Advice

[Leanne2305]

Hi ladies and gents hope you are well, I'm just wondering if any of you have a good weight loss plan that works for people with hypothyroidism tia xx 

[shaws Administrator]

Hi Leanne,

I have looked on your profile and there's no information about your thyroid history, i.e. are you hypothyriod, hyperthyroid? When were you diagnosed and treatment and dose.

I am assuming hypothyroid and many complain of weight gain. If you are quite newly diagnosed it would be best to wait until you are on an optimum of levo, i.e. that means you have no clinical symptoms and feel well. Optimum means also that your metabolism has been raised to near normal and sometimes the weight decreases itself without diet. If you diet when not on an optimum of hormones it will be depressing if your weight doesn't reduce.

When you finally diet and on an optimum you should lose weight.

[Leanne2305 in reply to shaws]

Hi I'm hypo have been for over 15 year now I'm on 200 mg of levo daily, no matter how hard I try I can't lose any weight and it's really starting to get me down x

[shaws Administrator in reply to Leanne2305]

I understand and what I think would assist is the addition of some T3 to your T4. Usually they reduce by 50mcg and add 20mcg of T3. T3 is the active hormone required in our receptor cells. T4 should convert to T3 but doesn't always do so efficiently. I shall give you a link which might be helpful.

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

[Leanne2305 in reply to shaws]

I have asked on many occasions for t3 and been declined told there is only levo available I'm at my wits end it's like banging your head against a brick wall really, is it because this medicine is expensive so they refuse people who need it x

[shaws Administrator in reply to Leanne2305]

The 'Powers that Be' have stipulated (obviously none of them have been or are hypo) that levothyroxine alone is the hormone of choice. 

The have fallen for Big Pharmas promotions (monetary inducements) that levo is far better than NDT. Considering it was in use since 1892 and no blood tests so we were given sufficient till our symptoms disappeared. Not so with levo. It's good for Big Pharma because we have more symptoms, so symptoms are treated with another product and not a thyroid hormone. So it's more profits all round. We might even develop another more serious condition. Excerpt:

There are two potential sources I know of for people feeling awful when they are on T4-replacement. One source is the extremely low dosage that doctors typically prescribe nowadays. A low dose of T4 can effectively reduce TSH secretion. The lower TSH can in turn lower the thyroid gland’s output of thyroid hormone. At the same time, low-dose T4 may not compensate for the thyroid gland’s reduced output of thyroid hormone. The patient then has too little thyroid hormone to properly regulate the metabolism of most of her body’s tissues. She then ends up with abnormally low metabolism and troubling hypothyroid symptoms. I’ve written about this before on drlowe.com.

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

The second possible reason for your bad reaction to Synthroid is that T4-replacement simply won’t work for you. It doesn’t work for many hypothyroid patients. In a recent study in the United Kingdom, for example, T4-replacement left 50% of patient suffering from hypothyroid symptoms (Saravanan, P., Chau, W.F., Roberts, N., et al.: Psychological well-being in patients on ‘adequate doses of L-thyroxine: results of a large, controlled community-based questionnaire study. Clin. Endocrinol. (Oxf.), 57(5):577-585, 2002.) Unfortunately, through faulty reasoning, these researchers concluded that a much smaller percentage of patients suffered from symptoms despite being on T4-replacement. They are mistaken about the percentage. The evidence is overwhelming that T4-replacement is the lousiest approach to thyroid hormone therapy. I’ve documented the widespread failures of the approach in two critiques:

[Josiesmum]

I'm not hypo but low carb worked for me, ie meat, fats and veg with occasional fruit.

[Butterfly65]

Hi Leanne2305,

My 28 year old daughter is hypo and has taken levothyroxine for 14 years. Her meds have gone up & down over the years  however she recently lost over a stone in weight. She has cut out gluten and caffeine and excercises for 30mins each day,

As well as the weight loss she says she is so much more focused at work and doesn't get the brain fog and afternoon crash anymore. 

[Leanne2305 in reply to Butterfly65]

Brilliant thanks hunni, I've thought about going gluten free but love my coffee thank you for your advice much appreciated x

[cmcnee in reply to Leanne2305]

Hi Leanne2305,

I love my coffee too but have found that I don't notice the difference with Kenco decaff (green top and label).  Some decaffs are just nasty lol

[Leanne2305 in reply to cmcnee]

Thank you hunni xx 

[BadHare]

Hi Leanne,

I eat clean food, lots of kefir, nuts & fruit, pulses, soups when it's cold, & salads when it's warm. I'm veggie, which can be very high in carbs, but I don't have more than one starchy meal a day. I also do intermittent fasting most days, which is good for leaving a big gap after taking NDT, so I try not to eat before 11-12 or after 6-7.

M*

[Leanne2305 in reply to BadHare]

Thank you hunni your advice is much appreciated xx

[julie2105]

I have found products that wiek for me leanne and ive struggled with weight issues for 18 year but now i feel healthy and have my life back

[Leanne2305 in reply to julie2105]

Hi hunni thank you for your reply it's much appreciated, what did you find worked for you,I'm currently on day two of using diet aid which makes you feel fuller for longer I will try anything xxx

[julie2105 in reply to Leanne2305]

Which diet aid? R u on fb i cant send you some info x

[Leanne2305 in reply to julie2105]

I work for a company called acti labs hunni we well inch loss weight loss, skincare and mineral make up etc,yh I'm on Facebook hunni send me a pm on here with your info and I'l send you a friend request x

[julie2105 in reply to Leanne2305]

Im new on here dont know how to pm lol

[Leanne2305 in reply to julie2105]

Lol I will pm you and if you look on where notifications are it will also have messages 

[Hidden]

Friend of mine lost the weight on the 5/2 diet but only after being (al

most) optimally medicated.

[Leanne2305 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you hunni your advice is much appreciated xx 

[greygoose]

OK, you've had a lot of coflicting 'advice', but before you do anything, I think you should get proper labs done : TSH, FT4, FT3, TPOab and TgAB. If your doctor won't do them all, then get them done privately. Because nothing is going to work if your FT3 isn't optimal.

Nor is it going to work if you have nutrtional deficiencies. So, you need to test your vit d, vit B12, folate and ferritin.

When you get all your results, post them on here and people will be able to advise you better.

If your FT3 is not optimal, then lowering your calories and strenuous exercise are just going to make you put more weight on, because hypo-weight has nothing to do with too many calories. And you actually need those calories for you body to work correctly.

If you have any questions about all that, please ask. Or, you could put 'weight loss' in the search window at the top of the page, and a lot of info will come up, because it's a question that is frequently asked. But, the answer is always the same : get the tests done first!   

[Leanne2305 in reply to greygoose]

Thank you hunni your advice is much appreciated, I'm going to ask my gp about these tests and Im going to demand copies of results as I've never had any information regarding any tests,how much is it to have these done privetly any idea,I'm really unhappy about my weight at the moment coming up to my first wedding anniversary and wanting to do something special, I hide myself in baggy clothes and coats etc feel like everyone is judging my weight and thinking I ate all the pies, I don't actually over eat hope this all makes sense x 

[greygoose in reply to Leanne2305]

Yes, it makes perfect sense. And I know exactly how you feel. I've never been slim, but at one point in my thyroid journey, I put on so much weight. I stopped weighing myself when I hit 120 kilos, but I'm pretty sure I went up to 130. I lost it all when I went onto T3 only and supplemented my nutritional deficiencies. So, there is hope.   

[greygoose in reply to greygoose]

OH, for the private testing, look on the TUK home page. They have détails.

[Leanne2305 in reply to greygoose]

Thank you hunni I stopped weighing myself a while ago,will get tests done and share my results with you, don't think GPS will treat t3 in the UK and I'm a little sceptical about buying online x

[greygoose in reply to Leanne2305]

That's where I used to get mine. No problems. Cheap and much better than all that hassle with doctors!

[dotti]

I used to be very tiny but since been diagnosed 16yrs ago i have piled the weight on, i have now joined Slimming world and lost two pound in first week.

Early days yet but it seems to be working plus aqua fit at the local swimming pool.

Regards

Dotti x

[Leanne2305 in reply to dotti]

Thank you hunni xx