Can losing weight cause you too be over medicat... - Thyroid UK

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Can losing weight cause you too be over medicated ?

lynnwin profile image
30 Replies

Hi I have a question please .. I have lost 1 and 1/2 stone with Slimming world but now feel over medicated ?? Could it be by losing weight I need less thyroxine ??

I have hashi I have been hyper before 12 years ago and then after meds from the hospital my thyroid went euthyroid .. 18 months ago went hypo on 100mcg and 75 on alternative days .. Have been feeling fine on that dose until I lost weight ,and now I'm eating for England and can't put any weight on ... Not sleeping and can hear my heartbeat in my ears feel hot and my hair has grown like grass and where it was receeding at the front through being hypo its growing back 👍 ..I'm getting my bloods done tomorrow but have to pay private as my GP can't get the lab to do the FT3 which is so annoying I have to pay every time grrrrr Hope someone can help ? Many thanks xx

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lynnwin
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dotti profile image
dotti

Sorry i cant give you any answers but a similar thing happened to me, i dont have hashi but am hypo. I lost over half a stone with slimming world and even when i stopped dieting i continued to loose weight.

I also posted on here asking if i was over medicated my gp did loads of tests and everything came back okay. At the moment i seem to have leveled off and my weight remains steady.

I only take a small dose of levo 75mcgs but i did feel very hyper when i first lost the weight.

Hope you get sorted soon

Dotti x

lynnwin profile image
lynnwin in reply to dotti

Wow Dotti thank you ,I was thinking years ago they would give you medication by your weight so started to think maybe now I'm a stone and a half lighter the dose maybe too much ? As was fine before I lost the weight ! ..They want to lynch me a SW their all trying too lose and I'm moaning I'm still losing and eating chocolate and butter etc again :( ... I'm in a size 8 now and it's really too low for me and at 56 too much weight loss isn't attractive :( ... Thank you so much for your reply fingers crossed my weight stabilises xxxxxx xx

helvella profile image
helvellaAdministratorThyroid UK in reply to lynnwin

Weight is one possible way of estimating an initial dose of levothyroxine. Once on a dose, ANY dose, adjustment needs to be made on the basis of things like how you feel, signs (temperature, heart rate), and a decent set test results.

You cannot say "I have lost 10% of my body mass so I must reduce levothyroxine dose by 10%". A lot of women find they need less as they go through menopause and after. (Possibly more accurately, pre-menopause women often need a little more than post-menopause women, and men.)

lynnwin profile image
lynnwin in reply to helvella

Thank you I'm post meno now .. Just strange I was ok before the weight loss now have the hyper symptoms .. Sending bloods to bio lab in London as usual as my Gp can't get the land to do ft3 grrr xxxx

Angel_of_the_North profile image
Angel_of_the_North in reply to lynnwin

If you have hashis, you will often fluctuate between hypo and hyper (as your thyroid is destroyed and dumps extra hormone). You can titrate your own dose according to how you feel, but if you let the GP reduce it, you'll have a really hard time getting an increase when you get the next hypo phase.

Being gluten-free and taking selenium can help with the auto-immune part of hashis.

dotti profile image
dotti in reply to lynnwin

I am a size 8/10 and yes it can make you look scrawny my face is very thin and i am 54 , i would like a fatter face but no fat any where else!!!! i weigh 8st 11 and have been that weight for a while now.

No doubt over xmas i will put on a couple of pound

Dotti xx

lynnwin profile image
lynnwin in reply to dotti

Hi Dotti .. It's a nightmare .. I'm the same and I'm eating chocolate everyday and things totally not SW and I can't put any weight on ? Because if the not sleeping and heart beat in my ear and my hair has grown like grass .. And where I had lost it from being hypo especially at the front where it looked like a blokes receding hair line it's growing back which is good but I'm still worried that I'm over medicated I am on 75/100 alternative days . Which I know isn't a large dose but was thinking lost weight maybe I dont need the extra ??? 100 on alternative days should maybe only need 75 each day ? Have you tried to add weight ? Do you feel hyper ? Xxxxxxxxxx

dotti profile image
dotti in reply to lynnwin

To be honest i am okay with my weight right now but do not want to go lower, i have been Hypo for near enough 16 years now and i feel that i do fluctuate between Hyper/Hypo i have periods where i cant seem to stop always on the go even though i feel quite knackered! and then times when i can hardly get out of bed.

I have not been diagnosed with Hashi but often wonder if i am, when i can afford it i will be getting a full thyroid screening with blue horizon.

Dotti xx

lynnwin profile image
lynnwin in reply to dotti

Hi dotti it's a bloody nightmare 😢 My mother in law has been hypo not hashi for over 20 years and seems to plod along fine !

I've just paid £85 to bio lab for my bloods as the NHS won't do FT3 grrrr makes me so angry as this is the important one for us to have done ! So I have all 3 tested with them .. I'm still wide awake at 11.30pm grrr

And I wake early and up and about 😡

I didn't realise the hashi could keep flaring up like this ☹️ I like my friend thought once hypothyroid the thyroid gland had burnt out but seems not ☹️

I will post my results on this thread when I get them back .. If I'm not hyper I will have to look into what is making me feel like it ?? Take care let's hope we both settle with our thyroid and our weight

Xxxxxxxxxx

dotti profile image
dotti in reply to lynnwin

I know it drives me bloody crazy i am very similiar to you, up at the crack of dawn, today up at 5am wide awake, have to go to work and will be shattered in a few hours and it takes me ages to get to sleep at night. Heres hoping next year is a positive one for all of us.

Dotti xx

lynnwin profile image
lynnwin in reply to dotti

Bless you it's a nightmare

I'm prickling all over today have a neck ache palps no sleep but feel like a coiled spring grrr

Hope we both get stable again xxxxxxx

130396 profile image
130396 in reply to lynnwin

Forgot to say when I did sliming world and hit my goal I still kept losing even though o was eating loads more.

It stopped in the end once things levelled out

greygoose profile image
greygoose

Reading your symptoms, I have to say, I can't imagine your dose can be so high as to cause all that. Sounds to me as if you're having another Hashi's 'hyper' swing. You don't actually 'go hyper', but the dying cells of your thyroid gland, dump all their hormone into your blood in one go, meaning that your levels swing high temporarily. Eventually they will go down again, and you will be hypo once more.

Just seen you say you're on 100/75 alternately. Well, that's not a high dose at all. I cannot imagine that that small dose alone would account for the sudden rush of hair growth. And the weight loss could be just coincidence, or directly due to the 'hyper' swing. It's happened to me several times in my Hashi's journey.

You could try going down to 50 a day, see if that makes you feel any better. Or even stop completely for a few days. But, I would suggest you do that on your own, without involving your doctor, because if he lowers your dose, you might have a job getting him to put it up again, when you return to hypo - as you undoubtedly will.

lynnwin profile image
lynnwin in reply to greygoose

Hi greygoose thank you so much ,I myself thought it could be my hashi but my friend was saying it couldn't really be that after all this time ? That by now my thyroid would be burnt out from the attack and I wouldn't get another hashi attack ????? I feel like it is another storm /attack but wasn't sure if she was right about after all this time and being hypo now the antibodies wouldn't still be atacking my thyroid ? That seems to make sense .. Will see what my bloods show ? So does it mean that with hashis we can still keep getting attacks ? Last time I had my TPO antibodies checked was 12 years ago and they were at a 1000 .. Thank you xxxxxx

greygoose profile image
greygoose in reply to lynnwin

I'm not sure that testing your antibodies would be helpful, but testing your FT3 would give more of a clue.

The time it takes for a thyroid gland to burn out is very individual. I don't know if I've had Hash's all my life, but I've been hypo since a small child. I had my last 'hyper' swing at 50. So, I don't think your friends logic holds water. Most people have more than one swing. I would say I've had three major ones in my life. Could have been more, but for years, I had no idea what I was dealing with. :)

lynnwin profile image
lynnwin in reply to greygoose

Great thick you so much .. Bless you being hypo since a child 😢 I can see what she is thinking that now hypo my thyroid is burnt out so needs thyroxine now !! Yes getting FT3 done with the rest with bio lab in London so will be interesting to see the result ? Many thanks for your time. Will post my results here xxxxxx

greygoose profile image
greygoose in reply to lynnwin

Yes, but the thyroid doesn't have to be completely burnt out for you to need thyroxin. Just a small amount of damage will mean that the gland can no-longer make enough hormone, so you will need to replace it. :) x

lynnwin profile image
lynnwin in reply to greygoose

Oh I see greygoose maybe that's where my friend and myself are getting confused ? Thinking once hypothyroid and needing thyroxine the thyroid has burnt out !! I see now could well be that as I still have a small goitre less than it was but still a small one there .. Would the hashi dump down reflect in my bloods ? As I don't want to reduce on the fact they show I'm hyper if it is the hashi attack ?? Thank you again xxxxx

greygoose profile image
greygoose in reply to lynnwin

Yes, it would show in your bloods, if that's what it is. Which is why l said not to involve the doctor, just try reducing your dose a bit yourself. Doctors don't seem to understand that what goes up, must go down! And when you swing back to hypo, you might need an increase in dose, because the gland will be slightly smaller than it was.

lynnwin profile image
lynnwin in reply to greygoose

Thank you greygoose blood was sent today so hope I get the results from London next week ? I will do that just adjust it myself if indeed it is a hashi flare ? Thank you so much xxxxxx

greygoose profile image
greygoose in reply to lynnwin

You're welcome. :) Hope you get some answers soon.

miglet54 profile image
miglet54 in reply to greygoose

Is this why we can have a really busy day or two, just out of the blue and then back to the usual slog without any umph?

greygoose profile image
greygoose in reply to miglet54

I'm afraid I can't answer that. Nothing is impossible, but a couple of days seems rather short. I just don't know. :)

miglet54 profile image
miglet54

Thank you.

130396 profile image
130396

I can only speak for myself but when I lost a lot of weight after putting on a lot from chemo, I didn't have to adjust meds for that reason

But it maybe that you do.

Wait for your results to come back before you do anything.

Don't take meds before blood test xx

lynnwin profile image
lynnwin in reply to 130396

Didn't you say that SW didn't work for you ??? Or was that a different time ? Xxxxxx

130396 profile image
130396 in reply to lynnwin

Yes it was weight watchers I did but when I hit my goal I still kept losing lots of weight and couldn't eat enough to put it Back up to goal so missed a few weeks so I didn't have to pay

lynnwin profile image
lynnwin

Thanks 130396 done this morning didn't take my meds 👍 Xxxxxx

Glynisrose profile image
Glynisrose

Go by how you feel not numbers.

lynnwin profile image
lynnwin

Hi everyone just got my thyroid results from Lomdon .

FT4 18.8 (9-22)

FT3 4.10 (2.63-5.70)

TSH 0.19 (0.35-4.94)

Still feel hyper not sleeping constant hunger no weight gain by rights with what I'm eating I should be a size 18 I'm a size 8 .

Palpitations constant pulsating in my ear

Bit anxious

Hot and cold sweats

Aching arms

And could cry if someone went boo to me

Hair has grown like grass and my nails

Could this still be a hashi flare ? Or because I'm in range not be that ?

Your thoughts would be appreciated

I'm going to use my grandsons monitor to see if it's a glucose thing going on ?

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