Hi all, still struggling with my weight.

[tiggernutter]

After months of going to gym, eating sensibly etc etc I am finally defeated..... So, decided to get some slimming pills with 'bladderwrack'. Now I have just read on the label 'do not take if you have thyroid problems'. Can someone please explain why and also what is T3 that I keep reading about.....I truly don't understand this under active thyroid thing other than I feel awful, constantly tired, fat, and have zero sex drive and no appetite my husband does not understand and thinks its too easy to blame my thyroid. I am totally fed up and depressed by it as all. I sometimes wish my thyroid was over active cos at least I'd lose weight. Please help.xxx

[Hidden]

Hello, There is lots of information on the main Thyroid website, and you can also send for an information pack which explains a lot. T3 is the active form of thyroid hormone. If you are taking levothyroxine (T4) this has to be converted to T3 in the body in order for it to be effective.

Try these pages for starters:

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/treatm...

There is also a comprehensive symptoms list on the website. Try discussing this with your husband.

Jane x x

[tiggernutter in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Jane, makes a bit more sense, bit worried now as I am vegetarian and reading the list of foods to avoid is mostly all I eat, and I don't like fish. I am definitely going to ask about T3 prescription when I see endo in july.

Xx

[greygoose]

Hi tiggermutter, weight-gain is a hypo symptom brought about by low thyroid hormones. So all the exercising, dieting and slimming pills in the world are not going to make you lose it! In fact, they could make you put on even more. What you need to reverse the process is to optimise your thyroid hormone levels.

Bladderwrack, seaweed, is not good for hypos because it contains a high level of iodine (nobody should be taking these things, actually, they can do more harm than good!). Iodine, whilst necessary for hormone production, should not be taken in large quantities because it can make the hypo worse.

When you say the 'list of foods to avoid', I presume you mean goitrogens. Well, the good news is, that these goitrgens are not necessarily bad for you - even though you are hypo. Not all hypos are sensitive to all goitrogens. The best thing to do is to exclude them all from your diet for a couple of weeks, then reintroduce them one by one and see how you feel after eating them. If you feel bad, cut them out of your diet. If you don't feel bad, carry on eating them.

The exception to this rule is soya. Soya is bad news for everyone. It can do all sorts of horrible things to you. But the problem for hypos is that it can, like all goitrogens, impede the up-take of iodine by the thyroid, but also act at a cellular level by impeding the up-take of thyroid hormones by the receptors. So, no soya! lol

Hugs, Grey

[tiggernutter in reply to greygoose]

Wow thanks grey! No more Bladderwrack for me then! So, how do I 'optimise thyroid hormone levels'? All the doc tells me to do is eat sensibly ( hard to follow as extremely fussy eater) and 'exercise, exercise, exercise (his words) and what are goitrogens? I only eat plain veg, salad and no sauces or spices, no pasta, rice etc. A typical meal is cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, brocolli and potato......I have this 3/4 times a week.

Tiggernutter.xxx

[greygoose in reply to tiggernutter]

The only way to do that is to increase your dose of levo. I see in your past posts that you are only on 100 mcg and that is a very small dose.

Your doctor is... ignorant. Exercise, exercise, exercise is not recommended for hypos. It uses up hormones they haven't got! In a 'normal' body, when a person exercises, the thyroid produces more hormone at will to replace that lost by exercise. A hypo can't do that.

I find your diet extrememly worrying. Where is the protein? Where are the fats? Cabbage, carrots and cauliflower are all goitrogens. There is another post on here today about goitrogens and several people have given links to lists of them. Would be worth a look. I also wrote an explanation of how to manage goitrogens;

So, if that is all you're eating, how many calories a day do you think you're ingesting? I would say not enough! And if you don't eat enough calories and you continue madly exercising, you are going to starve your body. And that, in turn is going to make you fatter.

Hypos need more calories than average, not less. They need to ensure they have enough to cover convertion, because if they don't convert then they are going to become more hypo. And you know what that means! If, at the same time, you are exercising every day,the exercising is using all your calories as well as all your hormones. What do you think that is going to do to your body? Your main aim is not to use up your calories, but to conserve them. Besides, exercising never made anyone lose weight and it certainly won't if you're hypo. It is no-longer a case of calories in vs calories out. It's fare more complicated than that.

So, time to have a good, hard look at your life-style. I know it would be considered 'healthy' if you didn't have thyroid problems, but you do. Do you have any blood test results to share with us? It would give us a clearer insight into what's going on. But in my opinion, you need an increase in levo.

Hugs, Grey

[tiggernutter in reply to greygoose]

I know my 'diet' is awful....over the years I have gone off more foods so now I can't even tolerate the thought of them. I do try and eat cheese and eggs, I like salad. I have no idea what my calorie intake is, I have tried to count it, I reckon most days less than 1000.

I am seeing endo in July, my last check up was in January, I will get those results and post them on here in the next few days.

Thanku Grey your info has all been helpful and I have been reading the other posts about goitrogens as well.

Tiggernutter xxx

[greygoose in reply to tiggernutter]

Honestly, I do understand the going off foods, I'm very picky myself and hate eating meat. But you can't live without fat. You can't live without cholesterol and you can't live without protein. Preferably animal fat and protein. You really must try and eat more and more healthily (sorry if that sounds like a paradox). Because basically, you are just making yourself more hypo.

Don't take any notice of anything doctors say about nutrition, they are not trained in it and can tell you the most rediculous things. I've been told by several doctors to cut out ALL fat and drink soy milk. I'd be dead by now if I'd listened to them!

Hugs, Grey x