Struggling.

[beaton]

I'm a 62 years old female vegetarian and on 60 mcg. T3 only.

I've been doing ok for sometime but of late I feel things are going downhill. I don't know if this is thyroid connected or not.

Five months ago I went on an NHS course called Cornwall Healthy weight. This was because way back in 2013/14 ish I asked my GP for a referral to a dietitian. (which I am still waiting for.) Any way the chance to go on this course came up so I took it. Basically it was about healthy eating and losing weight. I thought being NHS I might get some advice with my problems but that of course didn't happen. It was hard going for twelve weeks but I managed to lose some weight by exercising and adjusting my diet. Now another two months on I'm still trying to lose weight, still doing all the things that worked for the twelve weeks but I'm not losing weight and I'm depressed.

I had an aura migraine the other day, which I managed to stop by resting my eyes but it left me with a sore throat. Like when aspirin get stuck and you can't swallow hot drinks. I asked on the migraine sight if anyone had this happen but didn't get much answer wise. My psoriasis is flaring and my joint pain is worse.

So what I am wondering is the sore throat a cause of the migraine rather than a result?? Should I ask to have bloods done?? In which case do I ask for full bloods ( I had them done a year ago.) or just thyroid bloods??

[Marz]

Hi Beaton....sorry to hear you are feeling depressed. How are your levels of B12 - Ferritin - folate - Iron - VitD ? As you know they all need to be OPTIMAL - B12 around 800/900 - VitD - at the top of the range - Ferritin - 80/90.... Am sure you have heard all this before but I have learnt that low B12 and VitD can be the cause of low mood.....and a host of other problems connected to our health.

Do you have your results with ranges from a year ago ?

[sheltielife]

Hi, As for dieticians on the NHS the time I went I couldn't believe it when I went in to see her. She must have been twice my size! Yet, there she was giving me instructions on how to lose weight. I felt like saying "Why don't you follow your own advice?" but managed not to. She told me nothing that I didn't already know, which seems like must be the case with you? I had been on loads of low calorie diets over many years and never lost an ounce of weight. As I think I must have said I found out the reason last year, I had Cushing's Syndrome which causes weight gain due to over production of cortisol. I just wonder if that is what is going on with you rather than thyroid problems. Can you tell me are you overweight everywhere e.g. do you have fat arms and legs or is it only your body that is fat? A sure sign of Cushing's Syndrome is that you have thinner arms and legs compared to the rest of your body and do you have a round face. If you do a search in Google for images of people with Cushing's Syndrome you will find pictures that show you the type of body people have. The ones I found were exactly my sort of shape. If you are as I say, then the other tests you need doing are for high cortisol. The main one is called dexamethasone suppression test. You have to take a low dose dexamethasone pill the night before and the following morning you go for a blood test which is supposed to be 8 a.m. but I had to have 9 a.m. as they didn't start until then. If you have Cushing's Syndrome then your cortisol is supposed to be very low less than 70 nmol if you don't have it the result will be normal around 450 nmol. Mine was done by my GP and he reported that all was fine as my cortisol was normal! Fortunately the next day I had an appointment with the renal man I was seeing and he said that was rubbish as it shouldn't be normal at all. So, if you do have the test make sure you get the figures not just to be told that it's normal. I hope this helps with your question as to what tests need doing. All these hormones are connected and sometimes it's difficult to tell what the actual cause of something being wrong is as if one is wrong it can affect others.

[Marz in reply to sheltielife]

Am reading an interesting book at the moment - The Adrenal Reset Diet - by Alan Christianson. Interesting info about when to eat carbs in order to lose weight. Only just started it but interesting enough not to cherry pick and read all the way through

[beaton in reply to Marz]

Downloaded his cook book. Some good ideas but a lot of broccoli.

[Marz in reply to beaton]

...glad my post was of use You could always try mashing broccoli with cauliflower - into which I stir sheeps' yogurt spiced up with garam masala !!

[sheltielife]

That is interesting as it refers to adrenal, which of course, is normally the cause of Cushing's Syndrome over producing cortisol! Mine was a tumour on my left adrenal gland and once the adrenal gland was removed last May I lost over 3 stone in a few weeks without changing my diet at all.

[Marz in reply to sheltielife]

My cortisol was raised at all 4 times - but the measurements were the ones that they say on STTM are not good However my Physio thinks they are just like that as I have Hashi's and Crohns. I live in Crete.....am hoping the book will share some secrets.

Hope you are feeling good having lost so much weight....

[sheltielife]

Well I would feel better for the weight loss, except I have lots of other health problems going on! I am pretty sure I have erythromelalgia currently under investigation, plus rheumatoid arthritis and a high red blood cell count, causing me to have thick blood which in turn causes poor circulation and due to that I have 4 ulcers on my feet, which aren't healing. So, life is not good at the moment and I am getting very desperate and really thinking that life isn't worth living! Sounds to me like you need a proper cortisol check Marz as the base level ones just don't give proper results, especially as you say you have Crohns! I was suspected of having it many years ago but the tests were negative, yet I had all the symptoms. The interesting thing is that since I had my adrenal gland removed that's the other thing that has completely gone problems with my bowel are just not there anymore! I used to have to be careful what I ate but now I can eat anything I want and never have any bother.

[greygoose]

Hi Beaton, sorry you're feeling so bad. But, as Marz said, you should really get your vits and mins tested. As you are veggie, you are bound to be low in B12 and iron - unless you are supplementing. And vit and min deficiencies can cause you to put on weight just like hormonal deficiencies - isn't it crazy the way people think it's all about eating?!?

Magnesium deficiency is a great one for making you gain weight. And most people are low in magnesium, and being hypo makes it worse. You could start taking about 400 gms of that.

The trouble with dieticians and nutritionists is that they rarely know anything about thyroid - same as doctors! - and they Don't realise our bodies work differently. What's healthy for a non-hypo isn't necessarily healthy for a hypo. Low-calorie diets, for example, aren't going to make a hypo lose weight and could possibly make her put it on! Same goes for exercise. It might work in the short-term but the effect isn't going to last and the weight could all come back on, plus a little more.

Because it has nothing to do with calories. In fact, calorie-counting is a red Herring. One of the most important nutrients - fat - has the highest calories. And we need fat to make hormones. So that should tell you something. Fat has been demonised for a long time - as has salt - but we desperately need both of them to be healthy.

What you need to lose weight - and probably to resolve your other symptoms - is to optimise your T3 and nutrients - with low T3 you can't lose weight. And it sounds like you're having an autoimmune flare, with your thyroid swelling causing the sore throat. And if your psoriasis is flaring, you're probably low in vit D. So, yes, I would get tested, as soon as possible. TSH, FT4, FT3, TPOab, Tgab, vit D, vit B12, folate, iron, ferritin, sodium, potassium - and anything else they're willing to test!

Hugs, Grey