hi i know that i am probably in the minority but i have gone from 7 stone 3 pounds or 47 kilogram or 99 pounds to 7 stone 9 pounds or 50 kilogram or 110 pounds in a matter of 2 weeks. i have been eating better and haven't made significant changes to my diet but i am very pleased with filling out a little bit and i'm now a normal weight instead of being underweight. i don't know if it is much of a good thing really umm...just nice to work out my body mass and find that i am not stick thin.
i had my doctor appointment friday just gone and the doctor i saw increased my levothyroxine from 100mcg to 125mcg. it will be a pain for me to split the dose but i'll have to look at splitting it evenly somehow..i did try cutting a 100mcg tablet in half one day, this was with a knife, and one half of it just crumbled on the worktop. i don't think that's meant to happen. he prescribed me a laxative for the constipation and didn't seem bothered i had blood in my bowel movements during a period (when i wipe my backside there is blood on the tissue) and tummy and pelvic pain. he thinks it is all down to the constipation and thinks it will clear up. i am now thinking about changing doctors again but i also sent an email to PALS re my problems.
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thanks for replying, no i haven't been investigated for endometriosis as gp did not want to refer me to a gynae but a urologist instead. will they possibly refer me if i tell them these symptoms?
that's interesting. I split my NDT into 2 doses now (1.5 grains when I get up, 1 grain around teatime) and feel considerably better than I have done for years. No gains likely with taking Levo like that, then?
If it's NDT I assume that's o.k. to split. As long as you feel well although Dr Lowe's patients always medicated once a day as the T3 then saturates the cells and then the process lasts between 1 and 3 days.
P.S. Dr L also said that weight gain usually happens if TSH is kept in range. Some info:-
thanks for replying, i have been getting problems with taking my levothyroxine. if i take the full dose at night it keeps me awake, if i take the full dose in the morning first thing it makes my energy levels dip in the afternoon. so, my dose is now 125mcg but with 1 100mcg tablet and 1 25mcg tablet but i still have lots of 50mcg. if i want to split it that would mean i would have to take 62.5mcg which will be hard to do twice every day..
Splitting levothyroxine is unusual, but might be your answer. What I wouldn't do is worry whether the split is exactly equal. You might do fine on a split of, say, 75 and 50. In fact, that might be better than an exactly even split.
Because this is not the usual path, I am afraid that in practical terms you are likely to be on your own. Maybe try 75 and 50 for a few days, then 50 and 75? Decide which is better and stick with it for a while. Eventually you might decide on different splits, different timings, or another route altogether!
For what it is worth, my experience was that although I have always taken my levothyroxine at night, Mercury Pharma product did seem to affect my sleep - I felt too hot in the early hours. And on Actavis I felt that it ran out well before the next dose. Am currently taking Henning levothyroxine I bought myself and seem OK - that after taking Aliud for a while but that was out of stock when I needed a new order.
thankyou for your suggestion, yes the 75 and 50 and then 50 and 75 sound good when i first took the levothyroxine at night i didn't really take notice of which brand i was taking..the only other problem is that i have a thyroid blood test for next week and since the increase in dose is new...surely i would need to be on the previous dose first as the new dose may skew the result again? i might be wrong..
Hi Usually weight can be associated with FT3. Check TSH, T4 and FT3, to make sure your FT3 is OK and in range. It must always be. if you convert well T4 to T3, you may need less T4.Weight should not alter rapidly.
Diabetes, hormone and autoimmune needs testing too. Blood AB1Ac
"Weight should not alter rapidly." is not the experience of a lot of people on this site. It can drop off alarmingly if one is hyper and can pile on quicker than one would believe possible if one is hypo. :o(
I think Jackie means that it shouldn't alter rapidly, not that it doesn't. Rapid changes mean something is going on that shouldn't be. I know I put on over a stone in about 3 weeks!
I put have gained a stone for nearly every year i have been underactive, now weigh in at 14stone! My doctor just told me its normal and laughed when i mentioned dieting,said it probably wont change anything. Am on 75g and 100g alternate days, have a 50g and 25g tablets.
Hi angela219.what is it with gps that think they have the right to ridicule us and put us down?my weight has also increased but all abdominal but he cant accept that and has laughed at me on more than one occasion.i was told I needed to diet(by rheumy and its not even his concern )and he wouldn't accept or listen when I told him (and my gp)that I couldn't diet as I wasn't able to eat much more than breakfast.that weight gain is whatever is causing my stomach swelling and nothing to do with diet.still arguing that today-6 years on..i to have complained to PALS and the CCG but they are not interested and just pass the buck back to the surgery.have emailed the CCG again two days ago but no response as yet.Good Luck with PALS hope you get a result.let me know how it goes
I've gone from being a size 10 pre diagnosis, the good old days to a 14 / 16 at 11.7 stone, my GP just says try and diet, it's all round my middle, I know just how you feel, it's miserable. I supposed to properly medicated but I just don't know. You bang your head against a wall. X
feeling so bad tonight.stomach feels like its being churned around -getting bigger every day and so hard and sore .more pressure on my ribs-feels like im going to explode .just dont see how my gp cannot be concerned .my dogs becoming more concerned every day too.
oh gosh. i'm pretty sure that dogs can sense when something with their owner is not right. my dog was like that when i still had him. when i was happy he was happy but when i was sad he would just sit with his back against my leg as if to say "pet me, it'll help you feel better." nine years he's been gone and i still miss him. you sound as though you're in agony too.
Same as me Angela, I put on 20 kg the first year I started going haywire, and have been unable to keep any off, I loose 10kg every year and pit back on 12, I am eating less and exercising more. I am on the same dose as you. Put on 5 kg with bisoprolol, then another 5 with simvastatin. The doctors just shrug. My BMR is so low, my temp never gets over 35.5 and my pulse runs about 54, metabolism ruined. No use complaining.
You would have to order your meds without a prescription. Not many people do well on t4 meds alone. T3 is the active hormone. I'm on t3 only no t4. I don't convert the t4 to t3 well.
I was using Spatone then came across many postings on here and other forums stating even after months of double dose Spatone iron levels didn't increase, they recommended ferrous fumerate/sulphate at 210g daily taken with Vit c (and 5g folate if on high doses of B12). Which I have now been on for a few months, as I needed to increase in order for NDT to be effective.
ok, thankyou for the advice. i did buy feroglobin for iron supplementation in case the spatone didn't work out but that contains b12. as i am awaiting a gastroscopy i cannot start this yet as it may skew the results of that.
thankyou my gp originally put me on ferrous fumerate but i was sick on that so i switched to spatone but i had the feroglobin as back-up just in case. doctor and pharmacy did not tell me to take any iron with vitamin c or to keep it away from levothyroxine or milk.
thankyou, i have been put on 100mcg and 25mcg tablets but i take one dose at morning and one at night. i split this in half as if i take the whole dose at one time i get adverse effects.
Not saying that mixed makes are bad - that depends on the individual. But if you do poorly on Mercury Pharma products and Wockhardt, you would not then have the choice of a UK 25 microgram tablet. Hence splitting may be required.
By the way, if you wish to respond to a post, please try to use Reply to this so that the person you are responding to gets an alert email.
If you aren't experiencing any problems then the combination of different makes is fine. Some people experience problems on Actavis, feeling it is 'weak' compared to Mercury Pharma. Others are sensitive to the different fillers in Actavis, Mercury Pharma and Wockhardt. Switching makes often resolves the problem.
I felt less unwell on Actavis than on Mercury Pharma. I'm also fine on Wockhardt and fine on Actavis and Wockhardt.
Oh to be 7stone 9 pound again, wouldn't it be nice!
I weigh in just over 12 stone now all around my middle, looks absurd and feels horrible. Only five feet four with size 5 feet have problems with feet straining under the weight, think it is thiis plantar facitis thing, had to sit all day with feet up yesterday was in such pain. I take 100mcg Activis and was recently grudgingly allowed 25 mcg every other day increase. (Bloods in range) but can't get Activis 25 so have 25's in Wockhardt. Have been thinking about local slimming world but just can't muster up the energy to put myself through it. Is it worth it? Thinking about requesting dx for ME, tiredness and aching legs and generally feeling totally wacked if I try to exercise to lose this ghastly belly. Feel like crap.
I was about that all my life until this horrible thing. I was diagnosed hypothyroid in april and had already put on two stone from7.9 like you to 9.9, then i nearly went to ten stone, my hip couldn't take it and my knee and as my job involves a great deal of walking, my poor little body couldn't take the extra weight,, and i ended up with two bursitis which now i cant walk properly, and just shuffle and walk with a crutch?
The doc put me on 50 mg levothyroxine and that's made me go hyper so my weight dropped to 9.9 from nearly ten and i felt so dreadful i have been off work since 7th may ,,im only little too ,, im only 4ft 11 and tiny ish..I only went up to 9 stone when i was pregnant with my children .(24and 22 yrs ago)
Its really hard to lose weight in less very hyper with this condition, i haven't tried any of the thyroid diets , but i hear they are quite good if you look on this site,and i think stopthemadness.com has some good advice too
so sorry to hear you have weight problems. i think my gp begrudgingly put me on the increased dose himself. i get tired easily too and gets worse after eating gluten...can't think why
weight gain is common with hypothyroidism - being pleased about it very much less so! So pleased for you.
thanks for being pleased for me, it made my day when i found out. i guess i am pleased about it since i was classed as underweight for a while so now to be a normal weight is fantastic
I envy you your weight gain, well done. What tablets do you have? Are you trying to cut a 50mcg tablet into 2 x 25mcg? I can recommend Pillmate pill cutter I bought from my pharmacy for £2.99. As others have said your pharmacy should supply 100mcg Actavis or Mercury Pharma plus Wockhardt 25mcg tablets when your scrip requires 125mcg.
hi there, thanks for congratulating me, i was pleased when i weighed myself and saw my weight, that made my day! my tablets are wockhardt 25mcg and actavis ones are in 100mcg and 50mcg. i have been trying to cut a 100mcg tablet since i lost a packet of 50mcg but then found them.. i did have a pill cutter but it wasn't very good. thankyou for recommending the Pillmate pill cutter, is that from a Boots pharmacy? i do have a local pharmacy but haven't seen them stock pill cutters.
I just asked my local pharmacy to show me what pill cutters they had, Azura. I don't understand why you need one though, as you have 100mcg Actavis and 25mcg Wockhardt?
i split my dose in half because of side effects so when i was on the 100mcg i took 1 50mcg in the morning and the other at night but when i ran out of the 50mcg or thought i ran out of 50mcg i then took 2 25mcg in the morning and 2 more at night.
At least we are not alone in this, not that it makes things any better. Like all of you my middle is the problem, that is also the dangerous place to gain and the hardest to lose. I do wonder if cortisol levels are up, ask gp if they test but told No too expensive am wondering whether to go to the expense of private testing,but if docs don't take any notice of results what is the point?
i know where you are coming from angela as my doctors have repetitively told me off for having private bloods done but my argument is and always has been that if their labs do not run tests for ft3 and ft4 i cannot see any other way. also the endo and doctors have this idea that ft3 and ft4 *do* get tested and when i tell them that they do not they act all surprised and don't believe me...i feel like even if i go blue in the face from explaining to them this fact they will not understand.
Hi FT3 can be low in range or under range. When I was originally diagnoe, FT3 always done, my only problem then.More important now to drink water as counter acts the fluid and helps it to be expelled, if on diuretics, soinds like you should be, even vital for life, water.Worth paying for 3 tests, tSH, T4 and FT3. You may be hyper or hypo. Endo says sometimes identical symptoms, why bloods vital.
I'm not as clued up about this as many of the posters here, cc120, as I'm quite new to it myself - but I think you tend to gain weight if you're hypo, it's not to do with the medication.
If, like me, you're hypo but untreated (undiagnosed as bloods "normal") then you will probably gain weight - I certainly have! But people who are on levo for hypo but aren't on the right dose to control it can also gain weight. It isn't the levo (or NDT) which causes weight gain - it's the illness. I think that's right anyway.
Thank you Caroline C57, from what you and the others below say, it's the correct 'healthy' weight being gained, be it any weight for the under-weight and muscle mass for those that have lost during hypo years. What about the members gaining only in middle? Perhaps due to muscle loss around the middle enables fat to store there?
People who lose weight when hypothyroid might be suffering from loss of muscle mass. (That can be a serious issue.) Restoration of thyroid hormone levels can allow the muscle mass to return. If that is what happened to you, then it is absolutely a good sign that your weight has gone up.
I don't know any answers other than getting onto the best thyroid hormone regime, attending to all the usual things such as iron, B12, etc., and making sure your diet includes a decent mix of proteins/amino acids that provide the building blocks.
Even very gentle exercise might help.
I hope someone else who has more understanding and knowledge might dive in here.
I am struggling with weightloss too. Unfortunately still cant find much on the internet 3 yrs after your post. Could you please clarify why you think you gained weight? I was not sure if this occurred after your doc increased the meds or not? Thanks!
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Pleased that you are pleased about it... 
you sound as though you're in agony too. 
Could I have hypothyroidism? 
Does the dosage of levo go on your weight?
Instant rapid weight gain after a week without NDT, my medication arrives on Tuesday, will this weight falll off then? And how quickly? Help
