Losing weight, I’m new to all this

[Chaz87]

Anyone on here experience extreme weight loss, I am on 50 Lev and have spells where I lose a lot of weight. I am a slim person by nature anyway and don’t tend to gain weight with my under active thyroid, I go the other way and lose it. I wasn’t born with the condition, I contracted it after the birth of my first child and will always have it.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Majority of hypothyroid patients gain weight, but a significant number of patients struggle to maintain or gain weight

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. This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)

Last Levothyroxine dose should be 24 hours prior to test, (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).

50mcg is only a starter dose. Being under medicated can be reason for weight loss

Gluten intolerance or coeliac is extremely common

Ask for coeliac blood test while still eating high gluten diet

Do you have your most recent blood test results and ranges you can add

Private tests are available. Thousands on here forced to do this as NHS often refuses to test FT3 or antibodies or all vitamins

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have special offers, Medichecks usually have offers on Thursdays, Blue Horizon its more random

Medichecks currently have an offer on until end of May - 20% off

thyroiduk.org.uk/index.html

If antibodies are high this is Hashimoto's, (also known by medics here in UK more commonly as autoimmune thyroid disease).

About 90% of all hypothyroidism in Uk is due to Hashimoto's.

Low vitamins are especially common with Hashimoto's. Food intolerances are very common too, especially gluten. So it's important to get TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested at least once .

[Chaz87 in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you for your reply I am getting bloods done next week and I will get a copy and post on here. I’m pretty clueless about my thyroid disorder, and I have it 9 years. My dose has been 50 and 75 throughout them years. I don’t know if this is relevant but after giving birth i lose a lot of weight too, not sure why that is either.

I am seeing my GP in the middle of June so I’ll see if he can do full tests and Vitiam check. All good advice as I’ve been wanting to find out more lately as to be honest I always thought I had an overactive thyroid as I never had problems with weight.

[AnneEvo in reply to Chaz87]

I don't have a problem with my weight, though I haven't actually lost any weight since starting on levo. I too lost weight when I had my kids though. Sorry I know it doesn't really help.

[Hormone-hell]

Hi,

I just wanted to let you know I lost over 2 stone in a few weeks when I became very hypo and the doctors were convinced I was hyper.

My weight has fluctuated ever since but now my levels are nowhere near as bad as as when I was diagnosed and my vitamin levels are much improved, I have managed to put on some weight.

I am sorry I can't offer any better advice as I am still trying to untangle my own poor health but I just wanted to let you know I have lost weight being hypo too.

A lot of my family members are also hypo and they too did not put on a lot of weight when they were hypo.

[Chaz87 in reply to Hormone-hell]

I really appreciate your reply all comments welcome and it’s good to hear similar stories. I’m just confused lately with it. Also interested in when you all got a diagnosis x

[Hormone-hell in reply to Chaz87]

No problem, I understand how frustrating it is! Hopefully when you get your next blood test it might shed some light.

When you say you are interested in when we all got a diagnosis, do you mean what age we were diagnosed?

If so, everyone in my family has been diagnosed before the age of 30.

If you mean if they were diagnosed after childbirth like yourself, only 1 out of over 7 of us was diagnosed after pregnancy.

[Chaz87 in reply to Hormone-hell]

Yeah what age, any particular reason. I’m the only one in my family that has it, I never heard of it until I got it. I was diagnosed at 22 after childbirth x

[Hormone-hell in reply to Chaz87]

Ah I see! I am not too sure of the reasons but it seems my family have some endocrine defects that run in the family as nearly everyone has some sort of endocrine disease.

You never know, you might not be the only one in your family, ai have family members who I think may have undiagnosed thyroid disease.

But also it might just be that pregnancy could trigged Hashimotos or uncovered it, a lot of people on here have had post-partum thyroiditis, has this been investigated? I wish it wasn't so difficult for us to understand the cause of our thyroid issues! X

[Batty1 in reply to Hormone-hell]

Hypo and losing weight....my dream

[Kitten44 in reply to Batty1]

And mine!

[Muffy]

My daughter, who was always slim, lost masses of weight. She was told by her university gp, she would be fat if she had hypothyroidism, but that isn’t always true, many, mNy patients lose weight. 50mcg is just a starting dose and yet For years you have been on 50 and 75mcg. You need an FT3 test not T3. May be with, if you can, seeing a different gp. Make sure your blood is drawn very early in the day and don’t take your thyroxine for 24 hrs before.

[HLAB35]

I expect that you are being undertreated because of your low weight... Yet you need your thyroid levels to be good in order for your gut to work. You may not be retaining water very well due to low electrolytes; despite your low weight you could still be accruing bad cholesterol due to untertreatment, so this should be tested; your liver could be struggling so you cannot utilise fats you eat; low stomach acid makes it difficult to digest protein.... basically food seems to be passing straight on through.

I recommend that you get iron, b12, folate and vitamin d tested along with a full thyroid panel, bone and liver function tests and come back here to post results.

[san_ray70]

I always thought an under active thyroid made it harder to lose weight, it did for me, recently after joining S.W. I have lost 1 and a half stone, as I am 70 I am not sure how much more I want to lose. If your weight loss is through your thyroid have you told your doctor?