wt loss after RAI seems impossible ...help

[Melanie63]

i am looking for RAI patients .... three mo post i put on 70 lbs and can NOT lose it ...Please reply with any suggestions

thank you so much

Melanie

[Lora7again]

Have you looked at Elaine Moore's site? She had RAI and there is a lot of useful information on there.

elaine-moore.com/

[SlowDragon Administrator]

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 are poor converter of levothyroxine into active Ft3

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)

Many people after RAI need the addition of small doses of T3 alongside levothyroxine

Getting FULL thyroid and vitamin testing is first step

Strictly gluten free diet often helps or is essential for thousands of Graves’ disease patients

[fuchsia-pink]

Do treat yourself to the full testing SlowDragon recommends.

I've found it impossible to lose weight unless free T3 and free T4 are nice and high in range and nutrients good. After that - some people do well on the 5:2 - I lost a bit then it stopped. Some do well on keto. I do the intermittent fasting thing where you eat everything in a restricted time window [in my case between mid-day and 7pm] - haven't lost weight but weight is stable, which is half the battle, and after more than 2 years, it's a way of life.

To lose weight, you must eat proper food, stop all the naughty things (cakes, crisps, booze - you know the drill) - and I need to restrict white carbs. Don't do the diet shakes - they contain soy, which you really don't want - that also rules out most ready-meals too! Good luck x

[pennyannie]

Hello Melanie and welcome to the forum :

It is known that after RAI hypothyroidism is more difficult to treat :

It is known that after RAI your vitamins and minerals can have been " trashed " :

Your feedback loop is now broken and the conventional way of monitoring and dose adjusting your thyroid hormone replacement on just a TSH and possibly a T4 blood test result is not appropriate.

It is essential that you are dosed and minitored on T3 and T4 blood test results with the aim being to maintain both these vital hormones, balanced and in the upper quadrant of the ranges.

If you are taking just T4 thyroid hormone replacement, this needs to be converted by your body into T3 which is the active hormone that the body runs on. T3 is said to be about 4 times more powerful than T4 and read the average person uses about 50 T3 daily just to function.

No thyroid hormone replacement works well if your vitamins and minerals, especially ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D are not maintained at optimal levels.

Conversion of T4 into T3 can also be compromised by inflamation, ageing, dieting, and also if you are dealing with any physiological stress, either emotionally or physically.

A fully functioning working thyroid would be supporting you on a daily basis with approximately 100 T4 + 10 T3 - so as you will see if being treated with just T4 you have lost that little bit of T3 that your thyroid naturally supported you with, and in reality, if on monotherapy with T4 you have been down regulated by abour 20% of your overall well being.

Why did you have RAI thyroid ablation ? Do you have Graves Disease ?

Do you have any blood tests to share and what medications are you currently taking ?

If with Graves Disease you might like to dip into the Elaine Moore Graves Disease Foundation website:

I'm with Graves post RAI thyroid ablation in 2005 and now self medicate as I found no help nor understanding of my continued ill health after this RAI treatment.