thyroid problems any advice

I have hypothyroidism, and have had it for years. I have gained alot of weight these past couple of years, and within the past month, i have joined this site in need of help. Everyone here is awesome. They give great support!! I have since lost 12 pounds, and couldnt have done it without them and my will power to push away from the foods i know i shouldnt eat. I have been eating alot of salads (chef salads included). I eat hamburger patties with vegetables, I eat fiber one oat and chocolate bars for snacks, have been drinking lots of water, and exercising as well. If you need to talk more, or just need encouragement, feel free to add me, I AM

I was diagnosed as hypo-thyroid as well as having PCOS. My doc has me on metformin and Armour thyroid. The nutritionist has me on a low-glycemic diet which ties in nicely with the low carb diet.

Its really not that hard once you figure out what you can eat. My suggestion is go to a nutritionist...so they can put you on the right track.

I also have hypothyroidism. I've been fighting it for 16 years. I've lost 103 lbs over the last couple of years so it can be done : )

I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. It has taken me over 2 years to get to where I am today....sllllllooooowwww but steady. The best advice I can give you is to get a Bodybugg or a BodyMedia Fit device. I have the Bodymedia Fit and I know my body and metabolism now better than ever. It will tell you how many calories YOU and YOUR thyroid affected metabolism really burns during a 24 hour period and you will know exactly how many calories YOU need to eat and are burning with exercise. Eat all your exercise calories...I discovered that my biggest problem was that I was undereating and slowing my already slow metabolism down. Now I eat plenty and lose at least a pound a week on average. I can't recommend this enough!!! Good luck on your journey!

I have had hypothyroidism and have been sticking to the low carb lifestyle and have lost about 95 pounds in the last year best of luck.

I've been on thyroid meds for under active for about 20 years now. The thing I found most is that my energy was pretty low before I started and it helped balance that out. I think I had lost a few pounds initially (but of course gained them over the years, just because of my bad habits!)

I take my pill with my very first sip of water in the morning just so that I don't forget. It's best to take it every day at the same time.

One thing that I learned from a health segment on the news was that if you take calcium supplements, you need to take them 4 hours apart from the thyroid meds. The calcium will bind with the thyroid meds and cause it inactive. Some milk in cereal isn't an issue, but the large dose of calcium causes the problem. Hope that makes sense!

I have hypothyroidism and my advice is find a natural doctor. I went to two doctors (1 OBGYN and 2 family doctor) before and they were not very helpful. In fact, one doctor told me I couldn't lose weight because I was getting older. I am only 34 years old. Make sure to research your problem, find good people to support you, and get help from a natural doctor who knows more about hormonal imbalance.

Good luck

Jeagirl

I also have hypothyroidism and have been on Synthroid for almost 7 years. When I first was diagnosed and started treatment, I expected the weight to just fall off like magic w/no effort on my part. Guess what--that's not what happened. All the meds do is return your body to its normal state...you still have to do the work. Once that fact sank in, I did go from over 170 to 115 over the course of about 4 years, losing and plateauing, then losing again and plateauing again. In the last 2 years or so, I have been slowly gaining and am now back up to 140 lbs--I'm 51 and dealing w/a whole new set of hormonal issues, but I have to believe I can find an answer for this also.

My advice would be to educate yourself as much as possible. You will need to be an advocate for your own health and knowledge is your best weapon. Visit the website "Stop the Thyroid Madness", check out their list of sites and reading material, and surf the web and your local library as well. This is not a simple disease. If you seem to be still having trouble in spite of all your tests being "normal", I would especially recommend the book "Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms When My Lab Tests Are Normal?" by Dr. Dhatis Kharrazian--my local library had this so I could read it before deciding whether to purchase or not.

Best wishes to all here--we CAN get control of our situation!

Edited to add: As another poster mentioned, calcium supplements should be taken at least 4 hours away from Levothyroxine or Synthroid. Iron falls into this same category. There are other meds and supplements that should be taken separately from thyroid meds, too, such as antacids. This site http://www.drugs.com/drug-interactions/levothyroxine,synthroid.html offers a spot to type in the name of a med or supplement and then shows you if there is an interaction w/your thyroid meds. I was not aware of these things in the beginning either, so I hope someone here may find it helpful also.