Weight loss

[Lolly600]

Anyone know how to lose weight with Hashimotos?

I've been underactive for 18 months & had a horrendous reaction to Levothyroxine so am now unmedicated. Hashimotos was diagnosed last week.

Slimming World doesn't work for me & I'm just getting bigger every day!

I'm fighting with my Endo to prescribe Natural Thyroid but getting nowhere!

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Lolly600

As NDT is unlicensed in the UK, it's very difficult to get it prescribed because the doctor would have to take personal responsibility and not many are willing to do that.

You are unlikely to be able to lose weight unless you have a good level of T3. As you are unmedicated it's very likely that your levels of FT4 and FT3 are low.

As you had such a bad reaction to Levo, was no alternative offered? Did you try different brands, or liquid Levo?

[Lolly600 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Hi SeasideSusie

Thank you for replying.

I did try different brands of Levo but not liquid, it wasn't offered.

My reaction was so bad I've sworn never to take it again, the drug made my hypo symptoms 100 times worse & I couldn't function.

My levels at present are in the 'normal' range so I'm not worrying, I just need to lose weight.

I'll persevere with the Endo and try to convince him - after all, I've gone as a private patient & explained what I would like to try.

Thanks again.

[G2G2]

You could try eating low carb. There are countless low carb sites. With Hashimoto's don't do very low carb.

[Lolly600 in reply to G2G2]

Thank you for replying, to be honest I eat very little everything but I might try leaving carbs out.

[G2G2 in reply to Lolly600]

Try calculating how many carbs you eat in a day. You need carbs in the form of non-starchy veggies. High carb veggies--potatoes, carrots, peas, winter squash. Summer squash & zucchini are low carb. Moderate amounts of lower carb fruits are ok. Berries, most melons, green apples are good, small plums. No tropical fruits like pineapple, mangoes, papayas, bananas. Cow's milk has a lot of carbs because of lactose. Cheese is fine. Good fats, coconut oil, olive oil, grass-fed butter, cream & ghee, are healthy & will keep you feeling full, but don't go wild because fats are calorie dense. Avoid anything that's no-fat, The lower the fat in products, the higher the carbs.

Happy to help, if you like. I've been LC for over 10 years. Two great LC recipe sites are

alldayidreamaboutfood.com/ & gnom-gnom.com.

[Lolly600 in reply to G2G2]

Thats brilliant info, thanks very much.

I never knew about the low fat stuff being full of carbs - this could explain how Slimming World wasn't working for me.

I'll check out the websites and try to record what I have, I'm already tracking calories and averaging 1200 a day so including carbs shouldn't be too hard.

Thank you

[G2G2 in reply to Lolly600]

My pleasure. That could really be why Slimming World hasn't helped. Low fat is actually quite unhealthy. Our brains are around 90% fat, as just one example. You can Google dangers of low fat for a ton of info.

I feel far better LC. & don't feel deprived at all. I was a carb junkie with bread & pasta being my favorites. I never ate many sweets, but was eating far more carbs in pasta & bread than if I ate sweets. Forgot to mention to stay away from juice & avoid artificial sweeteners. They are poison. Studies show that artificial sweeteners cause weight gain.

Hope you like the sites. LC isn't like eating severe calorie-restricted. No boring celery & cottage cheese I've loved every recipe I tried.

[G2G2 in reply to G2G2]

LC is high fat & moderate protein. Perhaps Slimming World had you eating too much protein?

[penny in reply to G2G2]

Your comment re. low carb is interesting - all I read about Hashimoto’s keeps on about cutting down carbohydrates. Is this a matter of degree?

[G2G2 in reply to penny]

Everything's a matter of degree Ketogenic is very low carb at <20 grams a day with really high fat. A ketogenic diet may be too low in carbs for Hashimoto's because it can stress the adrenals. Moderate LC is around 20-50 carbs daily, though this range varies some depending on the author. All LC is high fat (good fats) & moderate protein. Helpful to calculate how many carbs you're currently eating. Most eat far too many carbs. One issue with high carb eating is that carbs are instant fuel keeping us hungry.

[penny]

Before being diagnosed I put on 3 stones. I went to Slimming World and the organiser accused me of lying about my calorie intake as I was not losing weight. Needless to say, I left.

I eventually was diagnosed hypothyroid and started NDT. I lost a stone in the first month without trying. Unfortunately I had to keep increasing my NDT to keep well. The final straw was when NDT was not available and I was put on T4. I was very unwell and had no idea why. I put on weight, had a constant headache and could barely get up the stairs. I find that the first thing to go when my medication is not correct is my brain and so I had not idea why I was so sick, in fact I didn’t know that I was. After seeing Dr. P. (my private doctor had retired) he put me on an increasing dose of T3 after stopping all my medication and taking adrenal support. I gradually decreased my NDT and added more T3 until I felt well, which happened to be T3-only. I now have to take a supra-physiological dose. The point of this ramble is that if I am not on enough thyroid medication my weight increases and I am unable to lose weight. This became very apparent when I was following the 5:2 diet, which works for me, as I had an under-strength batch of T3 and my diet did not work until I changed batches.

[Lolly600]

At present I'm not taking any thyroid meds as I had such a bad reaction to Levo - although my current Endo doesn't believe that was the problem. I know my own body & that was the only thing I had changed.

I would love to try NDT but can't find a doctor willing to prescribe it & am seriously considering buying it online.

I hate putting so much weight on but no-one seems to want to help.

[Kimmicustard in reply to Lolly600]

When I started on Levothyroxine I had a bad reaction to it too, I felt even worse than before (absolutely dreadful to be honest!) - it turns out that because I have Hashimotos I am intolerant to just about everything now - one of the things being dairy. I found out that the only brand of Levo that is lactose free is Teva. Since going totally gluten/dairy free and changing to Teva I have felt a hundred times better. I am also trying to cut refined sugar out now too. Because of this problem I have found out that the fillers in many tablets make me react - even in regards to my antihistamines for hayfever I have to get the liquid now instead of the tablets as I reacted to them badly too! So try and get medication that is liquid or gel based (and double check for lactose in the ingredients!) Vitamin D3 also helped a lot with the aches etc. and I sleep much better now too. Hope you get sorted soon.