New to Group - Subclinical Hypothyroidism
isys5
Posts: 213
I am so glad to have found this group and while my doctor feels I do not have thyroidism, I know I am "thyroid challenged' 
I first had problems with my thyroid in my early 30's and was excruciatingly exhausted. My TSH was 4.3 mG/l but I did not know back then to have my Free T3 & Free T4 checked, although it likely would not have helped as in Canada it is all about the TSH
Even though there is a history of hypothroidism in my immediate family, the doctors said I was was just getting old (at 30, seriously?) and that the only thing that would help for thryoid problems is medication and all the searches I found online (2003) said the same
Luckily getting pregnant gave my thryoid a kick in the butt and all has been good up until the past year and I have gotten progressively exhausted with pretty much all the thyroid symptoms (brain fog, cold all the time even in warm rooms, constipation, steady weight gain, depression, low iron, digestive issues...I think that is all of them
)
So I decided in January to get my health in order through fitness and diet and if I was still feeling absolutely horrible, start the fight with my doctor to get my thryoid in check. I worked out for 30-60 min 5-6 days per week (TurboFire and Chalene Extreme (weights) hybrid which is a super high intensity workout) and tracked everything I ate on MFP. I lost 10lbs in 5 months, pretty sad results weight wise although I did feel better.
I ended up with a hernia and was thoroughly depressed with the whole weight issue but kept pluggin along on the elliptic trainer 60min 5-6 days per week and found this board. I cut out the odd drink on the weekends which I was having within my calorie goals so thought it was fine, cut out all refined sugar, breads other than 2 slices rye toast in the morning and cut out foods that challenge the thyroid (below).
I had my thryoid tested in December and my TSH was 3.3 (range of .3-5.5mg/L) they did not test my Free T4 and Free T3
After making serious changes to my diet (& drinking 60oz min water/day) and exercising program I had thryoid tested again in May 2012 and my results are below:
TSH 2.68 mG/L
T4 Free 16 11 - 22 pmol/L
T3 Free 4.1 4.0 - 7.8 pmol/L
I believe my numbers still suck and I am still "thryoid challenged" but what a difference in TSH and what a difference in how I feel! My brain fog is almost completely gone and I still get tired but not that exhaustion that I had 95% of the time before making these changes. I hope that with continued efforts my thryoid will continue to improve and am sharing this in the hopes that other will benefit as well whether on medication or not as it seems like medication is not a cure for most, just a tool in the tool box so to speak.
So I listed the changes I made below and hope that a stick can by made by the moderator with others suggestions on here as well (which is where I got much of the info) so that new members can easily find the tips to try.
Changes Made
- exercise 5-6 days per week for 45-60 minutes (was doing High Intensity Training & Weights - but now only 60 min cardio 6 days/week due to injury)
- cut out all white sugar, processed foods and white breads/rice etc (recently cut out even the odd beer/wine and seeing big improvent)
- supplements: vit D3, selenium, iron (in the form of Chia Seeds), zinc, digestive enzymes
- 2T virgin coconut oil per day
- eating small meals every 2.5-3 hours
- minimum 60oz filtered water per day
- stopped eating cabbage, cauliflour & brocolli (unless cooked)
- cut out peanut butter (sob)
This is the most extreme I have ever been with watching what I eat and it seems a little fanatical to even myself at times but wow what a difference in my energy levels and clarity of thinking. I honestly feel like I have gained back 15 years of youth from these changes. I may add some of the foods I cut out back in moderation after I reach my weight goal...but then again, I may not as the less I have them the less I miss them
I first had problems with my thyroid in my early 30's and was excruciatingly exhausted. My TSH was 4.3 mG/l but I did not know back then to have my Free T3 & Free T4 checked, although it likely would not have helped as in Canada it is all about the TSH
Even though there is a history of hypothroidism in my immediate family, the doctors said I was was just getting old (at 30, seriously?) and that the only thing that would help for thryoid problems is medication and all the searches I found online (2003) said the same Luckily getting pregnant gave my thryoid a kick in the butt and all has been good up until the past year and I have gotten progressively exhausted with pretty much all the thyroid symptoms (brain fog, cold all the time even in warm rooms, constipation, steady weight gain, depression, low iron, digestive issues...I think that is all of them
)So I decided in January to get my health in order through fitness and diet and if I was still feeling absolutely horrible, start the fight with my doctor to get my thryoid in check. I worked out for 30-60 min 5-6 days per week (TurboFire and Chalene Extreme (weights) hybrid which is a super high intensity workout) and tracked everything I ate on MFP. I lost 10lbs in 5 months, pretty sad results weight wise although I did feel better.
I ended up with a hernia and was thoroughly depressed with the whole weight issue but kept pluggin along on the elliptic trainer 60min 5-6 days per week and found this board. I cut out the odd drink on the weekends which I was having within my calorie goals so thought it was fine, cut out all refined sugar, breads other than 2 slices rye toast in the morning and cut out foods that challenge the thyroid (below).
I had my thryoid tested in December and my TSH was 3.3 (range of .3-5.5mg/L) they did not test my Free T4 and Free T3
After making serious changes to my diet (& drinking 60oz min water/day) and exercising program I had thryoid tested again in May 2012 and my results are below:
TSH 2.68 mG/L
T4 Free 16 11 - 22 pmol/L
T3 Free 4.1 4.0 - 7.8 pmol/L
I believe my numbers still suck and I am still "thryoid challenged" but what a difference in TSH and what a difference in how I feel! My brain fog is almost completely gone and I still get tired but not that exhaustion that I had 95% of the time before making these changes. I hope that with continued efforts my thryoid will continue to improve and am sharing this in the hopes that other will benefit as well whether on medication or not as it seems like medication is not a cure for most, just a tool in the tool box so to speak.
So I listed the changes I made below and hope that a stick can by made by the moderator with others suggestions on here as well (which is where I got much of the info) so that new members can easily find the tips to try.
Changes Made
- exercise 5-6 days per week for 45-60 minutes (was doing High Intensity Training & Weights - but now only 60 min cardio 6 days/week due to injury
)- cut out all white sugar, processed foods and white breads/rice etc (recently cut out even the odd beer/wine and seeing big improvent)
- supplements: vit D3, selenium, iron (in the form of Chia Seeds), zinc, digestive enzymes
- 2T virgin coconut oil per day
- eating small meals every 2.5-3 hours
- minimum 60oz filtered water per day
- stopped eating cabbage, cauliflour & brocolli (unless cooked)
- cut out peanut butter (sob)
This is the most extreme I have ever been with watching what I eat and it seems a little fanatical to even myself at times but wow what a difference in my energy levels and clarity of thinking. I honestly feel like I have gained back 15 years of youth from these changes. I may add some of the foods I cut out back in moderation after I reach my weight goal...but then again, I may not as the less I have them the less I miss them
0
Replies
-
Agree -- your T3 should be on the high side of the range and your T4 should be on the low side of the range -- you are backwards. This leads to the possibility that your body is not converting T4 to T3 properly. When you don't have enough T3, you have hypothyroid symptoms. My doctor would consider 2.68 on TSH too high too -- I usually run somewhere between .3 and 1.
So - no chance they will give you T3? I know Canada has a natural dessicated thyroid called Efra -- maybe you can find a doctor that will prescribe it. I'll be a low dose of a medication with T3 would do wonders for you.
Other than that, it looks like you are nailing the eating & exercise -- which is great. :flowerforyou:
The only thing I would add is that maybe a Vitamin D3 supplement could help your fatigue -- you could easily take 500-800 mg per day of over-the-counter D3 without any danger. I take 10,000 mg per day of D3, but I am post-menopausal (old!).
You are taking control of your body -- so inspiring!!
Terri0 -
Hey isys5, did your doctor look at you Thyroid anti-bodies?? Hashimon's disease, My TSH was always good and the T4 and T3 were always high (From Canada as well). It was not until my Hashimon's disease got worse that I went hypo. All it takes is a simple blood test to find out. They should be able to tell right away depending on your doctor and what province you are from.
My STATS when diagnosed:
TSH-84
T4- 50.2
T3- 1.71
My Thyroid Anti-bodies were high.
That is from when I was 8.0 -
:sad: I agree! I was getting excited about the possibility of adding nuts to my diet... but I saw that peanuts are not recommended for us!!! One place even said almonds were out... wonder what a good one would be???- cut out peanut butter (sob)0 -
:sad: I agree! I was getting excited about the possibility of adding nuts to my diet... but I saw that peanuts are not recommended for us!!! One place even said almonds were out... wonder what a good one would be???- cut out peanut butter (sob)
No, no, no, Not almonds too. I love my peanut butter and can't have that and now Almonds too?
:grumble: :grumble: :grumble: :grumble: :noway:
So then what nuts can we have? Almonds are my snack of choice.
Ginny:flowerforyou:0 -
I hate that brocolli and cauliflower are on the list. I eat A LOT of both of these. I crave them and would have such a hard time cutting them out. Do you really think it makes a huge difference? I did read that before, but tried to ignore it 0
-
No, no, no, Not almonds too. I love my peanut butter and can't have that and now Almonds too?
:grumble: :grumble: :grumble: :grumble: :noway:
So then what nuts can we have? Almonds are my snack of choice.
Ginny:flowerforyou:
LOL... ya, but its not listed on all of the sites as a problem... so lets just ignore it?? :laugh:0 -
Hey isys5, did your doctor look at you Thyroid anti-bodies?? Hashimoto's disease, My TSH was always good and the T4 and T3 were always high (From Canada as well). It was not until my Hashimoto's deisease got worse that I went hypo. All it takes is a simple blood test to find out. They should be able to tell right away depending on your doctor and what province you are from.
My STATS when diagnosed:
TSH-84
T4- 50.2
T3- 1.71
My Thyroid Anti-bodies were high.
That is from when I was 8.
[/quote]0 -
I feel like I am stuck with my weight loss, having this thyroid disease is starting to become very depressing.. I am not sure what to do! :sad:0
-
Did you read the first post in this thread? Are you doing all of those things? Others are having great results.I feel like I am stuck with my weight loss, having this thyroid disease is starting to become very depressing.. I am not sure what to do! :sad: 0 -
I hate that brocolli and cauliflower are on the list. I eat A LOT of both of these. I crave them and would have such a hard time cutting them out. Do you really think it makes a huge difference? I did read that before, but tried to ignore it
Brocolli and cauliflower are my favorites too -- I eat them all the time -- you just have to cook them, which removes the danger.
Soy is never good -- not cooked or otherwise.0 -
Did you read the first post in this thread? Are you doing all of those things? Others are having great results.I feel like I am stuck with my weight loss, having this thyroid disease is starting to become very depressing.. I am not sure what to do! :sad:
I don't think I agree that others are having grat results on T4 only -- I don't know anyone who is, except maybe you Debbylee!! And you were on a very low dose of T4 for a short time, and I haven't ever seen that either.
But if all thyroid levels are not optimized (T3, T4, Rt3, antibodies) and adrenals are not optimized, I don't think that most hypothyroid people can lose weight. The best I was ever able to do was stop gaining... but that gets to be depressing.0 -
Agree -- your T3 should be on the high side of the range and your T4 should be on the low side of the range -- you are backwards. This leads to the possibility that your body is not converting T4 to T3 properly. When you don't have enough T3, you have hypothyroid symptoms. My doctor would consider 2.68 on TSH too high too -- I usually run somewhere between .3 and 1.
So - no chance they will give you T3? I know Canada has a natural dessicated thyroid called Efra -- maybe you can find a doctor that will prescribe it. I'll be a low dose of a medication with T3 would do wonders for you.
Other than that, it looks like you are nailing the eating & exercise -- which is great. :flowerforyou:
The only thing I would add is that maybe a Vitamin D3 supplement could help your fatigue -- you could easily take 500-800 mg per day of over-the-counter D3 without any danger. I take 10,000 mg per day of D3, but I am post-menopausal (old!).
You are taking control of your body -- so inspiring!!
Terri
Hi terri,
Yes I am taking the Vitamin D3 I take 1000mcg (which is only .025mg I believe so perhaps could take more if needed). I doubt my doctor would give me T3 but with the changes I have made, I am happy to not have to take any medications so hopefully the changes in energy and mind clarity will continue. If I revert back to my old symptoms I may have to though so trying to figure out all my options
yes the lifestyle changes really seem to be making a diffence and I am finally "hopefully not jinxing it here" starting to see the weight actually come off again.
One thing I did not mention is I have also added flax seed to my meals
Thanks for the info on the ranges as for all my reading I was not really sure where if my T4 should be high or low but realized that it must not be getting converted well if my T3 is almost off the scale. I have not seen my doctor yet about my lab results as waiting for another test (unrelated to thryoid) before I see him again. Will let you know what he says but I am 98% sure he will say it is all good 0 -
[/quoteHey isys5, did your doctor look at you Thyroid anti-bodies?? Hashimoto's disease, My TSH was always good and the T4 and T3 were always high (From Canada as well). It was not until my Hashimoto's deisease got worse that I went hypo. All it takes is a simple blood test to find out. They should be able to tell right away depending on your doctor and what province you are from.
My STATS when diagnosed:
TSH-84
T4- 50.2
T3- 1.71
My Thyroid Anti-bodies were high.
That is from when I was 8.
Wow are your ranges the same as mine as you are in Canada as all of your numbers are way off the scale! I am in BC so they may be able to test, I may ask when i see him about my numbers but at this point as I am feeling so good not sure if it is necessary.0 -
I am not sure and only eat brocolli and cauliflower cooked as I don't like them raw. But from Jan-March I was LIVING on coleslaw (mixed with lean proteins and toasted walnuts - so yummy) so that could also be why my weight did not budge as perhaps it was taxing my thryoid?
Who knows though really as it seems like there is so much info out there that it is hard to know and maybe it affects one person an not another? I know my mom had a really violent reaction to brocolli one time, she had eaten it all her life then all the sudden wham, cramps so bad she could not stand up. Unfortunately she was at a bus stop in the middle of winter at the time, yikes! She was not diagnosed with thyroid problems at that time but it makes me wonder if that is when her problems started and it took probably another 10 years before she was diagnosed.
I just figured I would avoid EVERYTHING suggested until I reach my goal weight and then add back once in a while if I really want the food (or drink) and see how things go. I just felt that in the beginning if I was not diligent with everything the doctor would not take me seriously and luckily it has made a huge improvement that I may not need to convince him 0 -
:sad: I agree! I was getting excited about the possibility of adding nuts to my diet... but I saw that peanuts are not recommended for us!!! One place even said almonds were out... wonder what a good one would be???- cut out peanut butter (sob)
I know I make my own peanut butter for kids and thought, hey I will just make almond butter but that is out too I wonder if hazelnuts are ok? I do like walnuts too but probably would taste horrible as butter I don't know if it makes much difference but figured I would cut out for now until I reach my goal weight and then can add back in and see if it affects my energy levels. 0 -
I feel like I am stuck with my weight loss, having this thyroid disease is starting to become very depressing.. I am not sure what to do! :sad:
It is so frustrating isn't it My doctor said 2 months ago that I need to work out 1.5 hours a day to lose weight ( I immediately said "your an iditot"...ok just in my head but still) So, apparently I am very stubborn and bumped up my workouts to 60 min minimum on the elliptic trainer doing intervals of 1 min at a resistance of 5 and an elevation of 9 and 1 minute at a elevation of 17 which burns roughly 650 calories per day and I try to do 5-6 days per week. I can't do weights right now as I gave myself a hernia in March trying to get fit (seriously, wtf right?)
So, between the extra 15 minutes of cardio and the cutting out of ALL processed sugar, eating only lean protein (fish, cottage cheese, chicken, lean pork, free run eggs, whey powder), veggies (usually organic salad), blueberries and almond milk and the supplements I mentioned above - I finally broke my plateau and "seem" to be losing weight steadily, will see if it continues but it seems to be about 1lb per week and I eat roughly 1700 cal/day.
Who knows, it could also be that it took 5 months to "fix" my messed up metabolism and I am just seeing the results now but I am hoping that the info in my post will help others as i know how depressing and frustrating it is to work so hard and see no results.
The irony is the workouts I was doing from Jan-March (before I got my hernia) were SO much harder than the 60 minutes on the elliptical trainer - heck I even get to catch up on all my videos I have wanted to watch 0 -
[/quoteHey isys5, did your doctor look at you Thyroid anti-bodies?? Hashimoto's disease, My TSH was always good and the T4 and T3 were always high (From Canada as well). It was not until my Hashimoto's deisease got worse that I went hypo. All it takes is a simple blood test to find out. They should be able to tell right away depending on your doctor and what province you are from.
My STATS when diagnosed:
TSH-84
T4- 50.2
T3- 1.71
My Thyroid Anti-bodies were high.
That is from when I was 8.
Wow are your ranges the same as mine as you are in Canada as all of your numbers are way off the scale! I am in BC so they may be able to test, I may ask when i see him about my numbers but at this point as I am feeling so good not sure if it is necessary.
The ranges should be. I am from SK.0 -
my sister is in SK 0
-
How does Coconut butter differ from Coconut Oil? I have read they are the same, but I want to make sure the benefits for thyroid can be seen with either the oil or butter.
Thanks!0 -
I hate that brocolli and cauliflower are on the list. I eat A LOT of both of these. I crave them and would have such a hard time cutting them out. Do you really think it makes a huge difference? I did read that before, but tried to ignore it
I blanche my broccoli and roast my cauliflower does not seem to bother me. However any type of soy is a huge problem0 -
What do you notice from soy? So you avoid all soy...I see soy in so many products, not just the obvious ones. It is hard to avoid, but if it'll help I'll do it!0
-
How does Coconut butter differ from Coconut Oil? I have read they are the same, but I want to make sure the benefits for thyroid can be seen with either the oil or butter.
Thanks!
Sorry I never get email notifications anymore, need to check my settings I am not sure of the difference between butter & oil so I just get the organic virgin oil 0 -
I have never been a big soy eater so I can't say for myself but I have read on many posts that soy is bad for hypoWhat do you notice from soy? So you avoid all soy...I see soy in so many products, not just the obvious ones. It is hard to avoid, but if it'll help I'll do it! 0 -
Soy is a thyroid inhibitor, so are peanuts... apparently they interfere with the thyroid. We don't need anything to inhibit our thyroids.
Soy is in my Ranch dressing... :sad: I'm going to try to find a brand that doesn't have it... or a recipe :ohwell:
I'm pretty sure the butter is further processed. The virgin coconut butter is in a more pure state...0 -
you know debby I have gotten so used to just making my own dressing I don't even miss the store bought stuff anymore. My hubby got me hooked on his version, just drizzling olive oil, vinegar (apple cider vinegar is nice and extra health boost), salt & pepper and a touch of sugar.
when I make mine, I now only use rice wine vinegar & lemon juice (boring hey, but I quite like it) I usually throw in a T of ground flaxseed to for a bit more flavor or toasted walnuts0 -
Yes, I probably should.... hooked on ranch & cottage cheese on my salad though.... I'll find something. Once I use up the old stuff, that is. :bigsmile:0
-
I feel for you. I had ALL the symptoms of hypothyroidism, yet my doctor's did not treat me for it because all my hormone levels were considered normal. I even had he Free T3 and T4. It was not until I got a goiter that grew down into my sternum that I was finally treated by removing the right side of my gland. Hormones still "normal", but many of the symptoms have subsided. My advise is to keep informed and keep asking your doctor questions. If your current doctor does not take you seriously, find a new one. Doctors are not gods and you truly have to be your own advocate. You have to be relentless until you find a physician that works with you instead of against you.0
