Hypothyroid weight loss issues

[kirstyjaneann]

Hi I was diagnosed in August 2017 and put on starter meds levothrixine 50mcg. Still suffering from thinning hair and struggling with weight loss. I suffered a lot from stress through 2016 and 17 due to grief, a destructive relationship and lack of a stable home. Now back on my feet, dealing with grief and out of the relationship having bought my own home. Been going to the gym and eating well. Been to see my Endo who says my levels are now just over 2 with the meds. Yday I had scans for PSOS which indicate that I have more than 12 follicles on my right ovary. This, with higher testosterone, suggests I also have psos. Really feel like I've hit a wall. I still get brain fog, struggling to put a sentence together during conversations. The weight isn't coming off and my hair is so thin I can see my scalp. Help.

[shaws Administrator]

I don't believe your Endo that someone on a starting dose of 50mcg can possibly feel well. The usual is 50mcg starting dose with a blood test every six weeks with a 25mcg increase until symptom-free. Your TSH is just over 2, when it should be 1 or lower. Doctors think that 'somewhere' in range is fine it isn't if we're diagnosed.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

At present I'd not work-out until your dose of hormones are increased as the essential and only Active thyroid hormone - T3 - will be reduced by exercise before you are on an optimum dose. T3 is the only Active hormone required in all of our T3 receptor cells which enables everything in our body to work smoothly (our metabolism ). Our brain and heart need the most T3.

PCOS can also be due to hypothyroidism. I shall give you a copy about info as I don't have a link:

"Multiple Ovarian Cysts as a Major Symptom of Hypothyroidism

The case I describe below is of importance to women with polycystic ovaries. If they have evidence, such as a high TSH, that conventional clinicians accept as evidence of hypothyroidism, they may fair well. But the TSH is not a valid gauge of a woman's tissue thyroid status. Because of this, she may fair best by adopting self-directed care. At any rate, for women with ovarian cysts, this case is one of extreme importance.

In 2008, doctors at the gynecology department in Gunma, Japan reported the case of a 21-year-old women with primary hypothyroidism. Her doctor referred her to the gynecology department because she had abdominal pain and her abdomen was distended up to the level of her navel.

At the gynecology clinic she underwent an abdominal ultrasound and CT scan. Theseimagin g procedures showed multiple cysts on both her right and her left ovary.

The woman's cholesterol level and liver function were increased. She also had a high level of the muscle enzyme (creatine phosphokinase) that's often high in hypothyroidism.

Blood testing also showed that the woman had primary hypothyroidism from autoimmune thyroiditis.

It is noteworthy that the young woman's ovarian cysts completely disappeared soon after she began thyroid hormone therapy. Other researchers have reported girls with primary hypothyroidism whose main health problems were ovarian cysts or precocious puberty. But this appears to be the first case in which a young adult female had varian cysts that resulted from autoimmune-induced hypothyroidism.

The researchers cautioned clinicians: "To avoid inadvertent surgery to remove an ovarian tumor, it is essential that a patient with multiple ovarian cysts and hypothyroidismbe properly managed, as the simple replacement of a thyroid hormone could resolvethe ovarian cysts."[1]

Reference:

1. Kubota, K., Itho, M., Kishi, H., et al.: Primary hypothyroidism presenting as

multiple ovarian cysts in an adult woman: a case report. Gynecol. Endocrinol.,

24(10):586-589, 2008.

[kirstyjaneann in reply to shaws]

Thank you for the info. I had bloods done 6 weeks after diagnosed and taking 50mcg and my GO then referred me to Endo because my levels were still at 5 (45 before meds). I also had high prolactin levels and after more bloods my endo found the prolactin had decreased and levels just over 2 which he was satisfied with so said he will leave me on 50mcg. I should be seeing him again in a few weeks to discuss my psos results so when I go to that meeting I'll push for an increase in my dose of Levo. I'll also discuss the point you made about exercise. It concerns me that if I exercise my t3 will decrease which basically makes exercise pointless. I've gained 1 stone in a year and I have holidays and weddings to attend next month and I just feel like a blob. It's getting me down.

[shaws Administrator in reply to kirstyjaneann]

They give us ridiculous low doses and one doctor, now deceased, said they put patients in a parlous situation by the professionals' fixation upon results rather than clinical symptoms.

Weight gain through no fault of our own i.e. due to hypo and not yet being on an optimal dose, which is usually a TSH of 1 or lower and FT4 and FT3 towards the upper part of the range

At least on the forum, we have all had different experiences and the responses can be very helpful to us when struggling.

I think that most doctors and endos don't listen to patients but rely on looking at some paragraphs. It might be fine if the patients do well on levo but the majority on here have not improved. We do need an optimum dose for us to be energetic and well.

The following extract from your earlier response:-

"GP then referred me to Endo because my levels were still at 5 (45 before meds). I also had high prolactin levels and after more bloods my endo found the prolactin had decreased and levels just over 2 which he was satisfied with so said he will leave me on 50mcg".

that reveals to me that a patient with a TSH of 5 and is not even given a rise up to 75mcg should avoid this doctor. I think quite a few members would agree with me.