Weight gain

[JC61]

Hi

I’m looking for some advise on diets / exercise to follow I’m at my wits end with the weight issues 😔 any help gratefully appreciated

[SlowDragon Administrator]

First thing is are you correctly medicated?

When were thyroid and vitamin levels last tested

How much levothyroxine are you currently taking

Do you always get same brand?

What vitamin supplements are you currently taking

Weight gain is often indicator of not being correctly treated

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 you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) diagnosed by raised Thyroid antibodies

Ask GP to test vitamin levels

You may need to get full Thyroid testing privately as NHS refuses to test TG antibodies if TPO antibodies are negative

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)

Is this how you do your tests?

Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins

List of private testing options

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin

medichecks.com/products/thy...

Medichecks often have special offers, if order on Thursdays

Thriva Thyroid plus vitamins

thriva.co/tests/thyroid-test

Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes vitamins

bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

Add results and ranges if you have them, or come back with new post once you get results

[fuchsia-pink]

I replied to something similar a couple of days ago ...

It's miserable, isn't it? And very frustrating when people say "just eat less and move more and the weight will drop off". Because it doesn't.

In my experience you have zero chance of losing weight unless you are optimally medicated. As SlowDragon says above, that means you need to have regular blood checks, to ensure your levo is at the right dose; and to test your key nutrients - ferritin, folate, vit D and B12 - as your levo works best when these are nice and high.

Just testing TSH, or TSH and free T4 isn't good enough. You need free T3 testing as well - at the same time - to see how well you convert.

Don't be tempted into diet shakes - they contain soy which is no good if you're under-active. I do the intermittent fasting thing where you eat all your calories within a restricted window - in my case between mid-day and 7pm, and my weight is stable. I have to go down to OMAD (one meal a day) to lose - but then my blood pressure goes very low. Try to minimise "empty calories" - booze, fizzy drinks, crisps, biscuits etc, and cook fresh from scratch with plenty of protein and veg and minimal carbs. None of this is easy!