Weight & hypothyroidism

[Me61]

My problems is I have hypothyroidism & side affects are loss of appetite concern is I've never weighed more than 87 lbs so what can i do we says I need the thyroid med but I can't afford to lose weight taking it either

[Marz]

In your post of 4 months ago you were asked for your thyroid test results with ranges. So difficult for anyone to be helpful without them as they are the starting point for a discussion 😊

Do you have Hashimots ?

[Me61 in reply to Marz]

Ok never mind then

[ShootingStars in reply to Me61]

If you don’t have them, just ask your doctor for them. You should always get your lab results each time from your doctor. As a patient, it is your right to receive a hard copy or an online printable copy of your lab results.

[ShootingStars]

Yes, hard to help without labs and lab ranges. How tall are you? Do you have other health conditions besides a thyroid problem? Are you are it’s hypothyroidism and not hyperthyroidism?

[Me61 in reply to ShootingStars]

I'm 5'4 Dr said hypothyroidism she was shocked 2 she was exspecting hyper as well I have high blood pressure ibs & copd

[ShootingStars in reply to Me61]

Thank you for that info. I’d be concerned too. Thyroid meds will not always make you loose weight. So again, what are these blood results that makes your doctor think you’re hypothyroid? We’re your antibodies tested, TPOab and TGab? We need TSH, FT3 and FT4 results and lab ranges.

[Marz in reply to Me61]

That's why I asked if you have Hashimotos - auto-immune thyroid - when you can have symptoms of both over and under active thyroid - only trying to help.

[ShootingStars in reply to Me61]

IBS certainly could contribute to weight loss and major loss of nutrients. Have you had an upper endoscopy to make sure it’s really IBS and not something else?

[ShootingStars in reply to ShootingStars]

And a colonoscopy, to make sure all that is good, too. If you have IBS, are you eating gluten?

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Me61]

IBS is more likely gluten intolerance with Hashimoto's (and/or dairy)

If you are under medicated then vitamin deficiencies are almost inevitable too

First thing is do you have any actual blood test results? If not you need to get hold of them. You are entitled under data protection laws.

You may be able to view test results online - ring and ask about this. If you can then apply for online access to your account. All GP practices are supposed to offer this, in reality very few have blood test results available online.

If not then ask for print out of recent tests. Pick up in a day or two. They may make a nominal charge for paper.

You need to know results for TSH, FT4 and FT3.

Do you also have high thyroid antibodies? You need to know. Did GP or Endo ever test these? If not ask that they are tested.

Essential to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12. Always get actual results and ranges. Post results when you have them, members can advise

Hashimoto's affects the gut and leads to low stomach acid and then low vitamin levels

Low vitamin levels affect Thyroid hormone working

Poor gut function can lead leaky gut (literally holes in gut wall) this can cause food intolerances. Most common by far is gluten

According to Izabella Wentz the Thyroid Pharmacist approx 5% with Hashimoto's are coeliac, but over 80% find gluten free diet helps significantly. Either due to direct gluten intolerance (no test available) or due to leaky gut and gluten causing molecular mimicry (see Amy Myers link)

But don't be surprised that GP or endo never mention gut, gluten or low vitamins. Hashimoto's is very poorly understood

Changing to a strictly gluten free diet may help reduce symptoms, help gut heal and slowly lower TPO antibodies

Ask GP for coeliac blood test first

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

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We see hundreds turn up on here very under medicated, often for years or even decades.

Many GP's have no idea that dose should be increased until TSH is around one (or less) and FT4 towards top of range and FT3 at least half way in range

Typical post with Low vitamins due to under medication and detailed supplements advice

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Dr Toft, past president of the British Thyroid Association and leading endocrinologist, states in Pulse Magazine,

"The appropriate dose of levothyroxine is that which restores euthyroidism and serum TSH to the lower part of the reference range - 0.2-0.5mU/l.

In this case, free thyroxine is likely to be in the upper part of its reference range or even slightly elevated – 18-22pmol/l.

Most patients will feel well in that circumstance. But some need a higher dose of levothyroxine to suppress serum TSH and then the serum-free T4 concentration will be elevated at around 24-28pmol/l.

This 'exogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism' is not dangerous as long as serum T3 is unequivocally normal – that is, serum total around T3 1.7nmol/l (reference range 1.0-2.2nmol/l)."

You can obtain a copy of the articles from Thyroid UK email print it and highlight question 6 to show your doctor

please email Dionne:
[e-mail]

[Hidden]

Often people who are hypothyroid have loss of appetite whether they take levo or not and effective treatment should increase appetite. For a lot of people taking levo leads to weight gain not loss (we did a survey about this which you maybe able to find on the forum)> Weight gain is one of the most problematic side effects of levo. Effective treatment will raise your metabolism but I have never heard of anyone losing more weigh than they would want to when treated. You are more likely to gain rather than lose weight on GP prescribed medication.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Hidden]

Not always the case. If very under medicated and gut badly affected, some do loose weight, especially with Hashimoto's. Usually it's due to dire vitamins and/or gluten intolerance/coeliac

[Hidden in reply to SlowDragon]

yes that can happen but it is not usually due to taking levo it is due to issues associated with thyroid and with lack of treatment not from having treatment.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Hidden]

Yes trouble often due to GP only prescribing 25mcg or 50mcg. Nowhere near enough.

The assumption is symptoms are due to the Levo, but it's actually due to the Hashimoto's not being correctly treated and not enough levo

[Angel_of_the_North]

I have a similar problem. I just get someone to text me at mealtimes to remind me to eat. The meds don't make you lose weight, as many people here will confirm.