Still gaining weight?

[Pixipot]

I feel lighter, I have more energy, I'm not so tired as I used to be but why is my weight still a steady Increase and I'm being careful, I' just went up to 50mg of levothyroxine daily?

[Marz]

Do you have your latest results for your thyroid ? You are still on a low dose so it is possible your T3 is low in range. Was it tested ?

Lots of advice from SlowDragon in your earlier post - have another read. Your two posts are linked in as much as members cannot comment helpfully without more information.

[reelingenious]

If you "feel' lighter and have more energy. Are you losing fat? Are you doing more? You could be restoring muscle volume!! Muscle is heavier than fat. I'm just a sufferer NOT an expert!!

[SlowDragon Administrator]

You mean you had dose increased from 50mcg to 100mcg ?

[Pixipot in reply to SlowDragon]

25mgs to 50mgs

[SlowDragon Administrator]

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.

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.

Important to see exactly what has been tested and equally important what hasn’t been tested yet

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

Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after each dose increase

Levothyroxine should always be taken empty stomach and then nothing apart from water for at least an hour after

Many people take Levothyroxine soon after waking, but it may be more effective taken at bedtime

verywellhealth.com/best-tim...

Many people find Levothyroxine brands are not interchangeable.

Once you find a brand that suits you, best to make sure to only get that one at each prescription.

Watch out for brand change when dose is increased or at repeat prescription.

Many patients do NOT get on well with Teva brand of Levothyroxine. Though it is the only one for lactose intolerant patients. Teva is the only brand that makes 75mcg tablet. So if avoiding Teva for 75mcg dose ask for 25mcg to add to 50mcg or just extra 50mcg tablets to cut in half

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Teva poll

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

No other medication or supplements at same as Levothyroxine, leave at least 2 hour gap.

Some like calcium, magnesium, HRT, omeprazole or vitamin D should be four hours away

(Time gap doesn't apply to Vitamin D mouth spray)

[london81]

there are two reasons you are gaining weight- your metabolism is still too low because you are under medicated, therefore your body can’t possibly consider losing weight when it’s just trying to survive- as above you need full testing and post the ranges here for comment

alternatively IF your thyroid bloods and vitamins are all in range then your calories in are more than calories burnt.

try tracking your calories out and in ( i do this using fitbit and my fitness pal). if your fitbit is accurate then 500 calorie a day deficit should produce 1 pound a week weight loss. if you aren’t optimal on your thyroid and vitamin levels your body is likely not to lose fat, and your fitbit may well over estimate your daily calorie burn. for example- my fitbit tells me i burn 2800 a day ( i’m very active), but even optimally medicated i’m still burning slightly less than fitbit tells me ( around 200 calories a day), i work this out by tracking what i eat, and what deficit i need to create to lose one pound a week. it’s always a deficit of around 800

but it’s usually better to try and optimise your thyroid levels, and vitamins, before even looking at calorie tracking

[Lora7again]

50mcg is a starter dose and you will start to feel better once you are on a much higher established dose.

[Pixipot]

I was speaking to a thyroid specialist who said my thyroid levels have always been good its my pituitary gland in my brain thats behaving strange, this has threw me seemingly its not signalling to my thyroid to produce enough of something for my body which is making my body slow down but she's talking of taking me off thyroid meds altogether if this blood test shows the same as my weight has soared since I started on it.

[greygoose in reply to Pixipot]

She's talking about Central Hypothyroidism. Central hypo is when the problem comes from the pituitary (Secondary hypo) or the hypothalamus (Tertiary Hypo), rather than the thyroid itself (Primary Hypo).

Did she say why she suspected this? Did she say it when you were first diagnosed? What were your blood test results, do you know?

In Primary hypo, the TSH will be high and the FT4/3 will be low.

In Central hypo, the TSH will be low, or low normal and the FT4/3 low in range.

Were either of these scenarios yours when you were diagnosed?

But, if she thinks you have Central hypo, why is she considering taking you off levo? That makes no sense. But, we can only tell what's going on if you post your blood test results - preferably on diagnosis plus the latest result - with the ranges. You've been asking a lot of question, but giving us very little information to work with. And, this latest revelation raises more questions than it answers, I'm afraid.

[Pixipot in reply to greygoose]

Ok next test I'm at, I will write them down and the previous results too.

[greygoose in reply to Pixipot]

Much, much better and safer to ask for a print-out. You don't want any possibility of mistakes creeping in.