Needing support for losing weight after thyroidectomy

Hippie_Momma88
Hippie_Momma88 Posts: 48 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello everyone!
I have been gaining an extreme amount since my surgery in November to remove my thyroid due to cancer. I had previously lost a total of 65 pounds with 25 of that being the beginning of last year before my thyroid stopped working correctly around June. Since my surgery I have progressively continued to gain at a fast rate and have gained almost 40 pounds. I also had a complete hysterectomy two years ago which made it harder to lose (I do not take replacement hormones for that surgery). I am at a loss and need some serious support to try to go back the direction I need to be going. I am currently setting at 229.8 pounds (weighed in this morning), I am only 5'4 so that puts me dangerously close to morbidly obese. I was a member of this site for a long time before my surgery, but decided to create a new account today to re-start/continue my journey.

I am looking for supporting people to be friends with on here and also anyone who may have had a thyroidectomy and been able to lose the weight after that. Thank you for reading :smile:

Replies

  • PLAID1977
    PLAID1977 Posts: 70 Member
    Welcome Back!

    I hope you are doing well post-op. I had 1/2 of my thyroid removed in 2008. Prior to that I had lost about 100 lbs. I was so worried that I'd regain the weight or have trouble losing more. I got pregnant shortly after. Gained weight a bit quicker than in my other pregnancies though I'm not sure it had anything to do with my thyroid.

    However, I was completely able to lose the baby weight and more. I am now down a total of 145 lbs. from my highest. Approximately 60 of these were lost after my partial thyroidectomy...all within the past year.

    It is possible. You can do it!! Feel free to friend me :-)
  • kayleyann
    kayleyann Posts: 2 Member
    I am with you hippie momma - I had a thyroidectomy nov 12 and have gained about 30 pounds since and fluctuating about 5 pounds with working out, diet changes. I have a herbalife shake in the morning with almond milk, a lean cusine for lunch, and fresh fruit, veggies, chicken, with rice or tortilla for dinner. I was on cytomel 5 mg for a period of 3 months with no change, but gave me cystic acne - I have gone to 2 endos asking for help on how I can lose weight with no help..I've also read it is harder to process carbs without a thyroid? so I have tried to cut out carbs. I use the eliiptical for 3 miles about 3 x week, I feel like I am doing something wrong!
  • HappilyDistracted
    HappilyDistracted Posts: 1,700 Member
    I have hypothyroidism, but still have my thyroid intact. However, getting stable took a long time and I understand much more about my body now, then I used to. Losing weight with thyroid issues has been difficult, but not impossible.

    When my thyroid is low I seem to crave carbs, salts, and sweets. I have also had insulin resistance issues (pre-pre-diabetes) that caused me to gain extra weight (seems to be common if you have thyroid issues) My doctor added metformin to the mix and I quickly dropped about 20lbs.

    Shortly after, I got pregnant, added more weight to my already overweight body. I have not gone back on metformin since then, but did manage to lose about 60 lbs. following weight watchers. I maintained that weight for about 6 months and then went on birth control, which cause my thyroid to go out of whack and I gained weight during the 4 months I was on it, was unmotivated, and exhausted constantly. Now that I am off the pill and just on synthroid, my thyroid seems to be settled. I feel like I can actually focus on losing weight again, since I am not hungry and craving carbs like I do with my low thyroid and I actually have the energy to exercise.

    I know it's not the same, but I wanted to share some of the things that I have found that make losing/maintaining weight easier or more difficult with my thyroid issues- hoping this is helpful.

Categories