living with hypothyroid ... is there a way to lose?

Hi there. I have had an underactive thyriod since I was a child. When I turned 18 I finally was put on meds for it. I have had a very hard time loosing. Make sure you are keeping up with your blood work appointments. If your levels drop the slightest, forget it, the weight is staying put.. Make sure you are keeping an eye on your carbs. Not saying going low carb, cuz I don't, but don't eat a huge amount of them at each meal. Staying close to your calorie allowence is a great way to get the weight off. I am also a sufferer of PCOS ( common with women with thryiod, forgot to check first to see your gender LOL) and it causes me to be insiln resistaint so I have to take Meformin to help as well. 5 years ago I lost 90 lbs, got pregnant and gained 60 of it back. I have been back in the game since Jan and have lost 42 lbs. My dairy is open if you want to take a look at it..

If your treatment is effective you should'nt have extra trouble losing weight. If you really and truly are weighing and eating correctly and the weight still won't budge, I'd go back to the physician. Adjusting or switching your mess might be in order, especially if you've been on that dose for months and you're still feeling sluggish. If your entire body is slowed down, you probably need some insanely low amount of calories to survive or you'll gain weight. But rather than live on nothing and be a vegetable, I'd look into better treatment. I'm on Armor and I love it!

I've been living with an underactive thyroid for more than 10 years - it all started with me piling up weight and not being able to shift it. After some fiddling with the dosage, I ended up on 100mg / day. Standard diets (I've seen a bunch of nutritionists for that) did not do anything at all for me, even with a very restricted calorie intake; I have been following a high fat - very low carb eating plan for the past 7 months and I'm happy to say that it works great, no more tiredness, sluggishness, and the weight drops off at a constant rate.

Ask your doctor about combining T3 and T4 instead of just the T4 you are taking now. Your body has to convert T4 into the active T3.

This...I could not lose weight until I started taking both T4 and a low dose of T3 (armor). Now I am nearly bullet proof. I am losing weight consistently and I can even splurge a little every month, but I am working hard on both my diet and my exercise program. Also I let a lot of years go by before I got serious with my health care providers and demanded they regulate my meds properly. Don't wast all those years like I did. I could have weighed much less much sooner!

Here are a few tips:
1. Get a full thyroid panel done every quarter that includes free t4 and free t3, not just tsh. Have the labs read by a person who understands what they mean and that may not necessarily mean your primary. Many thyroid support groups have people on them that know as much or more than your primary about free t3 and can give you a real picture of why you are feeling the way you do just by your labs. They can help you interpret them and help you with ways to get your doctor to really help you.

2. For me my t3 was borderline low and it was causing depression and anxiety that the endo wanted to treat with anti-depression meds and a t4 drug alone. I fought this and my primary supported me and agreed to treat me with both synthyroid and a low dose of armor. I feel amazing now, but it took a while to get the dose right. Had I just listened to my endo I would be on Prozac now...blech.

3. You have slow metabolism by very definition of hypothyroidism. Excessive junk carbs are NOT your friend no matter what anyone says. But you MUST eat SOME carbs to absorb thyroid hormone (especially synthetic hormones) but eating more than 100-150 carbs a day (especially if you are not exercising and not eating enough protein) is asking for trouble and putting your self on the road to diabetes (often a secondary autoimmune issue that comes to many with hypothyroidism). Your body does not process carbs as well as others, get your brain wrapped around that, the sooner you understand it and accept it, the better you will do. Cutting carbs (and adding protein and healthy fat), especially carbs with gluten (fruit and gluten free grains are not as big of an issue) might make all the difference in the way you feel and the way you lose weight.

4. Both cardio and strength training are you friends. Do both, (not just one) and try to exercise 5x a week for an hour or 90 minutes. This will improve your metabolism, and in doing so your thyroid. I know, this is hard for most people. Work toward the goal of moving your body for 90 minutes every day...the benefits to your metabolism are worth the effort.

5. Research supplements. They cannot replace diet and exercise but they do enhance them. I take fish oil, coq10, d3, bcomplex, magnesium/potassium/calcium, rhodolia, lithium orotate, green vibrance (my green food multi), melatonin and valerian. This combo works for me. You will need to research your specific symptoms and see where you need help and what works best. If you email me I can give you some suggestions for where to start researching, but start with Mary Sholom, her websites are great, and her book called Thyroid Diet is nearly perfect.

What ever you do be determined to find help. You can get better and you can lose weight. I am proof of it.

I have hypothyroidism too. If your meds are at the right dose you should have no problem. Unfortunately thyroid functions can fluctuate. If u start to feel symptoms just get a blood test. It only takes a few minutes and u will feel better knowing. Good luck

This a million times over. If my synthroid is off even just a bit I pack weight on and am too lathargic to do anything. When it's right...it is not much of a factor at all in my lifestyle (fairly active) or health and fitness. I have been on some form of thyroid replacement since I was 11 and have Learned to recognize when my levels might be out. The last year I've been on the same dosage and have way more energy and drive then I can ever remember.