Hypothyroidism and lack of weight loss

Ladytulip · February 2014

Hey All,

Looking for some advice, Up until last July I was doing great, then come October / November I got diagnoised with Hypothyroidism (so it was under active) so I started taking Eltroxin under the docs orders. He told me it would help my metabolism and I would start to see a shift in the weight.

WRONG, since then everything has been static, no weight loss, no inches lost and I am in the gym every second night, out walking at lunch, watching all the bits that pass my lips, I have cut out all the crap but nothing is moving.

Is it possible that i might need a stronger dosage to really kick start my system again. Initially my levles were 13 and after 2 months on the meds it got down to 3, so that seemed to work, however I am not reaping the benefits of having a metabolism that matches.

Its disheartening to bust a gut, eat clean and then see no results.

If anyone has experienced something similar please please let me know, and any advice on where to turn would be beyond grateful.

I even got to thinking of taking Fat burners (not that anything is worng with fat burners) but I really want to get to my goal based on hard work, determination and will.

maracuya23 · February 2014

Hypothyroidism is definitely frustrating, I empathise!

There is a good and fairly active group for Hypo and Hyperthyroidism here- lots of good info and specific support.

On the one hand, your doctor is right- getting your thyroid levels normalised will help you be able to lose weight more like a normal person. On the other hand, getting those levels normalized, especially if you have Hashimoto's (the most common cause for hypothyroidism), is tricky and can take several rounds of dose adjustments. The medication also needs to be finely balanced with the right nutritional support, so making sure you have the right levels of vitamin D, iron, B12, selenium, etc. can be the difference between your medication working optimally and staying stuck in a frustrating rut.

It's trial and error to get everything balanced, which is a slow and frustrating process, and why I think hypothyroid folks have a much harder time losing weight than those without thyroid issues.

Hang in there, get your TSH, free T4, free T3, and nutrition panels tested relatively frequently until you're on a stable dose. It does get better!

sfbaumgarten · February 2014

1.) It sounds to me like you really need to schedule a follow up with your doc to discuss the meds.

2.) Fat burners don't work. Save yourself the money and heartache.

Like the other poster mentioned, treatment is going to be with trial and error. This is why it's important to communicate with the doctor. If nothing else, he/she should be able to refer you to other professionals that can help tailor a plan to your specific needs with the condition and meds that you're dealing with.

elw90 · February 2014

I totally empathise with this.

I think since being diagnosed (in December 2013 so only 2 months into my treatment) I realised my body had had a tough time for quite a while before I was diagnosed.

I also realised I need to be a bit kinder to it and stop pushing it so hard physically and stop trying so hard mentally.

I decided to take a step back from how hard I was working in the gym- and seeing no results. MY exercise plan is so simple now- I do 20 minutes of weight training in the gym one day, and then I alternate that with 25 minute light cardio run the next and alternate like that. And I just walk as much as possible to get extra exercise on top.

I think this is allowing my body some time to heal and rest and for my hormones to get in balance, whilst still doing exercise to keep shaping my body and for the health and psychological benefits.

From my experience over the past couple of months I would advise you to just chill a bit on your workouts- be kind to yourself, eat good food as much as possible, don't starve yourself. Set your goal as getting your thyroid and body back in balance and not on weight loss for the moment.

That was the hardest thing for me when I first got diagnosed-accepting that maybe I had to stop focusing 100% on losing weight but more on getting my body into a healthy state where it was ready to start losing fat sustainably.

I would also advise logging as accurately as possible. Despite what I have said about cutting back on exercise- with hypothyroid our metabolisms ARE slower, so we just have to accept that we do have to eat a bit less and eat according to our metabolisms. As the medication builds up and you get stable you will be able to eat more. Inaccurate logging/binge days will lead to extra calories literally sitting on us so you have to be accountable and dedicated more than a normal person with hypothyroidism.

Hope this helps

elw90 · February 2014

I slightly misread your thing about watching everything you eat. I know it is the worst thing on MFP when people tell you to log accurately and you swear you are and I was in this position for ages and then I thought right I'm going to be 100% accountable so I bought electronic scales and for the last 3 weeks I have been counting absolutely everything including milk in my tea and not guesstimating at all-weighing my fruit-not just adding in 1 apple medium sized or whatever- even weighing oil that I put on vegetables and the vegetables themselves. Calories stack up. I know this might seem a bit extreme but I need to be fully aware of the calories at the moment to get an idea of where my weight loss point is and because I have hypothyroidism I feel it is more neccesary for me. Just give yourself a true shot at that, unless you are already doing that truly.

Ladytulip · February 2014

Thanks a million guys.

I felt like my head was going to implode.

Back with the Doc now tomorrow, going to have a "stern chat" so today is going to be research day so I am going in as educated as I can be.

I am sincerly going to trying to focus on getting my body balance right as opposed to shifting the weight, very hard to even try and contimplate it but needs must.

littleburgy · February 2014

I have been hypothyroid my whole life and was diagnosed when I was 13 and it runs in our family. Sometimes they will tell you your levels are "normal" but if they're on the higher end it may still be uncomfortable for thyroid patients.

You might also want to look into getting a broader spectrum of tests done on your thyroid if things don't improve. My aunt was being told she was "normal" by her standard family doctor but she was still struggling with her weight. A specialist helped her out because she was actually having problems with her T3 levels.
(http://thyroid.about.com/b/2008/04/23/should-doctors-treat-with-t3-thyroid-drugs-even-when-thyroid-blood-tests-are-normal.htm)

I don't know what kind of exercise you are doing but building lean body mass can also help with the metabolism. You don't want to eat so very little that you struggle to build muscle and fail to get vitamins and nutrients (which are particularly important for thyroid function)

Mary Shomon has done a lot of informative writing on the thyroid both in books and online. Good diet and getting enough nutrients is also important for thyroid health and makes the prescriptions we take more effective.

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/dietweightloss/a/center.htm

Hypothyroidism and lack of weight loss

Replies

Categories