Levothyroxin weight loss

[Karenjb1970]

I have been taking 50mcg of levothyroxin for 3 months. I exercise regularly and try not to snack, but the weight is not coming off. My main exercise is the mini stepper. Is there something I should be doing differently for losing weight?

[RUBYT1976]

Have you had your thyroid levels checked recently? If so, what are they at with the 50mcg dose? If you are not at optimal levels you may still struggle to lose weight.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Karenjb1970

If you only started Levo 3 months ago after diagnosis of hypothyroidism, it's very early days in your thyroid journey. It can take many months to find the right dose where your hormone levels become optimal and you feel well. Also you need good levels of T3 to be able to loose weight. You should have had a retest 6 weeks after starting Levo, an increase in dose of 25mcg, then retesting/increasing every 6-8 weeks until your levels are where they need to be for you to feel well.

When on Levo only, the aim of a treated hypo patient generally is for TSH to be 1 or lower with FT4 and FT3 in the upper part of their ranges if that is where you feel well.

Normal thyroid tests when on Levo are TSH, FT4 and FT3. Many doctors only do TSH and adjust dose of Levo by that result, which is completely wrong as TSH isn't a thyroid hormone (it's a signal from the pituitary for the thyroid to produce more hormone if it detects there's not enough). FT4 and FT3 are the thyroid hormones. T4 is a prohormone which converts to T3 which is the active hormone that every cell in our bodies need. Some doctors do test TSH and FT4 but very few include FT3, but it is essential to also test that to know if you are optimally medicated and converting T4 to T3 well enough. There are hundreds of us here who can't get it done through our doctors, so we do a full thyroid panel privately with one of our recommended labs.

[Karenjb1970 in reply to SeasideSusie]

My most recent tsh level is 3.660 down from 6.070 in december. Next week, I get rechecked for tsh levels. My Dr is only checking tsh for now basing my meds on that level.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Karenjb1970]

Once it gets down to around 1 you will need your FT4 and FT3 tested to see how you are converting T4 to T3, that's when you'll know if you are optimally medicated.

When posting your new results, please include the reference ranges as they vary from lab to lab and we will need them to be able to interpret your results.

[Karenjb1970 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you. I was told it is in the normal range, but Dr feels it was too high. I will report my results after the 24th.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Have you had bloods retested since started on Levothyroxine?

First thing is, do you have any actual blood test results? if not will need to get hold of copies.

You are legally entitled to printed copies of your blood test results and ranges.

UK GP practices are supposed to offer online access for blood test results. Ring and ask if this is available and apply to do so if possible, if it is you may need "enhanced access" to see blood results.

In reality many GP surgeries do not have blood test results online yet

Alternatively ring receptionist and request printed copies of results. Allow couple of days and then go and pick up.

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also extremely important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if Thyroid antibodies are raised

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting. Last Levothyroxine dose should be 24 hours prior to test, (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw). This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)

50mcg Levothyroxine is only a starter dose. Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after each dose change. Levothyroxine is increased slowly in 25mcg steps until TSH is around one and FT4 in top third of range

Ask GP to test vitamins and antibodies if not been done yet