Under active thyroid and success rates?

I'm on T4 and T3, have been for about 12 years. Lost more than the weight I gained when my thyroid went all wacky bo-bo, about 100 pounds and am in better shape than I was before. I just cut calories, still eat all the same stuff I did before. No keto or paler for me, though I did up my protein.

I had to be honest with myself, the first year on medication, I couldn't understand why I wasn't losing weight. I swore I was barely eating. Looking back, I was eating waaaaay more than I thought I was. I wasn't weighing, or even measuring. Just guessing. Now that I am weighing, I know I was eating a lot more than I was willing to admit. The thyroid caused issues to be sure, but my habits made everything worse.

It does get better. It takes being a strong advocate for yourself and finding a good doctor who will listen. It takes a lot of patience.

leahcollett1 wrote: »

Thanks everyone. Day 2 of my medication. I was fine until about 2pm yesterday when I felt like I just had to sleep. Not sure whether it's just myself or the pill doing that but I'll monitor it. Not normally like me as I'm using doing body combat at that time!

I would assume it's the hypothyroidism. Needing naps to make it through the day (when that's not normal for you) or any kind of unusual tiredness or sleepiness are all primary symptoms of hypothyroidism. Thyroid hormones are what give your body it's "oomph" or "get up and go." When they get low most people will be much more tired and sleepy than normal.

Pawsforme wrote: »

leahcollett1 wrote: »

would it be the reason i gained 8lbs 1 weeks and 3lbs the other? ive just been told by another person that it cant be the reason? and so now im kind of feeling gutted again as i thought i had an answe. my food diary is spot on i eat half of my earned exercise calories, i weigh absolutely everything i even carry a little weighing scale in my bag for snacks and apples. so no cheating no binging no chocolate. and yet i still gained that much over the course of 2 weeks. this morning after the 3rd week, i lost 1lb out of the 11 i gained.

Thyroid problems can affect people differently.

But in general I would say no, it wouldn't cause that large of a weight gain that quickly.

I've suspected for the past six or eight weeks that my thyroid has gone wacky again and I need a medication adjustment. The scale has gone up 1.5 - 2 pounds and stayed there when my food intake and activity level haven't changed to account for that (keep in mind I'm small -- only about 4'10" and 110 pounds, so a 2 pound weight gain isn't insignificant). Plus I have other symptoms -- more tired than normal, some brain fog, joint aches, dry skin, lump-in-the-throat feeling occasionally.

Be wary of advice given on here. I think many people who know nothing about thyroid issues or other endocrine problems chime in to parrot what they've heard is true for "normal" people. Someone with an endocrine issue that can suppress metabolism (even slightly) will not gain/lose weight quite like a "normal" person unless the condition is well controlled. Research says the effect of hypothyrodism on metabolic rate is relatively small, but it is indeed a factor. As an example -- for the past few weeks I've been maintaining on about 1450-1500 calories a day, whereas before I suspected my thyroid was going wacky again I was able to maintain on about 1650 calories a day. So as you can see the effect isn't huge but it's there.

My thyroid will go wacky occassionally. The first sign is a headache on the top of my neck in the back that doesn't go away for weeks. The second symptom is extremely fatigue. The last symptom before I catch on is I gain almost 10 lbs in a week. It's happened to me 3 or 4x, and was confirmed with lab results. As soon as I got my levels back to normal, headaches disappear, tiredness goes away, and I lose those 10 lbs I gained.

leahcollett1 wrote: »

Thanks everyone. Day 2 of my medication. I was fine until about 2pm yesterday when I felt like I just had to sleep. Not sure whether it's just myself or the pill doing that but I'll monitor it. Not normally like me as I'm using doing body combat at that time!

I was diagnosed in my early 20's with hypothyroidism, though i think i had it undiagnosed for a long time, I'm 29 now.
I've lost over 50 lbs now though I have a long way to go. I couldn't really lose weight till my medication was at the right level for a while. I tried just about everything, from weight watchers, slimming world and meal replacements. honestly try not to be hard on yourself, though do be honest with your tracking of food etc. since its going to be hard or you might not be able to do what you want till you've been properly medicated for a while.

do make sure you take your levo at the same time of day and be careful of taking it with certain things like soy and calcium tablets as that can effect your levo absorbing. so try taking it in the morning with water before you eat or have a coffee (as that can effect it to) then giving it about 30 mins to absorb then have what ever you normally eat, or another time of day when you know you will be able to take it like clockwork on an empty stomach, some people like to take it before bed but personally i always take it in the morning.

you might not notice yourself being 100% normal again right away, since it takes about 6-8 weeks of taking it to properly stabilize. your doctor might need to adjust the dose too, that's why they normally test 6-8 weeks after adjusting the dose till they get the right level, then its about 6 months or 12 months depending on what the doctor says. they only like to up it by a small amount each time to stop you going over active.

personally i feel a fair amount better about a week after but i don't feel completely normal until month or two after.
I also get a lot of water weight, not sure if that's just me though, so sometimes i will jump 5 or 10 lbs sudden gain for no reason then i realize my legs have swelled with water again.

so try not to focus on the scales, try to focus more on none scale victories and none weight victories like eating healthy for a few months or being able to run again or run a distance etc.

I'm from the Uk too, http://www.thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/ has a lot of info too about thyroid problems.