I have underactive thyroid and am skinny and underweight, why is this and how do I gain weight?

[1123]

I am in my late teens and have underactive thyroid, and I am very skinny and underweight. This is most unusual for people with underactive thyroid, can anyone tell me why this is and what I can do to gain weight and maintain my health?

[Jackie]

Hi I am too. My Endo always says that some times the symptoms for Hypo are the same as Hyper. Make sure you have had recent bloods, TSH, T4 and Free T3. It is just possible that your FT3 is too high. If too low it causes weight gain.Make sure you are not diabetic. If seeing an Endo or even a GP should have tested for this, Glucose and the better Hb Aic tests I would find a good Endo and then ask for a referral. It is possible that Adrenal and Parathyroid ( PTH) may be desirable, they would certainly know this. My Hepatologist ( liver) says that it is important, in spite of major medical conditions that I should have, high fat food eg butter etc and lots of milk ,full cream etc.This is in spite of my major medical conditions to the contrary.

If not seeing an Endo this is important but must be good. Of all consultants they have the widest knowledge of all the body and how it works.There may be something that they think needs testing.etc. They are also normally motility experts.

I am sure it is tough for you but at least by not being over weight you and your organs are healthy.

Best wishes,

Jackie

Not sure if you know but if you wish to reply to some one, click on "Reply to this" under the post. Sure you do , given your age, my 13 year old grand daughter is brilliant on a computer!

[1123 in reply to Jackie]

Thank you very much for your reply. I was diagnosed about 2 months ago, and am on 50mg. My blood tests after one month of taking the medicine showed that my thyroid levels are now normal and not underactive, so my GP did not increase my dosage. Just puzzles me as to why I am so skinny though. I will definitely take your advice and see an endo, he will probably be able to give me some answers. Thank you for the help Jackie

[Justme2u in reply to 1123]

Definitely see an Endo! That hormone system controls the Thyroid.

[Lisa-Chairez in reply to Jackie]

Hi,Jackie maybe ur taking the wrong medicine..I take (armo thyroid) which a lot of people haven't heard of I have no side effects! I as well have it low I'm 5' and weigh 125 and I'm a size 5 I hope that I was helpful in your journey..Lisa

[RedApple Administrator]

If your hypothyroidism is not being optimally treated, this might be the cause. What dose of thyroxine are you taking and what were your most recent thyroid test results?

[1123 in reply to RedApple]

Hi, I was diagnosed 2 months ago and am on 50mg. One month after being diagnosed my blood test results showed that my thyroid levels are now normal....

[RedApple Administrator in reply to 1123]

This suggests that you may not yet be on the right amount of thyroxine. 50 mcg is a relatively low dose of levothyroxine and most (but not all) people do end up on a higher dose than this before their symptoms resolve.

Blood levels being 'normal' is not an acceptable answer when treating thyroid hormone deficiency. Your GP should be aiming to bring your TSH down below two. Many people don't feel well until their TSH is at one or below.

Please contact your surgery to obtain the actual thyroid test result numbers. Ideally, find out what the numbers were at the point of diagnosis, and at the most recent test since being on medication, then come back and tell us so that we have a clearer picture of your situation.

[1123 in reply to RedApple]

Thank you for this information. I will call up the surgery tomorrow and find out my exact results, and see what they say and get back to you. I was also on antidepressants for a short period, less than a month, until I convinced myself that it was just not the thing for me and their had to be another reason for my depression, and then started taking levothyroxine.

[1123 in reply to RedApple]

Hi, I called up the surgery to get my exact results, and they are not willing to give me my TSH levels at the point of diagnosis, but my TSH after one month of medication (50 mg) was 1.07 . Does that sound alright? Shall I ask them to increase my dosage or look into it further? Advice would be much appreciated !

[Hidden]

Not everyone puts on weight. I only put on 4kg at my worst which was in the few months before treatment. Specialists have told me I'm fine because I 'look fine'.

[Lolalois]

Hi, I echo the comments above, I'm underweight too. I probably don't eat loads but I eat whatever I want, including snacks and never miss a meal. I find it a bit embarrassing as I'm sure some people think I've got a problem with food, which I don't at all. My thyroid is under active and I'm on thyroxine, and at the moment my adrenal glands aren't working too well. Altho weight gain is a more typical symptom it seems that the opposite can be true too. As someone said above you should get any medical causes checked, but other than that, does it bother you?

[1123 in reply to Lolalois]

Hi, yes I am exactly the same towards food. I plan to see someone and explain the situation, asking if they have an knowledge as to what the problem could be. I'm happy for what I am and I'm not majorly bothered, I'd prefer being this weight rather than being overweight, but it would be nice to find out the problem and become a bit more healthy.

[Muffy]

My daughter lost an enormous amount of weight and weight loss isn't often recorded in books on the thyroid or on the internet.

It can sometimes be linked with the adrenals. My daughter took thyroxine, but was later changed to Armour thyroid and once she was well, her weight increased to a very normal weight for her height.

[1123 in reply to Muffy]

Thank you for the information. Yes I'm on levothyroxine at the moment aswell.

[Lisa-Chairez in reply to 1123]

Like I told the other ladies or girls I'm taking armo thryroid and its works really good...not many doctors know bout this medicine.. Good luck

[mandys]

I too lost a lot of weight when I was first diagnosed - went from a size 10 to a size 6-8. Then they stuck me on levothyroxine and am now unhappy and 2 stone overweight.

I am in a battle with my GP at the moment about my meds, I do hope you get your meds sorted soon and hope you have a sympathetic GP. I say keep hassling and you'll get there x

[1123 in reply to mandys]

Thank you for the information. I am currently on levothyroxine, I shall speak to my GP about it and see what he says. haha good luck with that, hope everything works out

[apsjiml]

Well, actually with low thyroid you may not be that hungry. It also deals with protein metabolism and muscle breakdown. You may be skinny with zero muscles with low thyroid. Why on earth would someone replace their thyroid with t4 only medications? Dessicated thyroid closely resembles your thyroid with t4 and t3 as well as t1 and t2. I would go by body temperature and pulse rate not tsh.

[patchy]

If adrenals are not in good state which is common with thyroid issues then T3 and armour can put a huge stress on them. so make sure skinnyness isnt due to adrenals before trying armour or T3,

Patchy

[KarynnFlores]

Hi.. I too have underactive thyroid.. I am 24yrs old, I am a mother of 3 and I weigh 105lbs. It's really hard to put on the weight and keep it on. I try to exercise to make muscle but I struggle with that too. But I don't really know why. My specialist finds it odd. I'm the first case she's ever seen with hypothyroid and be really petite

[LovelyLotus84]

Thank you all!

I was just told my thyroid is running a bit low and hope the levothyroxine will help me with weight. I've been struggling with having to eat 5k+ calories a day to maintain a 103 weight (I'm 4'11"-5') and will lose 10lbs over night! It's messing with my heart; dropping to 29 then spiking to ~160 within a few minutes and it goes for hours. I'm glad I'm not alone!

[Sunsette1]

I was diagnosed at birth and I cannot put on weight. My weight fluctuates between 8.5-9st and I’m 5’7”, so I am just within the healthy BMI range. After I had my little boy I managed to put a good amount of weight on but didn’t keep it, I went back down the the size I was before. So I wouldn’t worry, it’s probably just the way your body is 😊 x

[wtfe]

I'm a male. I was in the same boat for many years. I was one of those people who couldn't gain and maintain weight for any significant period of time if their life depended on it. I also had borderline high sweat chloride, which was causing symptoms that mimic cystic fibrosis.

Have your hormones levels checked—DHEA specifically, but all the rest as well for good measure (testosterone, cortisol, estrogen, estradiol, progesterone).

Find a doctor that's worth a damn, and have your hormones levels checked! I was ridiculously low on DHEA, and had testosterone on the very low end of the reference range. Thanks to a very long string of worthless physicians, it took me 15 frustrating years of fruitless searching to figure this out...

[Justme2u in reply to wtfe]

What did you figure out?

[EbonyEvans in reply to Justme2u]

This post is 7 years old. You may not get a reply if the OP doesn’t use the site a lot. You could make your own similar post asking members all your questions. But I hope you do get sufficient replies.

[Justme2u]

I have the same issues. My TSH came back 5.2, high. Yet I’m 5’5” and 125 lbs on a heavy day.