I think a GP's leaflet is also needed. How many of us have been told by our GP's that we need to do more to lose weight when one of the first things on this doctors assessment list is to find out if the patient is hypothyroid.
pulsetoday.co.uk/clinical/t...
Moggie x
Thanks for this Moggie, very interesting. As you say, first on the assessment list is hypothyroidism... BUT it says it's a 'rare' cause. Hmm... and then lo and behold, in the list of medications that can cause weight gain are... antidepressants!
So.... your TSH is normal, therefore hypo isn't the cause of your weight gain. Obviously then you're depressed, so have some antiDs! Aaaarrrggghhh!
brilliant!!!!! xxx
I may just be printing this out and keeping a copy handy for when the next doctor mentions my weight.
I thought the "rare" comment was a bit odd too as I read somewhere only this week that one in twenty suffer with an under active thyroid, so surely that takes it out of the "rare" category.
Think your spot on with your theory that if your bloods are "in range" then you are no longer hypo so the weight gain couldn't possibly be caused by your thyroid illness - idiots!!!!!!!
Moggie x
Yes, I believe hypo is now actually classed as 'common' (although when I was finally diagnosed back in 2005, I did have one doc tell me it was rare!).
So perhaps it's that gaining weight with hypo is rare 
That of course is despite the fact unexplained weight gain is at the top of every hypo symptom list (even the conventional medicine ones). Or maybe the actual meaning is that it's rare to become 'obese' with hypo... rather than just gaining a few extra pounds... <sarcasm hat on> which of course we all know are easily lost once your TSH is in range.
Yep - my nickname is "Twiggy" since I started taking levo!!!!!!
Moggie x
Oh dear. I'm not sure if this is sarcasm or not! I don't get sarcasm face-to-face so I don't stand a castanets on line, lol!
I can't lose weight on t3 only! Very frustrating! Bi am therefore assuming sarcasm...
Carolyn x
*chance, not castanets!
Laptop is dead as a dodo so I'm using my phone. Autocorrect is my nemesis!
I prefer the 'castanets'!!! 
I may use it... often!!!
Carolyn - I put on 3 stone in less than 2 years on T3 only, which the endos and the dietitian they referred me to could not explain. I was actually told it was impossible to put weight on while taking T3! Since starting levo in June of this year I have lost a stone and a half without too much effort.
I have steadily put on weight no matter what I was on - T3/T4 combo or T4 only - wish I could lose weight without much effort.
Moggie x
Me too! So frustrating isn't it!
I think it is one of the hardest thing for me to deal with as far as this illness goes, but then I read post and questions from others on here and realise that I could be worse.
Moggie x
I find it heartbreaking that I am now a 'fatty' when I used to be a 'fitty' because of this chuffing underactive thyroid, I have gone up 3 dress sizes in 3 years, I would not mind if I was big because I ate all the pies, but eating less and still putting on weight, exercise and still putting on weight I find really hard to deal with.
Its a fact of life people judge you by your size and having always been small I really struggle with the weight gain on top of all the other crap that we have to deal with!!
I can totally relate to this as I was a size 10 and am now a size 18. The only consolation I have got is that my thyroid trouble didn't hit me until I was 45+ so all through my teens, twenties and thirties I was slim. It still hurts to see myself the way I am now, plus I feel uncomfortable in my own skin, but what really gets me is that people (and when I say people I mean close relations/friends) still dont believe its the thyroid illness that is making me look like this.
It's lucky we have this site to vent our frustration and have a good moan on, and to people that really do understand.
Moggie x
Hi Moggie,
I am the same as you it hit me mid forties and its been 4 years now and seeing myself this way is just awful, even though we have had our slim years, I know that I would still be slim if it was not for this illness...Plus my joints cannot cope!!
My Mum became unwell many years ago but she was lucky that she had a good GP who got her on the right meds, she has always been a bigger woman because she ate loads, but recently she has lost quite a bit of weight, so it just goes to show that you can lose it if you are getting what you need med wise and now sadly I am bigger than her:-((
And yes the people around you do not believe and people in general that your thyroid can have that power to cause all the havoc it does, I have even shown pics of me to prove that I have not always been this way...But because we are women of a certain age it is kind of expected.
I still dream of getting into some of my lovely clothes and will not give up hope that one day I will get there, but I might be quite old by then and probably look really silly!! ha ha Mutton comes to mind
Take care
D x
me too have put on 4 stone in weight..
im 5' 9".. and was a size 10 .. for all my teenage and adult life until I got this awful illness of hypo .. now im a size 18, my hair is thin and not a lot of it..constantly tired ,loads of fibro pain, rashes all the time..
I was a singer for many years and loved dancing on stage to my singing and the band playing great music..wearing wonderful cloths too..
now I just stay at home all day long. all night long doing absolutely nothing anymore.. no confidence to entertain an audience anymore, could never go back on stage to perform..i miss singing so much..
i bump into people from my past (at the doctors mostly as I never go anywhere else anymore) people who I haven't seen for years (they remember me the way I was back then) and they can be so cruel ..they see you and stop to say hello then continue to say ' wow sandy you've put a lot of weight on haven't you' or ' you need to cut down on those cream cakes sandy and you used to be so slim, whats happened to your figure' ..
im so embarrassed and just want to hide away and never go out again..it makes me so down and low and have no confidence whatsoever...
sorry folks im ranting on aren't I.. just fed up. I want my life back and sandy back.. I could cry forever.. I know theres those out there a lot worse of than me its just some days I feel so alone with it all one tends to forget those worse off.. so sorry to those people for being like this... bad day .. hugs to you all... xxx
Awwww sandy, big hugs back to you xxxx
thank you xxx
Have you ever tried a gluten free diet Sandy. I was just about to link a talk from a guy who explains what gluten can be doing to you You might want to listen. I'll head it "Dr.Tom on Gluten"
Also if you have a look in the post section under "browse by category" (down the right hand side of the page) you will see a "gluten free chats" section. Have a look and see what you think. Going gluten free is hard to do but if it can give you back half the life you had then its got to be worth it.
Sorry you are feeling so bad and, as you may have read on here, lots of us - including me - were slim and full of life before we got this awful illness, so we really understand what you are going through and how cruel people can be. A fat person to most people is someone that is lazy and eats to much, not someone who sufferers with a hormone problem - people look at you as though you are making excuses, they might as well tell you that you are lying by te look on their face - but we all know that it is not an excuse and we don't over eat but going gluten free really can be live changing.
Have a read and listen to the link I am going to post and, if you want to, comment on it and let me know what you thought.
Moggie x
aww moggie thank you so much for your time. your understanding, kind support and suggestions.. I have actually been gluten free for years now.. I do slip up the odd time but I mostly do the diet 90% of the time...
since the age of 17 I have been in and out of hospital having various operations..i finally had a hysterectomy when I was 24 years old (managed to try IVF before the hysterectomy but failed being able to have a baby) I have been using HRT for the last 20 years..... at the age of 30 I was diagnosed with 'leaky gut syndrome' and spent many weeks in 'Addenbrokes Hospital trying to change the bacteria in my gut...(that was unsuccessful) then 2 years later I was diagnosed with IBS and then after that I was put on a Gluten free diet and have been ever since (few years now) i'm at the end of my tether Moggie.. I cant remember the last time I felt well and healthy (I think I was about 16 years old) then to be diagnosed with thyroid issues and fibro just has been too much be bear..
As for those who don't understand this illness I feel its sad they judge people by their looks and not who they are about.. thank again for taking time to talk to me Moggie .. staying positive sandy x
What a sad, sad story. Some people just do not deserve what is dishes out to them in life.
Sounds like you can teach me a thing or two about going gluten free but I will just add that I read somewhere the other week that eating one thing with gluten in will effect a person with gluten sensitivity for 6 years!!, so there is hope yet that you will start to feel well again and possibly encourage you to give up the last 10%.
Maybe we can help each other - I'll share what knowledge I have on thyroid illness and you share your knowledge on leaky gut/gluten intolerance with me and maybe between the two of us we'll hit the jackpot.
Once again I must say how sorry I am that you seem to have been dogged with ill health nearly all your life and can fully understand how you are at the end of your tether. To desperately want, and not be able to have, a baby would be enough suffering for a person in their lifetime but to have one illness after another must have left you so low. What sort of support network have you got around you Sandy - I take it from your user name you have a husband called Paul - please say you do.
Please stay strong and positive and keep coming on this site for all the help and advice you feel you need - whatever you feel you need from this site there will always be someone here to listen.
Can I just make sure that you keep your HRT, at least, four hours away from your thyroid meds as it contain oestrogen which will badly effect your levo.
Anything you need to know about thyroid issues please just shout - it's about time you had a change of luck and if I can help that change come about in some small way I will.
Moggie x
Well I read a book called the wheat belly and followed a detox diet for the liver -sounds unrelated but actually it was not. Basically i cut out all grains and added sugar apart from a small portion of oats porridge for breakfast which I shouldn't really have had on the diet.... I walked my 10,000 steps per day and lost 3 1/2 stone -no calorie counting. I dropped from a size 20 to a 14 -and was stone off my target weight & the size 12 i once was........sadly I became really stressed at work stopped the walking and let the naughty grains/added sugar back in.......& hey presto put over 3 stone back on. So the truth is I need to keep the grains and added sugar out of my diet permanently and keep those 10,000 steps ( 5 miles) as a minimum of daily activity. So having got over my bad back that has been plaguing me now for 4 months i am going back on the band wagon......
NB: I am 5' 9" and up to my my late forties never shifted from a size 12.........now back to a size 18 for letting things slip grrrrrrr.......stupid me! ....ah well I just have to try to accept that keeping my weight down is going to be a permanent battle for the rest of my life.....I will never be a 'natural skinny again'....lol 
Snap - although I never managed to stay the course as long as you. I went gluten free for 3 months last year and was doing really well. The weight was coming off nicely but, due to irregular heart beat cause by thyroid meds, my doctor reduced my levo to a stupid amount and I was so under medicated that I started to put the weight back on. I got so disheartened, what was the point of giving up all the foods I loved when I was still gaining weight, that I started eating gluten again.
I am now very well medicated with a German made levo and have just started cutting things out again slowly. Ended up with a thumping headache for a week due to reducing sugar intake to the minimum (just goes to show how addicted I was to it) and am busy cooking all my gluten free meals from scratch so hopefully I will start to see the fruits of my labours soon. Bread is my downfall, as I absolutely love it, but what is it they say - if you love something so much that you crave it then it is usually no good for you.
Thanks for your valuable story - it gives people hope - and just goes to prove, yet again, how cutting gluten and grains out of your diet really does make a huge difference.
Hope you have as much success as last time and can remain "on the wagon" for life.
Have a look at the video I posted yesterday on the exact subject - I headed it "Dr.Tom on gluten" or something similar.
Moggie x
Tried and don't know if I can fight any more.
Upset about my weightloss!
Bit confused about T3
Thinking of trying a weight loss drug and wondering how this effects levothyroxine dose?
