Thyroidectomy Hypoglycemic and HCG Diet

[Cinfred]

I am currently on both dessicated thyroid 180 and just upped my T3 from 10 to 20. I am very hypo even though my numbers read: .01 tsh, 18.3 free t4 and 8.8 free t3. I have been on the hcg diet before and it helped me lose pounds. I have recently gained 20pounds in 4 weeks. I weigh 152 pounds. I just submitted my blood work again and am waiting for reverse t3 numbers. Is there any advice on how after I lose my weight I can set my metabolism so that I do not go back into being hypo. Any suggestions?

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Can you add the ranges on these results please

[greygoose]

That's too much to increase by in one go. It should only be 5 mcg every two weeks.

What is an HCG diet,

I'm afraid your results mean nothing without the ranges. Do you have them?

s there any advice on how after I lose my weight I can set my metabolism so that I do not go back into being hypo.

I'm afraid you've got that the wrong way round. It's being hypo that lowers your metabolism. You can only 'set' it by obtaining, and maintaining, optimal FT3.

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to greygoose]

HCG diet is very low calorie - virtually starvation (has been called the concentration camp diet) with the addition of HCG. A very bad diet for hypo patients.

[greygoose in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Thank you, Angel.

Cinfred , do you know what you're doing with that diet? You are making yourself more hypo. So, my suggestion is, you eat normally. When you're hypo, you can starve yourself fat. Not to mention all the other damage you're doing to your body and your brain.

[FIT2018 in reply to greygoose]

weightlossresources.co.uk/d...

Arghhhh!!!!! ghastly and dangerous

[greygoose in reply to FIT2018]

Good lord! That is terrible!

Thank you for the link, FIT2018. I've never heard of that before.

[FIT2018 in reply to greygoose]

You are welcome... I mean, hormone injections, starvation diet...Thyroid... what could possibly go wrong?!

[greygoose in reply to FIT2018]

Just about everything, I should imagine!

Just out of interest, have you read this?

zoeharcombe.com/2009/12/the...

Very revealing.

[FIT2018 in reply to greygoose]

Actually I have and this "theory" of starvation is repeated all over the internet and has evolved into intermittent fasting concepts (to make money no doubt).

All I know is that last year, I lost 12 KG of body fat, whilst eating more food than I have ever eaten before and going to the gym for 1 hour sessions 4 times a week, with a properly qualified PT... WITH hypothyroidism (and not medicated properly + eating soya+gluten etc). So... not eating is crazy and counter productive. If you want to fire your metabolism, you need to throw fuel on the fire. This article just makes it clear why not eating is the worst thing to do.

Interestingly, the remaining fat I wanted to get rid of not shifting is what initially drove me to this forum, and what a can of worms that opened!

[greygoose in reply to FIT2018]

A can of worms, indeed! Good luck making sense of it.

[Girlscout2]

Please please please do NOT do the HCG diet! Your body needs steady, consistent, gentle handling. I have had a TT for Graves and thyroid cancer, and I do understand how tough it is, but there are no quick fixes, this is a long road that requires patience, lots of self compassion, and steady, gentle changes.

We are all different but most TT people seem to do well on a diet that includes lots of veggies and fruit, not too many starchy carbs but you do need some, good fats, lean protein, not too much sugar.

There is no need to be on NDT and T3 as well, you are asking your body to cope with a lot. It takes a while to get your body properly calibrated to dose increases, and as we approach optimal levels, we have to go very slowly (quarter to half grain increases, every few weeks).

You didn't post the reference ranges, so it's hard to say, but I would say an FT3 of 8.8 does not indicate you are hypO but over medicated. More isn't always better, and reverse T3 is the body's natural mechanism to protect from too much toxic hormones - imho there's alot of guff written on this topic. Too much or too little T3 also massively effects blood sugar as well as your Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG) which will in turn affect the levels of circulating hormones. All of this can affect your weight.

I appreciate you are feeling dreadful, and unhappy, but my advice, for what it's worth, is to give your body a break. Gently gently. Your metabolism is more than just calories in your mouth, and blood results, it's everything, your peripheral metabolism in particular.

In order for your thyroid hormones to work, it needs to get into your cells, and that requires you have sufficient levels of the co factors you need, such as iron, B12, cortisol etc. Again too much T3 is really really hard on your adrenals and too much cortisol is as bad as too little.

NDT needs to be taken on an empty stomach, one hour before eating or coffee, and it works best if we split the dose throughout the day (I take 2.5 grains in the morning, and 2 in late afternoon, but have split it across four doses before too).

I know it's hideous, but try to be patient with yourself. It is possible to get this all going the right way, and weight loss will be a natural part of that, as your body starts to heal.

Please be kind to yourself, the HCG diet is punitive and now you don't have a thyroid, it's really important to go steady - us TT people don't seem to do well with any kind of stress, be it emotional or physical. I'll never be the person I was before all this sh*t hit the fan, but overall I'm OK, I promise, I've lost most of the weight, I exercise (not anything mad, but I swim quite seriously, lift weights, walk, do yoga, ride horses), and more to the point I look and feel healthy.

Best wishes.

[FIT2018 in reply to Girlscout2]

Sorry to jump in on this important thread - but you mention that T3 levels can dramatically affect your blood sugar levels - I had a recent blood check from a GP, which showed that I am non diabetic hyperglycaemic... He tried to test for T3 but the hospital wouldn't do it...so I am going to get a private test done. I suspected that this might be a Hypo issue, you seem to confirm this.

I have a very healthy lifestyle, diet/gym/ active etc, like you I feel and look reasonably well... am wanting to avoid extreme dieting as described above - Trying to stay reasonably low carb due to the blood sugar thing (that was totally unexpected)... but if it is T3 related, and I am Hyperglycaemic am I lacking T3/not converting T4-T4... waddaya think?

[Girlscout2 in reply to FIT2018]

Hey there,

Yes too much or too little T3 can affect blood sugar see here: tiredthyroid.com/insulin-re...

One thing to note, over training at the gym can lower your T3, a lot of pro athletes are in a permanent state of induced hypothyroidism! I don't know how severe your thyroid illness is, but folks like us generally have to learn to 'pace' so that we don't over do it. I can train hard at the gym and feel high as a kite and good all day afterwards, but God do I feel it the day or two after, I find doing to tolerance, not pushing myself works better for me. Shortly after surgery, 6 or so years ago, I massively rushed into diet and exercise, really messed myself up, crashed my iron, wrecked my thyroid numbers and set myself back.

It's tough if you are an 'up and at 'em' type person to learn to do a little bit less than you used to do.

Hope that helps.

[FIT2018 in reply to Girlscout2]

Thank you for that insight and yes I do have to keep a lid on things as I can (and usually do) "overdo"... everything. The trouble is I am a 27 year old, living in a 54 year old's body! Go Go Go all the time BUT I do know this and have paid the price.. what it all seems to be about, is also one of the hardest tricks to pull off: BALANCE. This involves self/knowledge, good advice, self control /self love, personal responsibility and a boundless inquisitiveness that knows no quick fixes.

Actually just like life really! haha

Need to get my T3 tests done and monitor my output, thanks you, that really does help :))

[FIT2018 in reply to Girlscout2]

Great article! Thanks - have printed out to throw at GP

[Girlscout2 in reply to FIT2018]

Good luck!

[silverfox7]

I inadvertently went over range on NDT and without careful monitoring raising your dose it's very easy to go too high and feel so bad. I think you need to think again whether to take NDT or add T3 to T4. Also get Vit D, B12, folate and ferritin tested. They help your thyroid to work much better, can add conversion and improved general health and hopefully negate some symptoms you may have. Even without ranges FT3 looks far too high and I was told even going over range was a no no and my own experience showed being even slightly over range feels as bad as being slightly under.

[thyroidrose]

Some good advice posted from others. I think you’re over medicated. Too much hormone can make you feel equally and similarly dreadful as not enough.