All helping each orthers out is amazing advising

[Demmi35]

Can anyone advice me how soon i start loseing weight as ive put on about 20 kilos and i feel horrible nd feel bettet no aces pain feeling tired all the time and stressed

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

You are going to need to be patient, it can take months, you need to get your meds to their optimal level for you to start feeling better and the weight to sort itself out.

Take a look aroundThyroidUK'smain website, in particular this page

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/diagno... and scroll down to

"If you are diagnosed"

You will find the information you need there.

[Anthea55]

Hi Demmi35, Welcome to the forum.

Do you have a thyroid problem? If so, please post recent blood test results so that members can advise you. We need the results and the ranges (numbers in brackets). In the UK your doctor's surgery can print them out for you. Don't accept 'normal' or 'in range', your results need to be optimal.

The first thing is to get your medication right and your vitamins and minerals so that you begin to feel better. By getting these sorted you may be able to stop putting on more weight for starters.

[Demmi35 in reply to Anthea55]

Hi my doctor did not give them to me i shall call them to ask i did no no i can get them thank you

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Suggest when you next see your GP ask to check levels of vitamin d, b12, folate and ferratin. These all need to at good (not just average) levels for thyroid hormones (our own or replacement ones) to work in our cells.

Also have you had thyroid antibodies checked? There are two sorts TPO Ab and TG Ab. (Thyroid peroxidase and thyroglobulin) Both need checking, if either, or both are high this means autoimmune thyroid - called Hashimoto's, the most common cause of being hypo. NHS rarely checks TPO and almost never checks TG.

Make sure you get the actual figures from tests (including ranges - figures in brackets). You are entitled to copies of your own results. Some surgeries make nominal charge for printing out. Alternatively you can now ask for online access to your own medical records. Though not all surgeries can do this yet, or may not have blood test results available yet online, but all should be doing this with couple of years.

When you get results suggest you make a new post on here and members can offer advice on any vitamin supplements needed

If you can not get GP to do these tests, then like many of us, you can get them done privately

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

Blue Horizon - Thyroid plus eleven tests all these.

This is an easy to do fingerprick test you do at home, post back and they email results to you couple of days later.

Usual advice on thyroid blood test, (home one or on NHS) is to do early in morning, ideally before 9am. No food or drink beforehand (other than water) don't take Levo in 24 hours before (take straight after). This way your tests are always consistent, and it will show highest TSH, and as this is mainly all the medics decide dose on, best idea is to keep result as high as possible.

[TupennyRush]

Hi there

Weight loss, ah there's the knotty issue. We're all a bit different but I put on over 5 stones prior to diagnosis (3 stone in the last year and a half before I finally was diagnosed). I lost about 1/2 a stone (3.5 kgs approx) in the first year on levo. I then lost about a stone in a year on ndt then stopped. For the past 6 months I've been on metformin (to address residual metabolic problems) and have lost a further half a stone but seem to have plateau'd again.

I'm intending to carry on with the metformin for another couple of months and then probably come off it.

I do also supplement with a number of vits plus have been taking action on healing my gut which I think has helped.

My next step is to see herbalist. Prior to diagnosis I tried a lot of alternative therapies to try and treat my symptoms including nutritionist, Chinese herbs, acupuncture etc. With the weight I've come to the conclusion I'm not getting back to the level that I used to be and have sort of made peace with that. My goal is another stone plus more toned

Good luck

[Taizy8]

I do not have a major weight issue, but my sister does and she has been advised by a nutritionist that to lose weight she should only eat protein and vegetables together, no carbs with protein. Many seem to advice going gluten free for thyroid health and can also help with weight : oats, barley, rye, wheat.

If you can see a nutritionist that would be the best, and all the other advice on vitamin and blood tests etc...