Thyroid

Several people on here with thyroid disorders of some sort.

Your doctor is partially correct that it boils down to eating, well eating less and moving more as long as you create a caloric deficit you will lose weight. If you thyroid panel is within range you should have no issues. It may be more difficult, but still doable.

My diary is open and you are welcome to it. Nothing extreme, I don't eliminate any foods and just stay within my limit. I'm on 175/200mcg Synthroid and have lost >50lbs since using MFP a year ago.

Welcome!

burgervnlady wrote: »

I have mentioned it to the doctor and he says healthy eating.
Has any one here got hypothyroidism and did you win the battle of the bulge.

I have Hashimoto's (autoimmune thyroid disease). Thyroid meds reduce the fatigue so I can be more active. But I still kept gaining until I learned to log everything I eat & drink accurately & honestly. Logging works.

I lost the weight long before my thyroid levels ever entered the "normal" range by following the advice in the Sexypants post: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

Also hypothyroid and have been for years. Correcting hypothyroidism with medications is not difficult and your family doctor should be quite capable of prescribing. They will measure the thyroid hormone and the thyroid stimulating hormone and follow your symptoms. Keep track of your own lab test.

Trust me. You can lose weight while on thyroid replacement.

burgervnlady wrote: »

Kalikel wrote: »

I lost lots of weight after starting the levothyroxine. Lots and lots. I was an Oompa Loompa, too, sans the hair.

My first forty pounds were dropped doing nothing but eating better and taking the drug.

Make sure you're seeing an endo, not just a doctor. A good doctor will send you to an endo! They get your levels straightened out - if you're good with 75 mcg, yay!

A lot of people with sluggish thyroids lose slowly, but they can lose! I hope you can, too. Stick with it!

Thanks for your reply.. Hope i liose soon heard some people take extra thyroxine

DO NOT take extra thyroxine to try and lose weight. you can then push yourself into the hyperthyroid catagory which comes with its own set of health implications. consult your doctor to make sure you are on the correct dosage for you and have your levels checked regularly

im hypothyroid, ive lost 170lb so far. my docs ignored my levels for a long time, i couldnt string together a sentence, constantly slumping over and falling asleep and was in horrific pain

the rhumatologist cc'ed me into a letter one day asking my gp if they intended to address my thyroid problems since the numbers were so out of line and maybe they should consider treating the high uric acid levels that had caused crystals to form round my joints

i now ALWAYS ask them for a copy of my test results instead of accepting "within acceptable levels" crap
my last test she said were a little higher than liked but they dont treat till higher. i reminded her i was on levothroxine "oh well since your tsh is 5.6 we will increase your meds"

One thing to know with hypothyroidism is that the normal range isn't what you are shooting for. What you want to do is almost shut down your endogenous production (that which your faltering thyroid is still producing). This means getting your TSH down below 1 but not into the hyperthyroid category. Having read the horror stories from so many people, I was happy when I was sent to an endocrinologist, and he explained it to me. It is extremely rare to have problems with conversion from T4 to T3, and I think the problem that so many people have is that their doctor is shooting for a TSH below 5 or 3, but when you think about the physiology, you want it actually below what most people have (1.5), because only then do you know that the drug is working. As long as you still have some TSH, you know you haven't passed into hyperthyroid condition.

Because your thyroid is not likely completely gone, taking more thyroid hormone will not likely do anything for you unless you take so much that you become hyperthyroid, and that gas a whole suite of other problems you don't want. Also, because hypothyroidism is usually an autoimmune disorder, your thyroid is slowly dissolving away. That means that you will likely need to increase your thyroid hormones as the disease progresses. Unfortunately it is an always moving bar. Should have known that I needed an increase when my face started getting puffy again.

I do and I'm struggling to lose weight. I can lose a few pounds but then it stops. It is very frustrating

Carachama wrote: »

One thing to know with hypothyroidism is that the normal range isn't what you are shooting for. What you want to do is almost shut down your endogenous production (that which your faltering thyroid is still producing). This means getting your TSH down below 1 but not into the hyperthyroid category. Having read the horror stories from so many people, I was happy when I was sent to an endocrinologist, and he explained it to me. It is extremely rare to have problems with conversion from T4 to T3, and I think the problem that so many people have is that their doctor is shooting for a TSH below 5 or 3, but when you think about the physiology, you want it actually below what most people have (1.5), because only then do you know that the drug is working. As long as you still have some TSH, you know you haven't passed into hyperthyroid condition.

Because your thyroid is not likely completely gone, taking more thyroid hormone will not likely do anything for you unless you take so much that you become hyperthyroid, and that gas a whole suite of other problems you don't want. Also, because hypothyroidism is usually an autoimmune disorder, your thyroid is slowly dissolving away. That means that you will likely need to increase your thyroid hormones as the disease progresses. Unfortunately it is an always moving bar. Should have known that I needed an increase when my face started getting puffy again.

I wouldnt say it is "extremely rare" as far as people not converting T4-T3. I fall in that category, the body needs more than the highly pushed "T4 only" med. The thyroid makes T1-T4 and we need am all.