm at. It's a lot of trial and error, just don't think that being on meds is your cure-all! Feel free to friend me

Why dont u join the hypothyroidism group on here. Lots of information on there. x

Hi. Just an FYI for you. Since you are a vegetarian I wondered if you might be eating quite a bit of soy products, I have read that soy is not good for you if you are hypothyroid. I am hypothyroid, too ,and I try to avoid it as much as possible. Just thought you might like to know.

From the research I've done, it's only an issue if you eat it within 4 hours of taking your thyroid meds. It can reduce the absorption of your pill which can make your levels whacky. By waiting, it gives it a chance to get into your system.

I've been hypo for 10 years. I am glad you're diagnosed and your health will start improving. It's hard to lose weight and by hypo even on meds. Feel free to add me if you like. I lost 40 pounds and then gained 20 back (nothing I did to cause this), I am now relosing that weight again, but like the other commenters meantioned it takes a long time.

Yep, hypothyroid here as well. I suspect I have been my entire life, though I wasn't tested until after my daughter was born -- she turns 14 next week. I was taking 200 mcg of synthroid every day but recently starting seeing a hormone specialist & she switched me to Armour, which is a natural thyroid medication made from dessicated pig thyroid & not synthetic like synthroid. It has helped with my T3 levels but my TSH still needs adjusting so she adjusted it again yesterday. I had been unable to lose weight on synthroid & felt an immediate difference once I was switched to Armour. I'm hoping once my levels are regulated, that the weight will drop off.

I'm hypothyroid too (hashimoto). Make sure to get a blood test every six months and make sure your listening to your body (is your hair suddenly unruly, or more than normal hair loss, changes in your skin, changes in your energy level, unexplained weight gain or weight loss). . It's not a bad idea to get a blood test between appointments if you just don't feel right. Getting your thyroid levels perfect is not an exact science, and sometimes, even if your blood work comes back normal, but you just don't feel right, your dosage might need to be tweaked. Don't be afraid to be vocal with your doctor.

The good news is, once you get your dose right, synthetic thyroid works just as well as the real stuff and you should have no problem losing that weight and you'll feel much better than you've been feeling lately!

A few more tips, since it is tricky to get your dosage just right, it's really really important to take your thyroid med at the same time every day and on an empty stomach (either an hour before eating anything and/or 2 hours after eating). I like to keep a glass of water and my pill bottle on my nightstand. When my alarm goes off in the morning, the first thing I do is take my thyroid.
But if that doesn't work for you, just make sure that what ever you do is consistent every day.

Feel free to add me as a friend. I'd love to hear how things go for you!

I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in 1999 after the birth of my second daughter....have struggled with my weight until finding MFP in 2011. Feel free to add me.

I'm a Hypo as well... with a nice 150mcg's dosage of Levothyroxine to take up my mornings before coming into work. If i miss the dosage for 2 days, I'm struggling to get out of bed. I was diagnosed while in college... and the weight piled on me as well as a nice rash on the face! I've been to a ton of docs but it took an esthitician (sp?) to advise me to get my thyroid checked.

I'm now dying to get back to my doc that checks my blood because of my last visit. He started commenting on the fact that I'm still gaining weight but my Thyroid levels are normal... my starting weight back in June on here was 242... well now i'm down to 195, it took me just over 4 months to lose the weight and I'm looking to get down to the 185 range. So, you can lose weight with the HypoThyroidism, just get the right dosage and stick with a good meal plan... it will start coming off. If you would like to friend me, please feel free, everyone needs support in this adventure, that is for sure!!

Coffee with your thyroid pill can also interfere with its absorption.

Watch the cruciferous veggies too - they can mess with your thyroid even if you don't eat them at the same time as you take your meds.

Make sure your lab isn't going by the old TSH normals - your TSH should be between 0.3 and 3.0, not the 0.5 to 5.5 that was the old standard. Many people feel best and have the best success with weight loss with a TSH around a 1.0. If your doctor questions your requesting the new normals, here's the link to the AACE article you'll want to show him/her: https://www.aace.com/files/hypo-hyper.pdf

Unfortunately, starting a thyroid pill isn't some magic cure for overweight. It will make weight loss possible, it will alleviate some of the other symptoms of hypothyroidism, but weight loss is rarely as easy as it was before your thyroid started misbehaving.

Don't expect a miracle. I've been treated for Hypo for years. Still got heavy, and the weight has come off very slowly. Get your post-medication TSH number. "Normal" is below 4, so doctors will often treat you to where you are a 3.9, but really, a lot of people don't feel better at that number and can benefit from being taken down to 2 or lower. Then there is the whole debate over just taking synthroid (T4) or doing combined therapy with Cytomel (T3). That's what I'm on, although honestly, I don't know whether adding T3 helped or just adding more overall hormone did the trick.

Also, another option for taking your meds on an empty stomach - I also keep mine on my nightstand, but I take it just before bed. It also helps me to curb any late night eating urges because "I just took my pill and I can't eat for 2 hours, so I might as well go to bed!"

Your body doesn't naturally make thyroid hormones at night, so this may interfere with your sleep. However, it's also been shown that your body is able to absorb more of the medication, and doesn't produce as much TSH for the amount of thyroid hormone, so you can sort of manipulate your numbers a bit by taking your pill at night if your doc isn't one to prescribe you down to a 1.0. (TSH is what's tested for when you go in for your labs - it is your body's response to thyroid hormone, and it works inversely to thyroid hormone, so the lower your TSH is the higher your thyroid hormone is.)

Feel free to add me. I'm Hypo too. I take Armour because for me it works, and the Synthroid didn't. It's definitely been a journey to get the my levels right and the weight off, but I didn't stop until I found a competent Doctor, who actually has the problem herself and is on top of all the latest info. Unfortunately the vast majority of Doc's are not up to speed. It's sad really.

I hesitated to mention this since you were a vegetarian, but since you're going off it...I found that going gluten/grain/sugar free was the only thing that really seemed to make a difference in my weight. I think that can be hard to do if someone's not eating meat, though. When I cut out gluten/grains/sugar, I was able to lower my thyroid med dosage and felt better than I had in a long time.