Exercise post TT

[superb_lulu]

Dear All

Does anybody here have any experience or knowledge, anecdotal or otherwise, of exercising without a thyroid?

I am 53, 5 years post TT for Graves, on Levothyroxine 125 per day (T4). I love exercise; cycling, swimming; weight training etc., and I work part-time in a demanding but fun job. I just don't seem to be able to do both on the same day! If I exercise in the morning my brain disappears for the day! I don't exercise after work due to sleep issues. I sense, but this is only a guess, that I 'run out of gas' after working out.

I would really like to hear all your stories/recommendations/views on exercising without a thyroid; particularly any experience of supplementing T4 thyroid replacement therapy with T3 and whether this improved the exercise experience.

Many thanks in advance to all of you.

Lulu

[bantam12]

Pilate's is good, highly recommend 😀

[Jazzw]

Running out of gas is exactly the right analogy. A person with a properly working thyroid can make thyroxine on demand - your body is stuck with the 125mcg you're giving it. I wonder whether you need a dose increase. Do you have any recent blood test results?

[greygoose]

I wonder how well you are converting that T4 to T3. It's the T3 that is used up when you exercise, and if you can't convert easily, then you are going to feel very hypo afterwards.

I think it's time to do some private labs :

TSH

FT4

FT3

vit d

vit B12

folate

ferritin

that will give you abetter idea what's going on. It isn't just a question of how much levo you take, by any means - although your dose does seem rather conservative.

[SilverAvocado]

I'm interested in this question, too. I'm 3 years after my TT, and have been very ill most of the time. I'm just now at the point where I can do a few physiotherapy exercises on the floor, and I have slowly added in ten minutes or so of yoga, all lying down. I'm shocked by how low my flexibility is, as I used to be very fit, but am pleased with how strong my muscles feel, and how some exercises that were impossible at first have become easy.

I'm hoping to try out something called the Feldenkrais method, which is similar to yoga or Pilates, but more about getting your everyday movements into the most balanced and effective forms. It's a very gentle system.

Levothyroxine didn't work for me at all, and neither did having T3 mixed in, so I now self-medicate with NDT. It sounds like you're overall very well, and I'm not sure whether I believe I will get that stage myself, although I do hope for it. If you have recent blood results and post them in the forums members will comment. You can see on the blood test if T3 will be useful, if you have the freeT3 test. Otherwise the first step is to get that done privately. And the other tests GG mentioned above. It's easy to get deficiencies when you've been hypothyroid.

[Hidden]

i have the same issue, i used to cycle 8 miles to work and then 8 miles back several times a week. I've had to cut my cycling down so that i cycle to work one day and cycle back from another day otherwise i can't function the next day, and take ages to recover. It's so frustrating and it affects my work.

I'm 44 y/o, had my TT last year after managing Graves for 10 years on carbimazole. I am on 100mcg levo. I tried 125mcg and i started getting hyper symptoms and lose my memory driving to the supermarket, so i have to manage on 100mcg.

I'd be interested to know if anyone is successfully using a vitamin combo to help with energy levels...