Hashimoto's and Exercise
Options
RedBec7
Posts: 42 Member
I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's 3 years ago and have been on Amour Thyroid for most of that time. For the last 6 months I've been on 90 mg and have felt better overall than I have in 4 years. However it hasn't been perfect. I'll have about 5 weeks of feeling like a normal person (awesome!) and then I'll have mixed symptoms of hypo and hyper for about 5 weeks, then back to awesome again, then back to mixed symptoms. During the awesome time I've been losing weight. I've lost about 18 lbs counting calories. But when I have the mixed symptoms the weight loss stops. This last bout of not awesome has lasted nearly 2 months. I'm not doing anything differently, so what would cause this?
In the last 3 weeks I've been increasingly exhausted (thyroid tired, not regular tired) and feeling depressed. This coincides with starting to exercise again. I hadn't worked out since the first of the year because I was losing weight anyway and didn't want to mess with what was working. But I wanted to get back to it and did at the end of August. Now I'm so tired and brain foggy, I can barely function. Can exercise cause this? I'm only doing 30 minutes on my exercise bike every other day. Has anyone experienced this?
In the last 3 weeks I've been increasingly exhausted (thyroid tired, not regular tired) and feeling depressed. This coincides with starting to exercise again. I hadn't worked out since the first of the year because I was losing weight anyway and didn't want to mess with what was working. But I wanted to get back to it and did at the end of August. Now I'm so tired and brain foggy, I can barely function. Can exercise cause this? I'm only doing 30 minutes on my exercise bike every other day. Has anyone experienced this?
0
Replies
-
How about talking this through with your doctor. I know the body has regular cycles which do not always tie in to the 24 hour clock but 5 ecstatic weeks followed by 3 not so good ones. Has the balance of your diet changed? The bane of my life is salicylate and this lives a life of its own, in that being a toxin and present in many foods it can build up and cause issues similar to those you mention and then because you are not using as many foods with as much in them it will subside. Trouble is you can't say it is this or that it is the sum which matters and the poor little thyroid had to tidy up the mess.
Try looking at the Salicylate Sensitive site, they use a list of foods which was compiled by an Australian dietitian, Anne Swane and her colleagues. Look out for Olive oil, or foods containing it, maize starch is moderate to high and is in many low fat products, Tomato purée/ tinned tomatoes are high but the humble tomato is not too bad on its own, juices and fruits too. It is a real pain.
You could also turn to Stop the thyroid Madness, or national support sites in the hope there is something tucked away there.
All the best.0 -
Thank you for your reply. I did just see my doctor on Monday. Unfortunately all he would say is that he doesn't have labs for the times of those fluctuations so he can't say what was going on. He's not exactly helpful when it comes to anything beyond the blood test results. I have an appointment with a new doctor tomorrow so maybe I'll get some answers.
My diet has been pretty consistent through the last several months. I've been logging everything and keeping track of how I feel so I can see if there is a correlation somewhere. I'm stumped at this point. I'll look into salicylate. I've been to most thyroid related sites over the last few years like Stop the Thyroid Madness.
The working out thing is crazy though. I feel slightly better today (less tired and foggy) but I haven't worked out since Saturday.
Really hoping the new doc will help.0 -
I am so pleased you are seeing someone else. I know the last doctor did not have tests done with past fluctuations but they should in an ideal world have been more supportive. Keep in mind STTM, particularly says something to this effect, "if you are not getting real answers look else where". Might I have read Hashi.s can fluctuate, not sure about that.
I would very much doubt that salicylate is your side issue because you have not made any general changes. I would not wish it on anyone.
Let us know how you get on.0 -
My endo said ( I have Hashi's ) that my thyroid would fluctuate ( on the downward slope to stopping to function entirely ). I usually have bad winters and good summers.0
-
Thank you for the conformation. I have read so much and thought it was possible I had dreamt it.
I know I read selenium helps stabilise things. We only need about 70 microns we should be getting this from our food. It's a relief that more is being discovered. Makes careful reading worthwhile.0 -
doubled0
-
I have read that things can fluctuate with Hashi's as your thyroid dies a little more it can release a bunch of hormones causing both hypo and hyper thyroid symptoms. I was just hoping to have a discussion with my doctor about it and see if there were adjustments I could make. That didn't happen. He was a step above the two endos I've seen. They didn't believe in testing T3 and told me I was still having symptoms on Synthroid because there was "something else" wrong with me and I should go back to my regular doctor. That was beyond frustrating. Anyway, I'm going to the new doctor this afternoon and have hopes that she will help me work through this. She's with a holistic practice and they are big on nutrition so that may help.
As for the exercise making me feel terrible, I have read some things about this happening. Apparently cardio can be really bad and bring on hypo symptoms although what I've read has been a little vague on the why. I guess I'll hold off on working out and then try to gradually work it back in. Or maybe just try strength training and see what that does.
I'll let you know how things go with the doctor. Fingers crossed.0 -
Just an update: my new doctor seems to be a great listener but I'm not sure she really understands the thyroid issues. So far she's only looked at my TSH levels which concerns me. Right now my TSH is really low (almost 0) but my T4 and T3 are in the low normal range. They shouldn't all be low, right? I'm going to see her again next week and do more blood work.
In the meantime, I stopped working out 2 weeks ago and for the last 6 days I've been feeling very hyper - heart racing, anxious, can't sleep. Last Wednesday I was exhausted and could barely get out of bed, since Thursday I feel like I'm vibrating (but not in the good way). I know feeling like this can't be good either but it is better than the exhaustion, brain fog and depression.0 -
Do they check your Free T3 and Free T4? Both of those numbers should be high-normal.
What you are describing is how I feel, except it varies for me from day to day. I might feel great for a day or two and then I guess I overdo it or something and feel like I need to spend the next two days in bed. I've been very weepy and more depressed feeling lately, and I think apathetic is a really accurate description overall. I barely get the basic stuff accomplished around here and I have four kids plus I care for a mother with alzheimer's. (she doesn't live with me, but I handle all of her affairs, and it's almost like a full time job)
I am sorry you aren't optimized... I am working on that now myself. Starting Nature-Throid tomorrow and I'm so hopeful that it will help.0 -
I don't have the results from my latest blood tests but here they are from the end of August:
TSH: 0.020 (reference range: 0.358-3.740)
T4 free: 0.80 (0.76-1.46)
T3 free: 2.83 (2.30-4.20)
The doctor's office called me the other day to say that my last TSH was somewhere around 0.01. So the doctor thinks I'm hyperthyroid but she's obviously not looking at the T4 and T3. In fact she didn't even check off those boxes on the form she gave me for blood work. I checked them off when I realized she hadn't . They didn't tell me what those are but I will find out next Thursday. I do feel like my T4 and T3 need to be higher but if she thinks I'm hyper then she won't want to raise my dosage of Armour. But since my symptoms keep changing and sometimes they are both hyper and hypo symptoms I'm not sure what to do.
I'm sorry that you're going through this too. It's really hard to function most of the time. I can't imagine having kids to take care of. I only do the bare minimum that I have to do (like go to work so I can pay the bills) but it's not really living.
Good luck with the Nature-thyroid.0
