Weight loss

[Lollyp0p]

Hi im 5ft and 16st 9lbs. I find it very difficult losing weight and keeping it off. Any support would be great.

Thanks.xx

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Lollyp0p

Do you have a thyroid problem? If so are you optimally medicated? If not then losing weight can be difficult.

[Lollyp0p in reply to SeasideSusie]

Hi, yes im told my thyroid tests are in normal range year after year despite telking them i struggle with weight loss and require alot of sleep.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Lollyp0p]

Lollyp0p

If you pop along to your surgery and ask for a print out of your latest results, post them on here with their reference ranges, we can tell you if you are optimally medicated. I expect you're not. How much Levo do you take?

It's our legal right to have our test results so there shouldn't be a problem getting them, just make sure it's a print out rather than hand written or verbal results as mistakes can be made.

[Lollyp0p in reply to SeasideSusie]

Oh, i didnt realise you could request them. Im due to have one so i shall ask for it for you. Im on 100 mcg a day. It did temporarily get increased due to a dip and i felt so much better but they decreased it again saying it was a temporary dip and was back to normal levels, despite me saying i felt so much better. I suffer with bouts of depression, excessive dry skin, dry mouth, poor memory and fatigue.

[shaws Administrator in reply to Lollyp0p]

All blood tests for thyroid hormones have to be at the very earliest and fasting (you can drink water) . If yours is later make another appointment.

Also, allow a gap of 24hours between last dose of levo and test and take afterwards.

This helps keep TSH at its highest as that's all doctors look at and adjust dose according to the TSH which may cause symptoms for patient.

Are you aware that, daily, whenever you take your dose of levo. Usually it is first thing on an empty stomach with one full glass of water and wait an hour before eating. Food can interfere with the uptake.

Some prefer a bedtime dose, therefore allow a gap of 2 to 3 hours after a meal before taking dose. If having a blood test next a.m. miss night dose and take after test and night dose as usual.

[Lollyp0p in reply to shaws]

Oh my gosh that was so informative, why does your gp not tell u these things.

Thanku so much.x

[shaws Administrator in reply to Lollyp0p]

It is because they seem to know nothing more than to look at the TSH and if it somewhere in the range (up to 5) they will say you're on sufficient hormones and refuse to increase dose.

Also, the aim is a TSH of 1 or lower. They don't know that either. Free T4 and Free T3 should be in the upper part of the ranges. They don't know that either, it seems to me. as they are rarely tested. Levothyroxine is an inactive hormone - it's job is to convert to T3 and we have millions of T3 receptor cells that need T3 in them (heart and brain need the most) in order for our body to function normally i.e. that we feel well and have no symptoms.

Also all our vitamins/minerals, B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin have to be optimal, i.e. near the top of the range. Ask for these next time you have a blood test and always make your appointment about 6 weeks ahead in case there are no early appointments left when next blood draw is due.

I hope I didn't scare you

Always ask for a copy/print-out of your results every time. For your own records and you can post if you have a query for members' comments.

[shaws Administrator in reply to Lollyp0p]

Also early a.m. and fasting can make the difference of being diagnosed or not. If on thyroid hormone replacements can avoid a reduction in your dose.

[jgelliss in reply to Lollyp0p]

It's good to keep a copy of all your lab results and write on the results your thyroid dose at the time . Keep it for future references .

[Kes8]

Thing is there I think if a thousand people on here wrote about weight loss each one would have a different way they have done or are doing it.

You really have to find what works for you.

Calorie counting worked for me until the thyroid issues and now am steadily (If not slowly) losing weight my improving thyroid functioning as much as I can and eating max 65-80g of carbohydrate a day.

But as I say this works for me but might not work for you.

[Lollyp0p in reply to Kes8]

Hi thanku for that. Do u feel your weight loss is slow due to your thyroid?

[shaws Administrator in reply to Lollyp0p]

Unexplained weight gain is one of the commonest questions on the forum. It is due to being on an insufficient dose of levo or other thyroid hormones that do not increase our metabolism.

As our dose is increased (it has to be done slowly i.e. every six weeks until TSH is 1 or lower weight should reduce.

[MaisieGray]

Apologies if you are aware of all this, but the frustrating thing to remember is that very calorie-restrictive eating is actually counterproductive in terms of weight loss and effective metabolism (making it a vicious circle of course). One particular study allowed one group to consume 400 kcal/day for 8 weeks and then gradually return to 1200 kcal/day diet. A second group consumed 1200 kcal/day for the entire 18 weeks. Differences in weight losses between the groups were statistically significant during the consumption of the very low calorie diet - serum T3 decreased by as much as 66% and rT3 increased by as much as 27%. T3 increased when the low calorie group were realimented with the higher calorie balanced diet but remained a significant 22% below baseline at the end of the study. The other group also showed marked reductions in T3, up to 40%. Too restrictive a diet can lead to nutritional deficiencies of course, but in addition, it raises cortisol levels, further hindering the fat loss process and redistributing more fat to your belly. So as counterintuitive as it feels, with hypothyroidism where weight gain is an associated problem, we have to eat more than we might otherwise feel we "should" to mitigate the counterproductive reduction in T3/increase in RT3.

[Lollyp0p in reply to MaisieGray]

Thankyou for your informative length reply.

Ive been advised by my gp to have 1400 cals a day.

[SilverAvocado in reply to MaisieGray]

Wow, 1200 calories is a pretty restrictive diet in itself. Strange to see that treated as the high calorie condition!

[MaisieGray in reply to SilverAvocado]

Hi SilverAvocado It wasn't considered the high calorie alternative to the very low calorie diet. Rather it was considered the higher of the two; but not in and of itself, high. If memory serves me correct, that option was a balanced deficit diet designed in some way, to keep the body in a deficit zone of intake calories and calories that are actually consumed, so definitely not high calorie. But I don't know any more about it than that.

[hjh88 in reply to MaisieGray]

Hi MaisieGray, I don’t suppose you have the name of this study or a link to it at all please? I would be very interested to read!

[shaws Administrator]

Levothyroxine can cause weight gain and I'll give you a link/explanation:

restartmed.com/levothyroxin...

[Lollyp0p in reply to shaws]

Wow..that left me speechless! So basically every gp.out there expects you to be 100% happy and healthy for the tablets to work! Whose life is that!!x

[shaws Administrator in reply to Lollyp0p]

They seem to have no knowledge of how the thyroid gland works and that we need - if hypo (slow) - a dose which has sufficient T3 (converted from T4).