Is my thyroid making it impossible to lose weight?

My TSH level is 3.30 and my TPO is 5 (I'm a 20yr old female) and I find it impossible to lose weight! If so is there anything I can do to get my TSH down without taking NDT or thyroxine? (Doc won't perscribe it and I am reluctant to buy it online). My priority now is losing weight because I feel horrible given my recent weight gain Thank you in advance for your help!

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Hello Rachel141,

You will not be able to lose the weight until the low thyroid hormones are replaced.

Thyroid hormones regulate your metabolism and due to a decrease in your basal metabolic rate, your whole body has slowed down and is not burning fat as it should.

Trying to lose weight when you are low on thyroid hormone might encourage the opposite because what your body needs (apart from thyroid hormone) is optimal levels of all nutrients and a healthy life style.

Have you thought of self medicating if your doctor is not interested?

Members on here can offer advice.

F

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Thank you very much for your advice!!

I have that about self medicating, but would I have to do that for the rest of my life? I'm reluctant to put anything into my body that I have purchased over the internet and am worried that over the course of my life the products would become discontinued or become unavailable.

Also, say if I stopped taking the medication, would my TSR go back to the current levels? I worry that my thyroid would become sluggish if I stopped taking them and that my TSR levels would drop even more than 3.0.

Thank you for your help and sorry if these questions seem silly/over-cautious. I didn't even know where my thyroid was until about a week ago so this is all very new to me!

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Rachel,

Your questions do not seem silly or over cautious.

Sorry....I have only just read your previous post (I usually do this before answering.)

It would be very unwise to self medicate at this early stage of feeling unwell as it could well be a virus or something that hopefully gets better.

Your doctor has ran tests and you need to eat a good nutrious diet. Do not cut carbs out as your body will need them to convert the small amount of thyroid hormone you have left.

It is a difficult time for you having to start back at uni when you feel so ill but as Clutter has already advised in a previous post it is important to speak with a student councillor if you fall behind in your workload.

I hope you feel better soon and have a good year & fun at uni.

Flower007