Thiroid hormone and hunger

[Sonson_son66]

Hi everyone, I am strugling with thiroid gland since 4 years ago. I am taking the replacement hormone everyday the issue is it makes me hungery.Also vitamins causes hunger and leads me to overeat.is there any advice? I totaly lost my energy!

[greygoose]

Who said you're over-eating? Could be that, now, you are just eating a normal amount (for you) whereas before, you weren't eating enough. Being hypo often lowers appetite. A hypo needs more calories than average because everything is that much more difficult, and a lot of your calories will be used up simply in converting your levo - a storage hormone - to T3, the active hormone, that gives you energy.

If you need to eat, eat, I say. Food is a necessity, not an indulgence.

[Sonson_son66 in reply to greygoose]

Thanks for your reply. I know that becsuse I am puting on weight😭

[greygoose in reply to Sonson_son66]

I expect you're putting on weight because you're hypo! A lot of us do. But, very often it's water-weight, not fat. So, nothing to do with how much you eat.

[Sonson_son66 in reply to greygoose]

thanks soooooo much.

[greygoose in reply to Sonson_son66]

You're welcome.

[DeeD123 in reply to Sonson_son66]

Do you know what your blood results are by any chance. It might help you to find out. X

[Sonson_son66 in reply to DeeD123]

I will check that..Thank you so much.

[Hidden in reply to Sonson_son66]

This is a vicious circle when hypo...you are told by doctors to eat fewer calories to lose weight, but when you lower your calorie intake your metabolism also decreases as a result...making you gain even more weight. I agree you should not be afraid to eat until you feel full. Also, for weight loss you need optimal metabolism with requires optimal free Ts (especially free T3 is important) as well as optimal vitamin and mineral levels. Since being diagnosed with hypothyroidism I have noticed that I can no longer lose weight by cutting calories, instead, it makes me gain weight. So Weight Watchers and similar methods are no longer an option for me. I have also noticed that I need a fair amount of carbs (it would seem it´s important for T4 to T3 conversion) and good fats such as ghee, coconut oil, and olive oil.

Sorry if I am getting somewhat off track, but please don´t feel discouraged!

[Sonson_son66 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks alot.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

How much levothyroxine are you currently taking Do you always get same brand levothyroxine at each prescription

What vitamin supplements are you currently taking

Do you have Hashimoto’s, if yes are you on strictly gluten free diet

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 at least annually

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

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)

If/when also on T3, make sure to take last third or quarter of daily dose 8-12 hours prior to test, even if this means adjusting time or splitting of dose day before test

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 antibodies and vitamins

medichecks.com/products/adv...

Thriva Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins By DIY fingerpick test

thriva.co/tests/thyroid-test

Thriva also offer just vitamin testing

Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes antibodies, cortisol and vitamins by DIY fingerprick test

bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

If you can get GP to test vitamins and antibodies then cheapest option for just TSH, FT4 and FT3

£29 (via NHS private service ) and 10% off down to £26.10 if go on thyroid uk for code

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

monitormyhealth.org.uk/

NHS easy postal kit vitamin D test £29 via

vitamindtest.org.uk

Come back with new post once you get results

[Sonson_son66 in reply to SlowDragon]

thank you so much . That's really helpful.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Sonson_son66]

guidelines on dose levothyroxine by weight

Even if we frequently don’t start on full replacement dose, most people need to increase levothyroxine dose slowly upwards in 25mcg steps (retesting 6-8 weeks after each increase) until eventually on, or near full replacement dose

NICE guidelines on full replacement dose

nice.org.uk/guidance/ng145/...

1.3.6

Consider starting levothyroxine at a dosage of 1.6 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day (rounded to the nearest 25 micrograms) for adults under 65 with primary hypothyroidism and no history of cardiovascular disease.

Also here

cks.nice.org.uk/topics/hypo...

gp-update.co.uk/Latest-Upda...

Traditionally we have tended to start patients on a low dose of levothyroxine and titrate it up over a period of months. RCT evidence suggests that for the majority of patients this is not necessary and may waste resources.

For patients aged >60y or with ischaemic heart disease, start levothyroxine at 25–50μg daily and titrate up every 3 to 6 weeks as tolerated.

For ALL other patients start at full replacement dose. For most this will equate to 1.6 μg/kg/day (approximately 100μg for a 60kg woman and 125μg for a 75kg man).

If you are starting treatment for subclinical hypothyroidism, this article advises starting at a dose close to the full treatment dose on the basis that it is difficult to assess symptom response unless a therapeutic dose has been trialled.

BMJ also clear on dose required

bmj.com/content/368/bmj.m41

bestpractice.bmj.com/topics...