thyroid removed,people say i will get fat, scared, please?

workoutgirl23
workoutgirl23 Posts: 267
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey. i had the radioactive iodine treatment a few months back to kill off my thyroid, because i have graves disease, (a very over active thyroid.) before i had lost about 20 pounds. now, since i have gained it all back. gained back 20 pounds. i feel so bad about myself and so disgusting. and i'm scared i will keep gaining. and yes, i have been slacking on my diet. been eating a lot of junk. so that could be part of it. but me having no thyroid i'm sure isn't helping things. i'm starting on meds now to regulate my thyroid so hopefully things will get back to normal soon. but i'm worried, that now no matter what i do i won't be able to lose the weight? people have been telling me, family and friends, that since i had my thyroid removed, i will never be able to lose weight again, and i'm doomed to be fat. i'm scared. i am naturally always been a small, skinny person. and i want to stay that way. please share experiences, give me some hope that things will be ok, and i will still be able to lose weight if i exercise and diet? thanks much.

Replies

  • amnsetie
    amnsetie Posts: 666 Member
    There is a thyroid group on mfp you can join.
    You can keep the weight off you will see.
    You should eat 10% less than the mfp goal

    that's the main thing. join the group for more help as you go
  • wildapril
    wildapril Posts: 97 Member
    You will most likely be put on a thyroid medication to prevent excessive weight gain. Talk to your doctor.
  • mulderpf
    mulderpf Posts: 209 Member
    My dad had his thyroid removed and he didn't put on significant amounts of weight. This was about 10-15 years ago?
  • teresa_c
    teresa_c Posts: 58
    My mom has grave's disease and had the same procedure as you. I am happy to report that she did not get fat and she doesn't even exercise (she does watch her calories, though). If you eat as clean as you can, keep your calories down and exercise, I promise you, you will be fine and you'll FEEL GREAT, too!
  • teresa_c
    teresa_c Posts: 58
    You will most likely be put on a thyroid medication to prevent excessive weight gain. Talk to your doctor.

    that, too! ^^ my mom is very good (this all started about 10 years ago) about having her levels checked regularly to make sure her medication is the correct dosage and adjusting accordingly...
  • ShamaraRobyn
    ShamaraRobyn Posts: 27
    I have Grave's disease, and I had that treatment, the only difference is I've always been fat and lost about 40lbs when I was under- then gained it all back plus some.
    You won't gain too much weight provided you eat well. (Something my family has never done, haha)
    They'll get you on the proper medication soon enough if you're still 'under'. Just keep going for your tests. You only gain weight if you're not on the correct dose. For example, I'm on 150µg- on 125 I was still gaining. If I took 200 I would be in a bad mood all day, hot, tired and unable to exercise.
    Whatever you do don't be tempted to overdose... we both know what being over is like, and it's dangerous.
    It's interesting to find someone else like that though- how did you find the week of staying away from people?

    You're not disgusting. You're far from disgusting. And you'll come out of this just as beautiful as you went in, if not more!
  • richiemcfc
    richiemcfc Posts: 10 Member
    I had Graves and had my thyroid killed with Radioactive Iodine (had 3 courses of treatment - that was fun!).

    I'll be honest, I did put on a significant amount of weight but most of this was BEFORE they killed it as it took nearly two years on Carbimazole before they were happy.

    I put my weight gain down to being ignorant of what was happening to me - I was still eating at pre-diagnosed levels and that together with being told I couldn't play sports meant the weight piled on. To your credit, you seem to be aware already what CAN happen and so I am sure you won't let my stupid mistake happen to you.

    It's slowly coming off now though, but as the person above said, I find it helps if I take a further 10% off the MFP calculations.

    Some interesting points made on the medication - I get tested every 12 months or so but I haven't moved from 125mg for about 10 years!

    Take care

    Steve
  • floopysandi
    floopysandi Posts: 138 Member
    Someone I worked with had her thyroid removed due to cancer. She did not go up in weight, but made sure she ate well and went to zumba or cardio 3 days a week (difficult with her travel schedule). It's all about relearning good habits and making good choices.
  • msharp7890
    msharp7890 Posts: 2 Member
    I have Graves disease too and had the radio active iodine treatment. I am sorry to say that I did gain quite a bit of weight in the months after that and it was a struggle to get them off. I am still working at it. It is important that you work with a Dr. to help you get the medications correct. You can find help about this topic on About.com- Look under Mary Shoman- she sends a great newsletter and has a lot of information about thyroid out there.
    I think the reason I gained weight is that with a high thyroid I never had to watch what I ate or anything so it was learning how to be healthy and it took time. I found though that if I tried too hard (too much exercise (especially too much cardio- I actually gained) or too few calories) I did not lose weight either.
    So it is finding a balance that works for you- being healthy, eating good (most of the time) and getting the right medication to replace the thyroid your body needs.
    Be patient with yourself and you will get and stay thin!

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