Good Evening,
I was recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer and had my thyroid removed last year along with a round of radiation. I’m 37 and find it extremely difficult to lose weight. I am now intermittent fasting (16:8) and on a keto diet and feel more bloated and tired then ever. I exercise about 60 minutes a day six days a week. I guess I am tired of not seeing result!! Any suggestions would be extremely helpful!!
Thank you!
Molly
First step is to get FULL Thyroid and vitamin testing to see if you're on correct level of thyroid hormones replacement
How much Levothyroxine are you currently taking?
Do you always get same brand of Levothyroxine?
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.
The best way to get access to current and historic blood test results is to register for online access to your medical record and blood test results
UK GP practices are supposed to offer everyone 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 tested. Also EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12
Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if you have low FT3
Ask GP to test vitamin levels
Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water .
Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood 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)
Private tests are available. Thousands on here forced to do this as NHS often refuses to test FT3 or antibodies
thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...
For thyroid including antibodies and vitamins
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
Cheapest option for just TSH, FT4 and FT3 £29 (via NHS private service )
monitormyhealth.org.uk/thyr...
Full replacement dose of Levothyroxine is approximately 1.6mcg per kilo of your weight. Is that roughly how much you are taking?
Naturally your own thyroid use to make 80% T4 (Levothyroxine is T4) but importantly it also made 10-20% T3
Many people after thyroidectomy need the addition of small dose of T3 alongside Levothyroxine
20% Patients with no thyroid can not regain full health on just Levothyroxine
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
Getting vitamins optimal can help improve conversion of FT4 to FT3
Over exercising will be lowering your FT3
Until levels are properly balanced you may need to cut back on intense exercise, instead try walking, yoga etc
Poor gut function suggests low FT3
Add results and ranges if you have any
Or come back with new post once you get tested
Wow! Extremely helpful thank you for putting the time into this response!
I’m active duty military and I fear my care is not the best, due to my insurance. But here’s what I know:
I weigh 146lbs and I’m on 88mcg of levothyroxine and 10mcg of Cytomel. I am severely vitamin D deficient. What confuses me is some of my girlfriends have thyroid issues and they still have a thyroid and they are on higher dosages of levothyroxine which makes no sense to me (the person without the thyroid).
I will get my labs and report back with more questions if you don’t mind!!
Many on here are on Levothyroxine plus T3
The difficulty when on addition of small dose of T3, TSH almost always goes very low (suppressed) and that's ALL the medics look at
The most important results are FT3 followed by FT4
So on T3 you can have very low TSH but still not be on high enough dose of Levothyroxine/T3
Important to get tested at correct time of day leaving correct gap between last dose Levothyroxine and T3
Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water .
Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood 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)
If/when also on T3, make sure to take last dose 8-12 hours prior to test, even if this means adjusting time or splitting of dose day before test
Canadian Thyroid association on Low TSH
thyroidpatients.ca/rational...
Low FT3
thyroidpatients.ca/2019/12/...
thyroidpatients.ca/2019/12/...
How low was vitamin D?
A multivitamin will definitely NOT provide enough vitamin D
GP will only prescribe to bring vitamin D up to 50nmol.
Aiming to improve vitamin D by self supplementing to at least 80nmol and around 100nmol may be better .
Once you Improve level, very likely you will need on going maintenance dose to keep it there.
Test twice yearly via
Vitamin D mouth spray by Better You is good as avoids poor gut function.
It's trial and error what dose each person needs.
Local CCG guidelines show dose required depending how deficient you were
clinox.info/clinical-suppor...
Government recommends everyone supplement October to April
gov.uk/government/news/phe-...
When on higher dose vitamin D it is likely you may need Magnesium supplements
betterbones.com/bone-nutrit...
medicalnewstoday.com/articl...
livescience.com/61866-magne...
sciencedaily.com/releases/2...
Important to also test B12, folate and ferritin
Jeez SlowDragon, nailing your responses!! All this not considered and I’m writing this all down. Thank you for your support.
I definitely have some research ahead of me and now know where to start!
Thank you, seriously!!
We all help each other on here.
Like many others, I only finally made progress after fantastic help from this forum.
A fully functioning working thyroid would be supporting you daily with approximately 100 T4 + 10 T3 - with T3 said to be about 4 x more powerful than T4.
It doesn't make sense, I agree, when you know of people, with thyroids, on a larger dose of thyroid medication than oneself.
Once with the blood tests, it will hopefully make some sense.
I had thyroidectomy for cancer treated through US military treatment facility and my health has declined over these past 3 yrs and your CORRECT it's not good healthcare. I have worked with a nutritionalist and I exercised every stinking day and cut back calories during my first 2 yrs after my thyroidectomy and nothing helped I still gained weight (very slow) but steady and sadly after 2 yrs of fighting this weight my health took a nose dive again as I developed Psoriatic Arthritis so couch bound is what took over for exercise, pain is at times unbearable.
If you find any relevant information about thyroidectomy and weightloss please post it.
Hello Molly
Can you please furnish us with more details ?
What medication are you taking ?
The loss of one's thyroid can create a myriad of symptoms, one of which is metabolism and weight maintenance, and to receive a considered reply we do need a fuller picture of where you are now with regard to medication, current blood test results and symptoms.
Hi pennyannie,
Thank you for the quick reply. I currently weigh 146 pounds and I am taking 88mcgs of levothyroxine and 10 mcgs of Cytomel every morning. And I’m severely vitamin D deficient but I take a multivitamin to cover that. I was doing just fine until about two months ago with starting a new job and stressing more, but I can’t seem to loose weight and this bloating has never happened. I’m blaming age and crappy genetics. 🤷♀️ what I am doing differently is eating less and fasting and exercising more to try to shed pounds but it seems to be working in the reverse.
Thank you!
A multi-vitamin is no good ... you need to take vitamin D spray. I use it every day and I just spray it on my tongue. This time of the year in the UK a lot of people have low vitamin D. When I was first diagnosed mine was 7 and my hair was dropping out and I felt very ill. Read my story on my profile page.
Thanks Lora, do I just get this spray over the counter? Or do you need a prescription?
How low was your vitamin D?
This one also contains vitamin K2 mk7 (helps make bones stronger)
amazon.co.uk/BetterYou-Dlux...
Vitamin K2 mk7
Hey there,
Glad to read that at least you are taking T3 and T4 - many of us on this site are in the UK and struggling on with just T4 after a thyroidectomy.
I think living without a thyroid needs a slightly different " mindset " - you've identified stress and changing jobs - and this may have just shifted your equilibrium.
Vitamins and minerals need to be kept at optimal levels for thyroid hormone replacement to work effectively.
Organise a full blood test as already detailed and then post the results back on here and people better able than myself will be able to fully answer your question.
Janey,
Thank you for the advice. Interesting though because I’ve been on the same dose of levothyroxine and Cytomel for a year now and it’s been fine. It’s just so interesting that when I began fasting more intensely ( 2 months ago) I’ve become more bloated and now have gained 15lbs from working out and eating better. Ugh I hate this!
Makes zero sense to me. I’m so frustrated! You would think eating clean and working out would be good for you.
Hi, my daughter been through the same this year, her health is not good after thyroid removal, anything that has helped you, all ideas she will give a try. Thanks
Katbar, everyone is different. But what has helped me is a very strict diet with no gluten and no dairy minus the creamer that I put in my coffee. I also try to move my body daily, whether that’s some sort of cardio like walking, running or lifting weights. Also, labs every 3 months is a good idea.
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