I have gained 35 pounds on thyroid meds. I've been on them two years. I am taking 50 mcg of Synthroid and 5 mcg of Cytomel every day. On meds, my blood work says: TSH .801 T3Free:3.75, and T4free .88
I cannot lose weight no matter what. Help!
Miss Texas is a Wreck: I have gained 35 pounds on... - Thyroid UK
Miss Texas is a Wreck
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castranova
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When I went gluten free and started having nutri bullet smoothies I lost a stone and a half. Are you gluten free?
What are your thyroid antibody results?
Same here! Dropping gluten made a surprising, but welcoming difference. Supplementing with amino acids has become essential (for me) too as I've realised that I need a metabolism that wants the fat to burn, not the muscle. When I started losing weight at first I became vulnerable to every virus going round. Muscle is good because it increases our immunity. Even heart muscle can be compromised with a bad viral infection. Body builders have known this stuff for decades i.e. those properly healthy body-builders who want to get stronger, look normal and don't do steroids
Also B-vitamins including methylcobalamin (B12), vitamin D, magnesium and essential fatty acids help with mood and energy and support thyroid function.
The list is really long, but I'm not sure what you are asking. I JUST had the bloodwork done last week and my glucose was 109 AFTER fasting!
I've been on levothyroxine for 2o years & Maintained a good weight. A month ago I was switched to brand Synthroid because of a few reasons. One being hair loss. I've gained 3 lbs doing nothing different but I felt more bloated & really irritable & no change in the hair loss. So now I'm back to the levothyroxine. It didn't cause the irritability or weight gain.
That kind of suggests that it may be the fillers in the different brands that make some difference.I switched from Levothyroxine to NDT a year ago ,after being on Levo for just over 10 years .I 've lost weight ,my hair and skin have improved and I feel like myself again .
I am switching this morning to Armour. I'll take 30 mcg in the morning and 30 in the evening and see if I feel better after a few weeks. Thank you. I know Synthroid is synthetic and my hair is very thin now as well.
Have you tried Biotin for hair loss it works for me< I use the cytoplan formulae it works for me, but you can buy biotin from boots it is a B vitamin and is water soluble so you cant take too much. I have been taking it for about 3 months and my hair and nails are so much better,no hair loss, but lots of regrowth, hope this helps
Thank you, I will order it today.
You've been on 50 mcg and 5 mcg Cytomel for 2 years? You're still on a starter dose. No wonder you can't lose weight! Why hasn't it been increased?
I'm afraid I can't comment on your bloods without the ranges, though. But that FT3 does look low.
How are your nutrients? Vit D, vit B12, folate, ferritin? You won't lose weight with sup-optimal nutrients.
Try going dairy, sugar and grain free. I lost 13kg as soon as I stopped eating those foods. Now it's organic fruit, vegetables, fish and meat only and the difference is amazing.
I follow the paleo approach have 2 books by Sarah Ballantyne, just organic meat fruit vegs fish exactly the same does make a difference, I had been vegetarian for years, clearly did not work for me, probably does for others.
I was vegetarian too and my integrative doctor suggested that I wasn't getting enough protein. I still don't eat a lot of meat, but it has made a big difference to how I feel. I guess that makes my diet 'paleo' as well although I have a good laugh at the 'nutritional experts' who say it's a fad diet. Since when has eating real, organic fruit, veg, meat and nuts been a fad?
I'm interested to hear that shirleydancer and Geniler were both vegetarian, I've been vegetarian for over 30yrs and was diagnosed Hypo 12 years ago. After reading stuff on here & other sites I have wondered if I should seriously consider eating meat. I'm going Gluten free (still learning) but just don't know if I could eat meat/fish again (I might throw up!). How did you both find it switching?
No problem at all just feel generally better for the protein and all the associated mineral and vitamin content, ok was a bit constipated at first but I persevered and after a few weeks constipation went and I have had a bowel perforation and incisional hernia repair. Bowels damaged by adhesions from 3 C sections, my bowels perforated at age 66. Much healthier on the meat, am gluten free, just veg fruit meat fish and a tiny bit of dairy occasionally.
Processed food is generally full of bad stuff best to be mainly avoided.
Look into dessicated thyroid. Stopthethyroidmadness.com
I have it on the counter by Standard Process. I will try to Armour and the desiccated from now on.
Started Naturethyroid and Armour this morning. Threw away the synthroid.
@castronova
Weight gain is a 'big' problem but I'm always grateful to be having a reasonably good day. All you can do is follow all the rules relating to what is or isn't compatible with your medication and try to eat less of everything. I have to buy flexible clothing which will fit me on fat or less fat days. lol xx
Thank you for the helpful comments. I have other thyroid meds here and am seeing a new doc this coming Tuesday. I'm switching to Armour and the desiccated today. I watch EVERYTHING I eat and walk everyday, but nothing budges. It's so frustrating because I won the MISS TEXAS USA and now I look like a cow. It's been down hill from there!
Read "iodine what it is and why you need it" by dr Brown Stein. Also educate self on food allergies. Read blogs online STTM.
What is the state of your nutritionals? Are you supplementing with the usual things? Have you changed your diet to remove allergens - esp. gluten?
When you present test results, it would be helpful if you had the full panel (TSH/FT3/FT4/rT3/TPOAb/TGAb), and you provided the units.
I will assume your FT3 and FT4 are in pg/ml and ng/dl units. With the units my lab uses:
TSH 0.80 You can let this drop as low as 0.05 without worry
FT3 3.75 (2.77-5.27 pg/ml) 39%
FT4 0.88 (0.59-2.19 ng/dl) 18%
You are only 39% up into the FT3 range, and only 18% up into the FT4 range. Seems clear that your dose is too low! To feel best, most people need FT4 at 50% or better, and FT3 at 75% or better. Although FT3 is the more important number.
Don't know what you weigh, but for comparison: I weigh about 168 lbs. I am on T3+T4=15+75 micrograms daily. If your doctor told you your dose is correct, then he/she is holding you back from feeling really well.
I believe you are correct! I will be seeing a new doc this Tuesday! I do know that the higher you dose the more the thyroid is suppressed as well.
Unknowledgeable docs get freaked when TSH is under the lab 0.5-4.5 range. They forget that how the patient FEELS is the important matter.
Yes, my T4 free is .88 (ng/dl) Reference range: (.76-1.46)
T3 is 3.75 (pg/ml) Reference range: (2.77-5.27)
TSH .801 (mIU/L) Reference Range: (.358-3.740)
The AACE TSH ref range is 0.3-3.0. But really, there isn't much point in paying attention to TSH unless you have non-primary hypothyroidism. Allopathic medicine being obsessed with using a pituitary hormone for diagnosis of thyroid problems ... is illogical, Captain.
Thank you Eddie. I do hear you loud and clear! AYE-AYE!
Are you saying I shouldn't be on ANY desiccated adrenal or the Armour which is also desiccated?
I actually feel great today after switching off the Synthroid and beginning the natural kind PLus I upped the Cytomel to 10 mg today instead of 5. I truly feel great.
No, I didn't say you should not be on dessicated products. If the desiccated adrenal makes you feel better, then use it. (Dessicated bovine adrenal wasn't good for me.) Dessicated thyroid products are great, I was on Armour at one time, but I now use T3+T4 for several reasons, including that I would have to pay fully out-of-pocket if I used any NDT product. Don't you just love the insurance companies, which will only pay for BigPharma products? Creeps.
Yes, and you are so correct about the big pharmaceuticals "being a big racket" in our country. If a medication assists, it should be funded. But hey, I'm just a little minnow in a big pond.
castranova Here is a suggestion that has helped so many people. Try getting off of all wheat products (basically anything made with flour, even organic) I know that this sounds radical and scary, but trust me, the cravings will stop after just a few days. Read the book "Wheat Belly" by Dr. William Davis. Cheap on eBay. If you are diabetic, your need for insulin will decrease so make your doctor aware of what you are doing. Try NOT to replace everything that you are giving up with a gluten-free version. The starches in these products cause glucose spikes as well. I can assure you, if you follow this diet, you will be amazed at how the fat falls off and HOW MUCH BETTER you will feel!!!!!! Get the book! Really what have you got to loose except weight, fat and inflammation?! Good luck to you!!
I will cut out everything white. But since my cholesterol spiked to 207, I'm going to eat oats to try and get it down. I'm 180 pounds, and should be 130. I have very small bones.
Do you have the ranges for your tests? Just at a glance it looks like you are on a small dose but one that has reduced your tsh to a decent level, but maybe the proportions just aren't working for you. I can't imagine that such a tiny dose of t3 would be helpful to anyone (happy to be corrected, I'm only speaking from my own experience).
I'm glad for everyone here who lost loads of weight being gf but it did nothing for my weight. I cook fresh meals of unprocessed food, largely green veg and meat/fish, three times a day, and this is not sufficient for spontaneous weight loss. I have to work on it. I had great success on Weight Watchers (I just did the plan, no meetings). It isn't very hard work, but I do have to look at both portions and calories, which WW simplifies w their points system.
If your cholesterol is raised this suggests you may be on too low a dose of meds, but again, the ranges will tell the story if you have them.
Yes, my T4 free is .88 (ng/dl) Reference range: (.76-1.46)
T3 is 3.75 (pg/ml) Reference range: (2.77-5.27)
TSH .801 (mIU/L) Reference Range: (.358-3.740)
castranova it looks like your levo is a bit too low. If you can find the calculator recently posted here (I can't make sense of the search facility here, it isn't in chronological order) you can pop in your results and ranges and see what it says.
Yes I thought it was low which means I'm being over-medicated with the Synthroid for too long. It's actually .801
Well that's your tsh, which is fine and unless you have hyper symptoms I wouldn't say you're anything like overmedicated. It is only just under 1, which for many people is a good place to be. That range is considered 'normal' even for unmedicated people, whereas people on levo (Synthroid) need to be in the lower part of the range.
Your t3 and t4 are too low. They should be in the upper quarter of the range, which means you need more meds, not less.
castranova, the calculator is here: chorobytarczycy.eu/kalkulator
It was originally posted here by ziel, here: healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
It's in Polish, but easy to figure out. You enter your results and then the two range figures (low and high) and hit 'oblicz' (which means 'calculate') and your results are (apologies to google translate, which I have paraphrased):
FT4 17.14 % [ 0.88 result, the range ( 0.76 - 1.46 ) ]
FT3 39.20 % [ 3.75 result, the range ( 2.77 - 5.27 ) ]
I have no doubt there will be people here who can interpret this more skillfully than I can, but to my eyes this means you are quite low on levo (Synthroid).
In terms of interpreting these results I believe there may be some question as to where you 'need' to be to feel well, but if we think you should be in the top quarter of results, I'm going to guess and say you'd ideally like these results to be closer to 50-70%. I welcome any other thoughts on this from others who know more about how to interpret it.
I don't think Synthroid is "my drug." I had Armour (NDT) laying around, so I've stopped it and am taking 1 gram of Armour in the a.m. and one gram of Armour in the P.M> and also upped my Cytomel from 5 mcg to 10mcg. I have only done this for two days and already feel better---thanks to you.
Okay castranova but to be fair you haven't been on enough levo/Synthroid to know if it will work for you. Being undermedicated feels awful no matter what meds you're on.
By my calculations you've gone from roughly the equivalent of 65-75 levo to 230-250 levo. Basically you've more than tripled your meds.
You're also getting t3 from both Armour and Cytomel so now you're taking something like 28mcg t3, more than five times as much as you were already on, and you were already on a dose that your blood results showed to be good. That is going to super duper overmedicate you and may be dangerous for your heart.
I'd cut back to one grain of Armour only and see how you go. In six to eight weeks have another test and adjust from there.
Down the road you may or may not need to add extra Cytomel, but for now I think one change at a time is better. Then you know what's working.
Thank you! I truly appreciate this!
No worries, I don't want you to make yourself ill in the opposite direction. That is just as horrid.
Here is the chart that tells you what is equivalent to what: centraldrugsrx.com/pdf/Thyr...
Generally it is said that 10mcg t3/Cytomel is equivalent to 30-50 levo/Synthroid (depending on who you ask).
So either go back to levo and try 'enough' (probably 75ish, possibly alternating 75/100 or thereabouts based on your earlier results) to get your t3/t4 higher in the range, or carry on w Armour but just less. Then either way, test in 6-8wks.
Good luck!
I have switched to 30 mg of Armour for now. That is the natural desiccated from the pigs. I am off of the Synthroid which is synthetic and appears to cause lots of weight gain in women without an ability to shed the pounds. In three days I've already noticed my stomach isn't as puffy. The dose of Armour I'm on is a half of a grain. Since it already has the T3 in it, I've dropped the Cytomel altogether. I'll get tested again in 6 weeks. Again, thank you!
Try Nature throid and cytomel. Stop drinking coffee and booze. Go on a gluten free diet, also low carb.
I have the same problem, but am finally starting to loose weight. I also have burned out my adrenals. Blood test show I have a lot of inflammation in my body. They tell me when I get rid of the inflammation, I will have more energy and the weight will come off.
Good luck,
Mary
Thank you! I do not consume pop, booze or anything with caffeine except cocoa powder. I'm pretty "health-conscious" so my current state of frustration is "why won't the weight budge?"
Undermedicated, for a start. Are you getting enough fat in your diet and not overexercising, which will use up what little T3 you have and make you fatter.
Hi Castranova,
I can't loose weight either. The docter tells me that I have a leaky gut as well as having Hasimoto disease. Wonderful! She determined this from blood tests that showed I had a lot of inflammation. I now eat only meat, vegtables and tea. I take a special probiotic a colon cleanse, L-glutamine, bone broth and fermented vegtables. I've been doing this for abot two weeks and have lost 10 lbs. Still suffering from fatigue, but it's probably because I ride my bike to much, and so use up my T3.
Hope this helps
Mary
If I understand correctly, taking Synthroid LOWERS TSH levels, so increasing the dose will LOWER TSH even more.
castranova sometimes your tsh will get quite low while your t3/t4 stay unimpressive. Your tsh is only just under 1 so it is unequivocally within range and 'normal' and for some people this is where it needs to be to feel well. So really the tsh is a good result.
The more important numbers are the tops of the t3 and t4 range. Some of us find that the tsh get a bit low at times but as long as you're not over the top of the t3/t4 ranges you're fine.
These hormones have probably changed the way or pace your body metabolises food.
You could try a high protein low carb diet but may effect energy levels.
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