So I was diagnosed with hashimotos around 4 years ago after I had my last baby and I have pretty much been on 75mg of levothyroxine since and stayed around the same weight give or take a few pounds. Ive also been diagnosed with PCOS before I had my children, IBS, anxiety with panic attacks so take citropram for that and suffer with migrane vertigo and currently taking tablets for Vitamin D. Anyway until around May last year ive steadily been gaining a few pounds nearly every week so, so im now heavier than I was at 9 months pregnant, im currently 14 stone 3 and 5"4 .
So im completely fed up, and I eventually persuaded my gp to refer me to an Endo doctor who wasn't very helpful and only done my Tsh, Free T4 and free T3, bp 139/83 wt was 88.7kg then in January, they came back at Tsh 0.33, Free T4 17.3 and free T3 5.2 so no action there they said so then I done a 24hr urinary cortisol and IGF-1 blood test which came back normal, so no further investigations required at present. Im due back in March and I dont know what else they could try? Im getting bigger by the days and I eat healthy apart from the odd treat at weekends, very rearly drink and dont smoke, walk the kids to school everyday and walk the dog once a day. Any suggestions of any other tests? In my last letterit stated if all tests come back normal a diagnosis of fibromyalgia should be considered.
Weight Gain - Please help!
Weight Gain help!
Help with weight gain/trouble losing from thyroid being out of whack!
Weight gain struggles
Could you give us the lab ranges for your test results, plus any other results you have, e.g. ferritin, Vits D and B12, folate.
With PCOS you are likely to be insulin resistant. Have you been tested for hyperinsulinaemia?
You may be interested in this discussion from yesterday:
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
Hi thank you for replying unfortunately the lab ranges wasnt on my hospital letter. Ive just phoned up for my latest blood results you mentioned, they were taking In sept last year
Ferritin was 22
B12 was 2.46
Folate was 5.80 and on the 4th of oct
vit D was D2-5 D3- 66
And no not as far as im aware I have not been tested for hyperinsulinaemia? Would that be a blood test?
You should be having your blood glucose and fasting insulin monitored in your PCOS clinic; poor glucose control and rising insulin are common complications of your condition. To put it rather simplistically, insulin makes you fat. My own fasting insulin level is climbing, and I've been piling on weight. Rather than take metformin and the like, I've put myself on a very low carbohydrate diet. But if you're being treated for the PCOS, you would really need to discuss all this with your clinic.
I would ask again for the lab ranges, as it's your right to receive this information. The tests would not have been reported by the lab to the doctor without the relevant ranges, otherwise the results might not be interpretable. From a very rough guess against the ranges that are familiar to me, your results look poor. How much vit D3 are you taking?
I dont go to a PCOS clinic, I was diagnosed at 20 and they just told me to come back to the clinic when I wanted to have children to start the ivf process, but I got pregnant on my own?
I will try and get hold of the lab ranges, which part of my results looks poor to you? out of curiosity?
Vit d tablets just say 400units twice away but I alomost always forget the night time dose.
All the nutrient results I asked about looked poor, but we would really need to see the ranges. I don't really understand the B12 result, 2.46, for instance.
Your D3 was sub-optimal when tested. If your GP has prescribed your D supplement, I would ask for a re-test or an increase in dose, as 800 units per day isn't much, especially in winter.
I think your GP needs to take your PCOS more seriously, especially given the weight gain. It's such a common effect of the condition. PCOS has other implications for your health besides fertility, so in your position I think I would want the condition monitored at a specialist clinic.
Ok thank you The b 12 result was just the figure the receptionist from my gp gave me over the phone when I asked for my latest results?
Is there anything else the endocrinologist could maybe be looking into? Thanks for your time
You could ask for your thyroid tests to be repeated, and to include antibodies this time. Docs always think nothing can be done about antibodies, so they don't always bother to tell thyroid patients whether or not they have Hashimoto's. Quite a lot of people on the forum find it beneficial to cut gluten out of their diet, and even dairy, in order to bring down the ab count and quell the autoimmune response.
Did an endocrinologist diagnose the PCOS? I thought generally gynaecologists managed the condition, but it might be one of those problems that ends up being split between different specialists.
No it wasnt the endo, it was about 15 years ago now that I was diagnosed but I think it was deffiantly the gynaecologists, plus it was through my old gp and since then my old records didnt follow me for some unknown reason but I just remember having a scan? And them telling me to come back for IVF when needed. I know I deffiantly have hashimotos because of the antibodies in past blood tests and when I had a scan on my thyroid, they seen the inflammation.
Sorry what is the ab count and do you think the antibodies needs retesting? Would that help?
I just dont know where to turn next? Do I go back to my own Gp to be refered to a different specialist or just ask the endo doctor to try other tests when Im back there in march?
abs = antibodies. Sorry, just using shorthand.
Probably you don't need to retest abs, since you knw you have Hashi's.
If all you've had is an ultrasound, it would be a good idea to pursue a referral, though the GP would probably be more persuaded by other symptoms than weight gain. The profession tends to look on all forms of weight gain merely as a loss of self-control, when in fact it is nearly always driven by hormonal imbalance of one sort or another.
Shaws has posted an interesting reference further down your post about the links between ovarian cysts and hypothyroidism. I remember reading about that years ago, but had totally forgotten. That complicates the picture, but if you can get access to a specific PCOS clinic in your region, they ought to look at the whole picture, and not just focus narrowly on whether you have insulin resistance, or whether you have ovarian cysts. As I say, if I were in your position, I think I would push for a referral to a PCOS clinic. You could contact your local PALS (they should be listed on the NHS website) and ask for information about the available services where you live.
Ok thanks so much for your time
You're welcome.