Weight gain !!

[Hippyhappy234]

Hi everyone

I am T3 only. I was doing very well on 50mcg until the manufacture of it stopped making it. I switched to tyrotex 2 x 150mcg but I didn’t like it & I started putting weight on.

Anyway I started taking T3 again 4 weeks as it came back in to production. I started at 50mcg & worked it up. I have literally put 4kg on in 2 weeks. I had an appointment at the GP 2 weeks ago where the nurse weighed me, I was 71kg.

Today I went to the GP & he weighed me after I told him I’m depressed about all the recent weight gain. I was 75kg! Even he was surprised.

The GP has ordered some bloods. They will check cortisol (I’m shocked at this. Only this morning I sent my adrenal stress profile back to Regenerus) so I feel like I’ve wasted a lot of money.

They will also check hormones (says hirsutism on the blood form) & free T3 & TSh.

My question is how long I do need to be at a T3 dose before I can do the bloods as I been experimenting with different doses recently. Today I’ve gone back to 50 mcg & will stay here

[shaws Administrator]

Could you have something called 'Thyroid Hormone Resistance"? People who have this condition need larger doses than normal but I doubt many medical personnel are aware of such a problem. I don't have a link but this is a copy:-

Thyroid Hormone Resistance

Latest Updates to drlowe.com

December 21, 2002 Question: Great site! My problem is a little different. Over the past three years my TSH readings have ranged from 5.05 to 6.93. However, I have no hypothyroid symptoms whatsoever. My weight has remained constant for over 30 years (I'm a 55-year-old male) and I run five miles nearly every day. As a precaution to an even higher TSH reading, I went on 25 mcg of Levoxyl (T4). What a mistake! Ive never felt right on thyroid medication (it makes me feel hyper) but even worse. My cholesterol, which normally is in the 170 to 180 range, shot up to 217, which, of course, is high. From what Ive read on your site, its not uncommon for cholesterol to elevate on a low dose of T4. You don't have to convince me that T4 isnt the way to go. My question is twofold: First, should I even concern myself with thyroid medication if I feel great with a TSH of 6? And Second, should I simply try a low dose of Armour? Thanks in advance.

Dr Lowe: Thanks for the compliment on our website. You didn't say whether the level of thyroid hormone in your blood is high-normal or high. If it is, you may have mild general resistance to thyroid hormone. In general resistance, most of the tissues of the body and brain, and perhaps all of them, are partially resistant to thyroid hormone. That is, the tissues don't respond as readily to thyroid hormone as do most other people's tissues. Because the patient's pituitary gland is partially resistant to thyroid hormone, it continues to secrete TSH until the blood level of thyroid hormone rises higher than normal. When the thyroid hormone level rises high enough, it begins to suppress the pituitary gland's production of TSH. As a result, the patient's TSH and thyroid hormone levels are either high-normal or high. Because the body tissues are also partially resistant, the high-normal blood level of thyroid hormone doesn't overstimulate them. So the person has normal metabolism and feels normal despite having fairly high TSH and thyroid hormone levels. I dont know whether this is applies to you, but it is a possible mechanism.

The thyroid hormone preparation you took, T4 alone, is an extremely poor test to see whether you might benefit from thyroid hormone therapy. Nonetheless, taking thyroid hormone may be of no value to you. I say this for several reasons: You're apparently healthy, feel well, and have no evidence of deficient thyroid hormone regulation of your tissues, such as high cholesterol. Its highly likely that your elevated cholesterol after starting to use Levoxyl resulted from the extremely small dose you were taking. That low a dose isn't likely to benefit anyone other than a very small pygmy. Moreover, you're correct the small dose may impede metabolism and cause abnormalities such as your high cholesterol.