Toot Toot - my own horn!!

Congrats on your weight loss!!! :drinker: I have a question, a friend of mine has an underactive thyroid and her doctor advised her to do weight watchers for 12 weeks and then go off of it for 12 weeks. What helped you get things under control?? I know you worked realy hard to accomplish this and I thought this might be of help to my friend. thanks, have a great day!!!! Awesome job on your weight los

The truth - medication. If my tsh levels are not low enough, it doesn't matter what I do, I will not lose weight. Example: January 2007 - I went from sedentary in the previous fall to mildly active then January we sold 72 cords of firewood. This involved going at least 4 times a week up on the mountain, cutting down trees (dh did mostly) cutting them up and loading them in the pickup bed (I did loading and unloading) Some of these chuncks weighed 40 - 50 lbs. Then we would unload them at the splitter, split 1 - 3 cords of wood (a lot of wood) then load it back up and deliver it and unload it and sometimes stack it. A huge amount of physical activity. Didn't lose 1 pound. The whole month. Didn't shed inches or anything. Switched doctors and she increased my meds and my tsh levels are down where she wants them to be and I can lose weight now just watching what I eat and exercising 40 mins 4 - 6 times a week and with my regular activity. You know, the normal stuff!! Some docs don't get how important is is to have your tsh levels normal. They will say 16 is ok or 25 is ok when normal is between 0.2 and 4.2. My doc actually wants mine below 1 - and says if I get jumpy or feel like I "jumping out of my skin" to call immediately and they will check and adjust. Hasn't happened yet!! Anyhow - This is a long response but it is involved. If your friends doc isn't treating the illness, maybe she needs to try to find another doc. There are some good books out about thyroid issues - Hypothyroidism for Dummies, and there is another one I can't think of the name - little blue book about Everything you need to know about living with hypothyroid. Both should be available at a local library. Hope this helps!!

BTW - I think her docs advice is bunk. JMHO!! If her thyroid isn't functioning properly then no program will do anything and why go off for 12 weeks? Just stupid - again JMHO :laugh:

Thanks so much for sharing this. My whole family has urged me to get my thyroid tested because I have so many symptoms. Every time I have had my levels checked they say I am borderline normal, but still normal and tell me that I just need to lose weight. I have always been an extremely calm person. In fact, it used to be a goal of my friends to see if any of them could rattle or scare me. Now, every little thing startles me. If someone is in the room and I didn't realize it, when I become aware I jump out of my skin. Nothing traumatic has happened to me, I am not under emotional stress, I am not depressed - both explanations the doctor's suggested. I do agree that losing weight will probably help matters, but I think there is more to it than that. Anyway, sorry for rambling. Just wanted to let you know your post was encouraging.

Honestly, in my experience, losing weight doesn't help your thyroid function any better. I've lost a total of 35 lbs from my highest after my thyroid quit working and there is no change - I still have to have the same level of medication - just got checked a couple of weeks ago. I'm glad I was able to encourage you! Hang in there. Check out those books I mentioned - you might find some helpful info.