Can weight loss mean that you require less NDT

[hellybaybee]

Hi all,

I am currently taking 3.5 grains Nature Throid - it is a dose that I have been comfortable on for about a year. I started eating clean again as I find its the only way I can lose weight and it is also the only thing that actually makes me feel completely well (as long as Im on the right meds of course!) I think I have lost about a stone quite quickly and suddenly I'm getting palpitations, breathlessness and dizzy spells again. Im eating properly - 3 meals a day and small snacks in between so I was going to reduce my NDT to 3 grains and see if it helps but I was wondering if there is a connection - I seem to remember reading something about it.

Thanks

[shaws Administrator]

Before you reduce I think you should have a blood test (if you've been on a diet that would be the reason for your weight loss) but palps etc can be due to too much or too little and are symptoms. You could need dose increased slightly so I would try not to guess why you have symptoms. You should get a blood test for TSH and FT4 and FT3.

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

[Hidden]

When I was on 3 grains of NDT I was losing too much weight. My blood test for FT3

was 1/3rd higher than the top range. I was also getting heart palps.

Now I am on 2/5 grains per day. I had never been overweight before and knew that I

was over medicated when losing so much weight.

Try the blood test first maybe.

[hellybaybee]

Thanks both, I think that's probably a good idea - tbh I haven't had one in a while because I wanted to get a private one so that they took my B12 but can't afford it at the moment. I have been on a diet (since the thyroid issue has developed, I can only lose weight through clean eating, having gone from a UK 8-10 to 14). I just wondered if there is a correlation between dietary weight loss and a need to reduce medication. You're both right though I should do my blood test first. Palpitations and dizziness seem to have settled down today strangely enough.

[hellybaybee]

I actually increased half a grain and felt better

[Alaskalady in reply to hellybaybee]

That would make sense - dieting causes T3 to decrease. The metabolism slows the smaller you are.

[hellybaybee]

I find blood tests quite difficult on ndt because (unless you can get the full range which I try to do) it will always show your as suppressed using tsh (unless you’re really not on enough) - that’s my experience anyway.

I bet it wont be, it’s quite a low increase, maybe you need a fraction more. The loss seems to be hard work and eating right. I remember I did the same and got bAck to my normal dress size (gym 3-5 times a week, eating clean) my old dr wanted to decrease my dose even though my bloods were fine - I think it was down to that.

Increasing this time helped, certainly, palpitations and fatigue are always the big indicators for me... if it gets really bad I start to get yellowish/ brown bruise like marks around my mouth and eyes. I am going to try to cut out wheat and go clean again, I do it in bursts cuz it’s so expensive and I’m retraining at the moment so I haven’t got a lot of money which makes clean eating tricky, but it does so much good for everything I think.

Well done on your weight loss, it’s a real accomplishment when you have hypothyroidism, I think. I’m back to a uk 12 since increasing my dosage and I can live with that but I’m going to try and get back to a 10 before the year is out .

[experimental1]

An observation from my experience, since I've been dealing with ongoing weight gain for years. 35 pounds in 7 years. I'm male, in the US. Two doctors suspect it's my hypothalamus or pituitary; central hypothyroid. Referred to an endo. That was months ago. Useless. Now, after six weeks on one grain, NDT, just went to two. Weight hasn't budged. Three days ago started self injecting B12, Doing 1000 mcg, daily, for 5 or 7 days, as a loading dose. Also cutting out wheat. I've also read that not only blue light from computers, smart phones and televisions, but electromagnetic energy from computers and smart phones can disrupt hormones. Are we doomed? It's all maddeningly frustrating. 16 years ago I was lean, had energy and could eat anything. Definitely not giving up.

[hellybaybee in reply to experimental1]

Yep I was the same... was diagnosed in 2011 at the age of 28... I think I’d had it for 3 ish years at that point... before that I ate what I wanted and did no exercise and I was really slim.

[experimental1]

Oh yes; I remember, fondly, working a physically demanding job, sleeping without medication, enjoying a love life with my wife. I'm 69 and I'm tired of hearing from some doctors, and even my wife, that gaining weight and other physical declines are part of 'growing old'. My late father,at 66, ran 3 miles a day and when his arthritis put an end to that, he took up swimming, working up to a mile a day, which put the rheumatoid arthritis into remission. His weight stayed at 135 lbs for decades and he ate whatever he wanted. I did all the cooking after my mother died and we ate well, lol. Something is broken in my endocrine system and I refuse to just accept it and let it destroy my life. Never give up.