Whats the best way to lose weight with an under active thyroid. I have put on over 2st in 2yrs. Tried loads of diets and nothing happens.

[captinmorgan]

Weight is just going up. on 50/75mg of Levothyroxine.everyotherday. Other Symptoms are better still tired but not as much. I was boarder line for 11 years and only last year they decided to trial me on thyroxine to see if it would help. I am now 1 1/2st heavier than when i started. Confused, don't know what to do????

[Coastwalker]

Hi Captinmorgan,

Are you the Dark one or the Spicy one ? It's my favorite tipple, with an added slice of frozen pink grapefruit.

When I was still feeling tired and gaining weight fast I was put onto a higher dose of Levo upped from 50mg to 75mg, but still felt the same, then read a member's post on here saying take your Levo on it's own with water on an empty stomach and 4 hours away from iron and calcium foods to get the 'maximum effect' out of the Levo.

Two days later I lost the tiredness/brain fog and started to loose weight.

Maybe worth trying it on the dose you are on now to see if it makes any difference. I take mine late in the evenings.

[Therese22 in reply to Coastwalker]

I take my levo in the morning my other tablets at midday. What do you take late in the evenings?

[Coastwalker in reply to Therese22]

Agree with Ansteynomad, and Shaws about upping your Levo to the Optimal dose (quoted by Daffodil,) I got to this stage a while back after swapping my Levo to night times as it had all night to work on me with no interference from other foods. I felt on top form again, normal once more, all aches pains gone and my weight falling off easy, no foggy brain or tiredness either. It was almost like a miracle. Told Doc I was OK and said what had happened to me and about taking my Levo at night, Doc asked if it was ok to discuss it with other Docs. I asked if I could be re tested for bloods 6 weeks later, Doc said 3 months later I was dissapointed, I had a feeling my miracal wouldn't last, it didn't, two weeks after swopping to nights my Levo must have leveled off, still waiting for my 3 months appointment in January, but my body tells me I need to up my Levo now as I have had some lesser felt symptoms come back and weight is going back on, not due to Christmas feed up as it is a bloated type of weight increase as I'd had before.

Ask your Doc to treat you by Symptoms and not by your blood tests, I told my Doc that I had read on my forum site that clever Doctors treat Thyroid patients by their symptoms, not by bloods that can come back wrong especially if patients were not converting T4 to T3.

A bit cheeky of me, but I said it in a nice way, I did wonder if Doc discussed that one with other Doc friends too. Do hope so

[Joyia]

As you will find out weight issues and the thyroid are a controversial subject and I can only speak from my own experience. Yes we all have our differences regarding our thyroid health but I am of the school of thought that believes it is possible to lose weight even with a thyroid condition but we need to be vigilant in our quest with no sneaky lapses. I found the insulin resistant diet very helpful and lost almost two stone by eliminating all starchy foods and sugars in any form, so no potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, cakes, biscuits, sweets etc. Make everything from scratch using fresh produce, soups, casseroles, omelettes, meat, fish, eggs, lots of veggies and salads. Experiment with coconut flour. I still had dairy in the form of organic oats and goats milk for breakfast. This works for me and others here who follow a similar regime will testify to weight loss as well. I hope this encourages you.

[Hidden in reply to Joyia]

It's good to read your reply encouraging Thyroid Dieting Joyia....something I am trying hard to do for myself.

The only hard bit is the " Sneaky Lapses " however,with the Christmas extras now disposed of except for the tin of sweets and box of shortbread remaining firmly unopened,it's time to get on with the New Year resolve. x

[Joyia in reply to Hidden]

You can do it Marfit, you are already beginning to focus, let us know how you get on x

[Hidden in reply to Joyia]

Thanks Joyia ...we need all the encouragement we can get don't we.I must say that Mary J Shoman's book Thyroid Diet Revolution....Manage Your Master Gland of Metabolism for lasting Weight Loss is giving me a lot of incentive at the moment so,the New Year over,it's time to get serious about it. Happy New Year. X

[Hidden]

The best way is to effectively manage your thyroid, ie to be on the optimal dose of ndt or synthetic t4 - whatever works for you, as this will affect your metabolsim. The best dose is not what the nhs tells you. but the dose that keeps your symptoms under control.

[RosamundG]

have a look at Dr. John Briffa's 2 books -- Waist Disposal and Escape the Diet Trap. They are both on Amazon. It's a very simple diet, it's healthy and John claims that if you stick to it 80% of the time you'll still be able to lose weight. It's mainly low carb that excludes pasta, bread, as well as cakes and biscuits but it does include red wine, dark chocolate, avocados so it's not so bad and very easy to stick to. It's the only diet that has actually helped me to lose weight and I've had an under active thyroid for 20 years! If you want to look at his site it's also full of interesting information. drbriffa.com/books/

[Ansteynomad]

Are you sure you are on enough levo? If you're not then losing weight will always be a struggle if not downright impossible. Do you have any recent test results?

My friend has been on 75mcg levo for years and her weight is just going up and up. She went for her annual review recently and her TSH was 4.58 (0.35-6), which her GP says is fine!

I have lost 20lbs in the last 6 months since I have been on levo, but I started on 75mcg and am now on 125.

My understanding is that the main problem with levo is that people are not taking enough of it.

[shaws Administrator]

You may need an increase in your medication. This is a link and read the first question in particular. At the top of the page is another topic 'weight gain'.

web.archive.org/web/2010103...

[Therese22]

Have asked that question before and had no response. I have put on 3 stones in 4 years. I am a healthy eater and cannot believe my weight. I feel very uncomfortable, sometimes bloated and I am also on 75mg of thyroxine.

[Julia187]

I've lost 6st using myfitness.pal.com and all it cost me was a pair of new trainers. I like the discipline of having to log everything I eat and know where I am with my food each day. I've fallen off the wagon recently by am cracking on come tomorrow to shift the last bit. Good luck.

[trw99]

if do not sleep it is difficult to lose weight like people with sleep apnoea difficult to lose weight