Thyroid removal and weight loss

KateECorlett wrote: »

I am wondering has anyone successfully lost weight after a total thyroid removal. My medication is at the right dose and I am in the gym 5 days a week lifting but I havent lost any weight since I had my thyroid removed 8 months ago. Any help would be appreciated.

I had a total thyroidectomy in 2015. Once you have your medication dialed in, you are no different than anyone else in terms of losing weight. It's all about calories. Have you been tracking your calories?

KateECorlett wrote: »

My doctor has kept me at 150mcg since I had surgery. I am counting calories and working out 5x a week. My doctor doesnt seem concerned that I am not losing weight. He just keeps telling my I am in normal range. I am at a loss. I lost 40 pounts in the 6 months leading up to my surgery and now I am stuck.

First off -- Are you *weighing* everything that you eat, and are you selecting accurate entries?

Second -- Are you confident about your calorie burns from exercise, and are you measuring *those* with accurate tools? Remember: Lifting doesn't really burn that much, and the afterburn is negligible from a calorie perspective.

Third -- Are you 99 percent positive about the first two? Would you consider opening your diary so people can help?

Fourth -- "Normal" can have a range, and a lot of docs think that any TSH within the "normal" range is fine, when the reality is that most people who have normal thyroid function sit at a TSH of around 1.5ish, and if your thyroid was removed due to cancer, it's actually recommended to keep it lower. So if you're above that and symptomatic, you may need to have your medication adjusted. You also need to see where your T3 and T4 fall. If the T3 is low, it doesn't matter what the other two are -- your body needs the T3 to function. It creates the T3 by converting the T4. That can be managed either by adding a T3 medication *or* by titrating your Synthroid/T4 meds up to the point where your body has enough T3.

With the last said... uncontrolled/undermedicated hypo can and does result in water weight and fluid retention that are next to impossible to remove if you're not controlled -- and it can take 3-12 months to resolve (my PCP warned me that the tissues needed to be healthy for six months to a year before starting to let it come off, but my thyroid endo said 3 to 4 months, so...). The effects of hypo on actual metabolism are a relatively small percentage -- only 5 to 10 percent. That's why it's important to make sure that your eating and exercise are absolutely on point and accurate -- because that'll clear out the variables, and let you see what the actuality is.

So get the first three points figured out first. Keep meticulous data. Once you are *positive* that you are doing everything right, go back to your endocrinologist and demand that appropriate treatment be done.