I have had underactive thyroid for 14 years and take 125mg of Levothyroxine per day. I eat really healthy, but about two years ago I overdid the exercise and had really bad fatigue with sore glands in my neck which the doctors kept saying was a virus. This lasted on and off for about 12 months. I recently decided I wanted to start exercising again after not doing any exercise apart from a bit of walking for nearly two years. I started the NHS couch to 5k and the first two weeks were fine, but I got to week 3 and got the really extreme exhaustion again and discomfort in my glands. I am worried that I end up feeling as bad as I did before, and think maybe exercising is stressing my body too much and making me ill, but I really want to get fit and in shape. I have been feeling like this now for two weeks and have stopped the exercise again in the hope of feeling more energised, just wondered if anyone else has found that exercise has this kind of effect on them. Thanks in advance.
Exercising with underactive thyroid: I have had... - Thyroid UK
Exercising with underactive thyroid
The problem with hypothyroidism is that it affects our energy (metabolism) and it lowers enormously. That's why levo is provided to raise it. Unfortunately some doctors are unaware that our TSH should be around 1 or lower and Free T4 and Free T3 towards the top of the range.
Levothyroxine is the inactive hormone and it converts to T3 (liothyronine) and if we aren't on a sufficient dose to have both Frees towards the top of the range, when we exercise it depletes the T3 and makes us feel not so good and have symptoms.
Gentle exercise is recommended until we're on an optimum and can do as we used to do.
Are you taking magnesium oil?
Worth looking into.
No I am not, not heard of magnesium oil, will look into it, anything is worth a try, I really want to be able to feel a bit more energised. Thanks
In my humble opinion the single most important supplement for thyroid recovery - ahead of just about everything else that is recommended on the web.
The other supplement that is making a huge difference is dried liver capsules from organic farm in Argentina.
I also am a fan of black cumin seed oil but am not prepared to recommend it as it is not widely researched and I am trialling with doses and measuring effect on
Blood readings as we speak.
Getting my life back is about being able to run long distances well and with real joy - the odd HM race would be fun too.
My caution over just following the standard recommendations around iron, selenium, zinc, B,C, D etc is that they may help blood test results and sense of better health but had very little help to running fast over distances.
The 3 supplements above taken together have been transformational in this regard.
We all want different things from our recovery I accept.
I think that depends on many things, reallyfedup123.
I am on levo 100mcg only and do heavy weightlifting for hypertrophy which in return (or so my theory/theory in general goes) will give my metabolism a nudge! I rest well and listen to my body and I've only once "come a bit of a cropper" and had to lay off for a while to recover. 
I do this 3-4 times a week and always have a day of rest afterwards to recuperate.
In regards to Chilli-red 's question. You will only really know if you know what your thyroid blood levels are. T4 needs to be in the upper quarter and the same with T3, at least. If your T3 is low it is depriving your body of T3 needed for important metabolic processes hence the crashes after a workout....there must be enough to go around 
There is also an issue with flooding the body with cortisol if the body is too stressed during a workout. For example full-on HIIT is probably not a very good idea at all with someone who has low T3! LISS is probably more the way to go for gentle cardio work.
You really need to find out your blood results, especially T3. If you haven't had this measured (and many GPs/Labs won't do it on the NHS) you can find out with private blood tests via finger-prick sample you do at home. You also need your doctor to test: folate, iron, B12, vitamin D3 and knowing if you have antibodies is helpful as well. Again the NHS is not very helpful in this and you may need private tests.
All this is good to know otherwise you are blundering around in the dark and if you are low in some vitamins and minerals you are not going to get adequate T4 to T3 conversion happen.
Don't be disheartened....ever. We just need to micro-manage our bodies a bit more than others.
Can you add your most recent Thyroid test results and ranges TSH, FT3 and FT4 plus thyroid antibodies
Also vitamin D, folate, ferritin and vitamin D
If your FT3 is not at least above halfway in range you may struggle with exercise
If you have Hashimoto's also called autoimmune thyroid disease diagnosed by high thyroid antibodies are you on strictly gluten free diet?
would a gluten free diet help? 5 years ago I had an extreme reaction to gluten and a blood test said I had coeliac disease so went gluten free for 8 months, I then had a biopsy that came back negative for coeliac, so I gradually started eating gluten again and have been okay since, although if I eat too much I do get a bad stomach, but not thought about cutting it out again
Majority of us need to be strictly gluten free
I have /had absolutely no gut symptoms and negative for coeliac twice. But endoscopy revealed significant damage
It makes significant difference to 1000’s on here - even non Hashimoto’s patients
If you remain unwell it’s the first step
Vitamins often far too low as result
I do not know what my blood results are, I was diagnosed 14 years ago and started on lower dose and been increased over the years. When I asked doctor for my results, he told me that I didn't need to know and to just take the medication
First thing is do is get hold of copies of your own blood test results. You are legally entitled to copies, GP can not stop you
All UK GP practices are supposed to offer online access for blood test results. Ring and ask if this is available and apply to do so if possible, you may need to request enhanced access to see blood tests.
In reality many GP surgeries do not have blood test results online yet,
Alternatively ring receptionist and request printed copies of results. Allow couple of days and then go and pick up. They can make nominal charge for printing but many will do so for free (£10 max)
If antibodies are high this is Hashimoto's, (also known by medics here in UK more commonly as autoimmune thyroid disease).
About 90% of all hypothyroidism in Uk is due to Hashimoto's
Essential to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12.
Always get actual results and ranges.
Post results when you have them, members can advise. In range results are not the same as optimal.
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
You do not need to suffer any obvious gut symptoms
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 gut and gluten connection is very poorly understood
Changing to a strictly gluten free diet may help reduce symptoms, help gut heal and slowly lower TPO antibodies and help improve vitamin levels. Though many of us still need to supplement to keep levels optimal
thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...
thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...
amymyersmd.com/2017/02/3-im...
chriskresser.com/the-gluten...
scdlifestyle.com/2014/08/th...
drknews.com/changing-your-d...
thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...
When you get blood tests start a new post and ask advice
Looking to test TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus thyroid antibodies. Vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 results and ranges
Private tests are available. Hundred on here get tests privately as NHS often refuses to test FT3
thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...
Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have money off offers.
All thyroid tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting and don't take Levo in the 24 hours prior to test. This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, GP will be unaware)
Thank you for the information, I will ask my doctor about the results again next time I see him. I have never had an endo appointment, since I got diagnosed 14 years ago was given thyroxine and just increased when needed, but mostly just have yearly blood tests and they tell me that I am on right dose. After over exercising 2 years ago and feeling really ill the doctors just kept saying it was probably a virus, and didn't really want to know. They then said that I was on too high a dose of thyroxine and lowered it from 150mg to 125mg but it has never been explained to me about TSH etc so don't really know a lot about it.
Read up as much as possible
Thyroid UK is the home website of this support group
Medics ignore the autoimmune aspect of thyroid disease, but in order to recover and be well we need to learn what's needed
Often vitamin deficiencies if under medicated and food intolerances if gut has been affected
Recent NHS guidelines are incorrectly reducing dose too low for many patients
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 at
tukadmin@thyroiduk.org
Professor Toft recent article saying, T3 may be necessary for many otherwise we need high FT4 and suppressed TSH in order to have high enough levels of FT3
rcpe.ac.uk/sites/default/fi...
Official NHS guidelines saying TSH should be between 0.2 and 2.0 when on Levothyroxine
Many need TSH nearer 0.2 than 2.0 to be well
See box
Thyroxine replacement in primary hypothyroidism
Hi Chilli Red......I had ME or what Americans call Lyme disease for many years, and your symptoms sound very similar. I believe that this untreatable virus has some detrimental effect on the thyroid gland too. (My belief not the doctors).
Resting seemed the best for me.....after exercise I would go downhill for a week or more. I regret that I found no cure for the exhaustion, and doctors were no help. It took a long time before I started to 'wake up' from this awful disease and gradually started to feel more normal. Magnesium and Vit B12 injections did help occasionally. I feel for you....good luck!
I think there is a misapprehension here.
Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is an infectious disease caused by bacteria of the Borrelia type which is spread by ticks.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_...
That applies in the UK and the USA.
What is ME/CFS?
Home > What is ME? > What is ME/CFS?
Article index
> Effects
> Prognosis
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> Controversy
> The Role of the ME Association
It should be explained that there are a number of different names for what is an illness of uncertain cause affecting many thousands of people. Currently it is estimated that some 250,000 people in Britain are affected by this illness.
Myalgic Encephalopathy or “ME” (a term which The ME Association feels is more appropriate than the original, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis)
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or “CFS”
Post-Viral Fatigue Syndrome or “PVFS”
Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome or “CFIDS”
meassociation.org.uk/about/...
(I am not assuming that there is, or is not, any possible connection between the illnesses. That is a different discussion.)
Hi helvella....you are quite right. This dreadful debilitating disease has many names. I was told that mine was from tick bites. True or not, it certainly seems to rear its head in epidemic cycles that come and go. When I was affected, many people including teenagers, in my area came down with the virus. Then for a couple of years, it was unheard of...
Many recovered within a year or two, I took eight years before I woke up from the 'Rip van Winkle' exhausted twilight zone I had lived in, with excessive fatigue and bouts of depression. I had had a serious car accident prior to this illness, and I believe my immune system was weakened and open to attack by the virus.
Through those years of personal research and monthly tetracycline treatments, nothing was conclusive. I believe that apart from thyroid dysfunction I still occasionally get small bouts of 'ME'.
Thanks for the info. I hope you are feeling better now. I have been feeling like this on and off for two years, the doctor keeps on saying that It is a virus, although one time after having a virus he did say that I had post viral fatigue. I think I am going to stop exercising and just concentrate on eating healthy, with just the occasional steady walk and see if that makes a difference. Going to the doctors about my fatigue and aching glands just seems pointless as they don't want to know and just fob me off, although I have been going to a memory clinic and had a couple of brain scans as my memory and concentration have been so bad over the last couple of years too, so that are trying to get to the bottom of that. My consultant said that I have a reduced blood flow to the memory part of my brain, and I have an appointment with a neurologist in a couple of weeks
Except Lyme Disease is not a virus. It's acquired through the bite of a tick and is caused by bacteria carried by a tick, which is not viral. Ticks are so small that many people don't recall a tick bite and only 30% of those bitten by a tick ever had a bulls eye rash. It is possible that other insects could acquire Lyme bacteria, bite you, and then give you Lyme Disease. But Lyme Disease is not contagious. If a bunch of teenagers came down with a virus at the same time, it was a virus, not Lyme Disease, since Lyme is not viral. Did any of these people test positive on a Lyme test?
Myalgic encephalomyelitis/ME is not Lyme Disease. There is no established cause of ME, but it can be affiliated with many other conditions. Incorrectly misdiagnosed low thyroid can be one of them.
Hi NtombiSA,
Americans are very aware for a long time Lyme Disease is not a virus, nor is it ME/CFS. LD is caused by bacteria introduced by a tick bite. It's not a virus, and it is treatable. Complete recovery is a challenge.
Any bacteria, virus, fungus, parasite, other disease, autoimmune disease, allergen, etc can cause harm to the thyroid. It sounds like you could have some undiagnosed and untreated virus or infection, and/or possibly an autoimmune disease. Have you been tested for autoimmune thyroid disease; thyroid antibodies TPO, TG and TSI, to determine if your thyroid disease is autoimmune in origin? Have you been tested for EBV, CMV, chronic and underlying strep infection, c. pneumoniae, etc., to eliminate that these viruses and bacterias are not the cause of your symptoms?
ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a syndrome, not a disease and is a collection of symptoms. Many people with CFS could possibly have undiagnosed Lyme or chronic diagnosed Lyme. Lyme Disease is caused several types of borrelia. Borrelia burgdorferi, Borrelia mayonii, Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii, plus co-infections that come along for the ride with the Lyme bacteria(s) such as mycoplasma, parvo virus, biofilms.
On the other hand, CFS is a syndrome, not a disease, of many, many causes. It's often caused by undiagnosed and untreated chronic viruses, ongoing bacterial infections stressing the immune system, biofilms, autoimmune diseases, etc.
Lyme Disease is treated with a long term assortment of antibiotics and other supportive supplements. B12 and magnesium are likely included in the supportive supplements.
Chilli-red I have so much sympathy for your suffering. I don't want to sound melodramatic, but my experience was a time of memory loss, hair loss, severe anxiety attacks, depression, tingling tongue, fingers, and feet and overwhelming fatigue. There was guilt at being 'lazy' with total lack of needing to socialize because of exhaustion, and constantly whining to my friends (some I lost along the way!!) I went into a foggy zoned out, automated world while trying to maintain a job and run my home.
Unless experienced it is hard to describe. The lack of empathy from doctors....telling me there was nothing to be done because it was a virus. I went to a phycologist, thinking I was going mad, leaving that medical professional none the wiser.
I try not to think of those awful years...but eventually I gradually improved and returned to a semblance of normality. The battle with my Thyroid is another story entirely. Despite that, you have to search for solutions, such as this website and others, and listen to your body. Keep looking for a good dedicated doctor, there are those rare gems around. Drop the 'victim' act (still my biggest battle) and be determined to overcome, because you will......there is still a great deal of life to live! Go well.
Hair loss, anxiety, depression, fatigue, brain fog are all classic signs of a thyroid disorder. These symptoms can be from undiagnosed low thyroid or diagnosed but under medicated thyroid disease, or hypothyroidism, possibly autoimmune thyroid disease, Hashimoto's. You mention battling your thyroid. If your levels are in the correct part of the range, then you will have little to no symptoms, including the hair loss. With the right type and right dose of medication, symptoms are resolved within a few months. How are you doing now?
Hi ShootingStars,
Thank you for taking an interest in my case. I see from your comments that you think I am confused.....and I certainly was for a very very long time. As confused as the many doctors that I went to for help. I was diagnosed with M.E. from blood tests by a completely unsympathetic GP, who said there was nothing that could be done to help me because it was a virus.
After a couple of years of exhaustion where I would fall asleep at my desk at 10am every morning, I was diagnosed by a controversial Belgium doctor as having Rickettsia africae. As I had had tick bite fever many years previously, I consented in sheer desperation, to over 2 years of monthly tetracycline treatment. The treatment was inconclusive and I continued to feel like death warmed up!
This saga went on for just over 8 years, with paranoia, bouts of extreme depression, withdrawal from society and anxiety. I was eventually directed to a older GP who immediately picked up from blood tests that I had Hypothyroidism and hormones levels of a girl before puberty. With HRT's and Eltroxin I began to recover somewhat.
Now comes the tricky part......I was thin, I was eating well, but my anxiety and restlessness began to increase and I was seriously sensitive to heat! I would run from the summer heat, hide in the shade and eventually had to move to a cooler climate. Every blood test showed I had an under-active thyroid!
20 years down the road, after many visits to pea-brained Endo's, a GP in our biggest city sent me for a scan......and here the demon was revealed. One half of my thyroid had atrophied and the other half was badly inflamed. I have given a detailed account of this discovery in a previous note on this Website, and the conclusion I came to that has given me back my life. Also my reply to Chilli-red.
Thanks for your comment, It sounds like you went through a dreadful time, I am pretty positive and don't really moan about it to family just plod along. I have decided to give up on the exercise and just eat healthy because I know now that exercise does not agree with me any more. Its difficult because I always exercised for many years, but just going to stick with walking. Feeling a little better this week than I did last week, but I haven't done any exercise for a week. I am not hugely over weight, only about a stone, but really wanted to tone up a bit as I have always looked after myself and now I am 55 years old it is more difficult to keep the weight down. I am not holding my breath in regards to doctors as I have not found one yet that is interested and they just fob me off with "its a virus" so have given up going really and only go for my routine yearly blood test, but I will make sure I get the results next time and post them on here.
I don't quite understand. The reply you have responded to has two entirely separate parts - one about Lyme, the other about ME/CFS.
Further, the first sentence is: I think there is a misapprehension here.
Which was directed straight at NtombiSA's apparent confusion.
Oh! Sorry! That was in response to NtombiSA, in agreement with your reply to her, further explanation.
Let me see if I can move it.
Question: how do you bold and italicize? Write a reply in MS Word including bold and italicize, or are you able to enhance text because you're an administrator?
You are far from the first to ask!
Have a look at first response here:
Hi Chillie-red....I also found that exercise would knock me for a loop, and it would take days to recover, so be kind and listen to your body. I have never, ever been overweight and in fact I am petite and fast walking, fast talking and used to be always on the go. Even recently at 68 I studied for my TEFL and travelled on my own to teach English in Vietnam, not having a job or accommodation in Hanoi.
I have always been pretty energetic, adventurous and an active Tourist Guide in South Africa for 21 years. Now as I approach 70 I'm told that my attitude, restlessness and (only slightly..he,he) overweight, makes me appear to be around 59 or 60. In fact I am now on the search for house sitting work in the USA, as I have a 10 year visa for the US. I have travelled on my own fairly extensively around the world and although, since my ME, I stress extremely easily, I am determined to satisfy my curiosity as long as I am able. So just know that there is a golden lining around that dark cloud, and the sun will shine through again.....eventually!
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