Hypothyroid and exercise

[gailmicmac]

Hello, I am looking for some advice about exercising with hypothyroid please. I love exercising and feel great when actually doing any, my problem is in the hours/days after I have exercised I feel exhausted. Is there a need for more medication on days of planned exercise? Thanks

[shaws Administrator]

If you have an up-to-date blood test for your thyroid gland, please post them with the ranges for members to comment.

If you are on optimum medication you should feel well to exercise but the following links may explain more fully:-

stopthethyroidmadness.com/2...

peatarian.com/3784/does-exe...

[Northie]

Hello there. I am hypothyroid and I do powerlifting, boxing, running and all sorts of bits and bobs. I don't take extra medication on thedaysitrain. Four days a week. I have however cut down the amount of cardio I was doing which did leave me feeling drained. I do more steady state now with the odd go at interval training on daysim not doing weights. Never more than 30 mins.

The only thing I do extra now that I didn't before is take a good quality multi vitamin pill each evening, and I rest more in between sets.

Everyone is different though and this is only my experience. I'm newly diagnosed and still quite confused but working my way through it all bit by bit.

There are some terribly helpful ladies on here who will know much more than I. Take care.

[ivy77]

if exercises makes you feel drained.....it needs to be moderated! you should not feel drained the next day.....or you will aggravate your condition, i ve done it for years and years, but then i did not know i am hypothiroid, and when i learnt it my clever doc told me i can do whatever i did before :)!!

then one day i got antibodies becasue i have done 1 week only of vigorous cardio exercises 4 times for 1 hour....and this drained me, i could not recover fully for a week!! i got back all the symptoms i had before, like i missed the air, i got panick attack in the bus etc....and my coach told me oh i have some hypo people doing exactly this ....so everyone was telling me its ok until my doc saw my antibodies, and they never showed up before...

so i learnt this all on my skin sign of feeling drained is something you should avoid, its hard, i was frustrated for a long time becasue you know it only after the training if you pushed too hard, it took me time to get the feeling...i did not want to admit etc etc ..but....when you start taking proper medications, you will be able to do more!

[ivy77]

sport helps i think its the way of getting that nervousness hyper period of thyroid disorder , away from you...then it makes you feel warm...etc....so hypo people love to exercise

the dose should be adjust according to your blood test not to daily activity.

sever sport makes you hypothiroid ....becasue more rt3 gets produced in the liver, thats why you need the balance!.....weightlifting is recommended i felt the best when i did only that for half year.....i did gain on some muscle mass lol but one has to be very fit to do long runs! this is huge stress on the body , even healthy one let alone hypo...but i have done everything to the extreme for my body

that sense of recovering for days..i dont want to experience in my all life again! i had enough of it for years

[dolphin5]

Hello Gailmicmac. I suspect that it varies and depends on the condition you have, as well as varying according to how effectively your body functions. I've had two partial thyroidectomies for nodules, and have taken thyroxine for 14 years. The only time I've been "ill" was last winter when my doctor decided I should drop my dose. But over those 14 years, and especially during last winter, it has become clear to me that I need to take an extra 25mcg when I do things like long cycle rides (50-75miles), and I have been unable to do walks over about 8 miles since taking thyroxine - it seems that my body just doesn't get enough thyroxine when/where I need it. I have also learned recently that the T4 builds up unnecessarily high if I have a period of unusual low activity eg recently I injured my knee and had to stop my normal activities for a month. So for me, taking the same dose every day doesn't work. But, we are all different, and I do some pretty energetic things which mean that my activity levels can vary a lot. We are all different and we need doctors who can work with us sensitively to get it right - or else take a long time ourselves to work it out. Good luck!

[Glynisrose]

Exercising will deplete what little T3 you have in your body, and lets face it every cell in your body needs T3

[greygoose in reply to Glynisrose]

It also depletes your calories. Are you eating enough? If you are on a low calorie diet - which isn't recommended for hypos - then intensive exercise really isn't a good idea.

Every function in your body needs calories - breathing, digesting, etc. Also conversion of T4 to T3 etc. And conversion is last on the list when calories are in short supply. So if you are spending all your calories on exercising and not converting, then you are going to get more hypo. Hypos need more calories, not less.

Hugs, Grey

[gailmicmac]

Thank you for your replies, they have given me some things to think about.

I am not on a calorie controlled diet but I eat a good well balanced diet and although overweight I am more interested I being healthy than thin. Weight at the end of the day is a number not a picture of health.

I do not exercise for weight reasons I exercise for fun and enjoyment and health. I can't imagine I would remain healthy if I did no exercise, but I hear what some of you have said about reverse t3 and I plan to do a bit of research in this.

I haven't had a blood test resent let so can't post any results but plan to get another done and maybe ask my exercise questions when I am there as I do feel quite lethargic on the days after exercise.

Thanks

[asmile4u]

Several years ago I was a competitive biker, runner, and in-line marathoner. I was training for a triathlon and my body just crashed. I ended up in the hospital for several weeks. It took the doctors 5 years to diagnose me with Hashi's and I have gained 23 kilo in the process. I feel the same as you do. I will start feeling better and head to the gym, thinking this time it will work, and then I am down for a couple of days to a week. I think it is because I am not at an optimal dose of medication yet. From everything I read, if you are optimal then it should be fine. If you could post your blood results then the wonderful people here can tell you if you need to increase your medication to be at an optimal dose and maybe you won't crash when exercising. I keep holding on to hope.....