Hi all,
I have put on about 1.5 stone in a year despite no discernible difference to my diet 
I am on 1.5 grains of Armour Thyroid and 40mcg of T3 but due to have a blood test next Thursday. It is all around my stomach and I look distended like 9 months pregnant. Has anyone had this due to Hashis?
Z
Looking at previous posts
Vitamin levels were poor a year ago
Are you still gluten and lactose free
Is your NDT lactose free
Very important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 at least once year minimum
Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially with autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto’s or Ord’s thyroiditis)
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
On T3 or NDT - day before test split daily dose into 3 smaller doses, spread through the day at approx 8 hour intervals, taking last dose 8-12 hours before test
Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or all relevant vitamins
List of private testing options
thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...
Medichecks Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins
medichecks.com/products/adv...
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...
NHS easy postal kit vitamin D test £29 via
Thank you. Do vitamin levels affect weight and metabolism then? I am gluten free but have introduced some lactose in cheese (not milk).
Hi
You aren't menopausal or perimenopausal are you? A lot of women find they put weight on, especially around the middle when they approach the change. Stress is another factor, high cortisol can lead to abdominal fat storage. As can poor sleep.
It's also worth checking any other medications if you take any, some meds can lead to weight gain. Also are you as active as normal. A lot of people have put on weight in the last 18 months due to lockdowns.
Hi there, still regular monthlies so don't think perimenopausal? Yes active as normal but have had laringytis so no swimming for a month but otherwise yes. x
Perimenopause happens at around age 35 - that is when your progesterone levels start dropping so you end up with more estrogen relative to progesterone. You can still have regular periods for years.
Hello Zoechai:
Considering the average person needs around 50 T3 - just to function I can't help thinking you may have trouble absorbing the thyroid hormone replacement.
As I understand it with Hashimoto's AI disease there is the risk of leaky gut and first and foremost the stomach lining needs to be restored in order to absorb and utilise fully the medication, and food intolerances also have eradicated with the likely culprits being gluten, dairy and wheat and processed foods.
Dr Izabella Wentz has Hashimoto's and written and researched widely on this subject.
No thyroid hormone replacement works well until your ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D are up and maintained at optimal levels - and everywhere I have read suggests ferritin needs to be over 70 , though I prefer 100, for optimal support.
My ferritin is 26... low? Do get ferritin up, do you take iron supplements?
Do vitamin levels affect weight and metabolism then?
Yes, certainly some of them do - Iron for example. See this thread and watch the video :
I would first ask your doctor to run a full iron panel to establish where all your levels are and if it is just the ferritin that is low - supplements can be prescribed or bought over the counter.
Just quickly looking back at this thread I see you have PCOS - so there are other issues
going on as well
Are you still under the care of an endocrinologist, have you found a dose of thyroid hormone replacement that suits you ?
I don't have PCOS. Not sure what it is actually. But I'm going to do another full iron and vitamin profile. Where can you find out about the right levels for a full iron profile. Any ideas?
Oh, sorry - I thought I read you had this additional health issue, apologies.
Alongside every blood test result comes a range and the doctor is obliged to treat if any of your results come outside the range and / or if advised the doctor runs further investigations.
If you had the tests done privately I presume you would still get a set of results and ranges which, if advised, you could then take to your doctor to ask for NHS help.
It is possible that the OP is on too little T4 for her needs - after all, 1.5 grains of Armour contain only 50 mcg of T4. So the T4/T3 balance may be wrong for her needs.In my experience, weight gain mainly in the abdominal area is often caused by insulin resistance, too much cortisol, and/or estrogen dominance. Hypo-related weight gain seems to be more evenly spread all over the body, whereas increased belly fat is often a sign of insulin/cortisol/estrogen imbalances.
Thank you so much for comments. My endo had actually put me on 3 grains of Armour Thyroid but since I had had such a bad experience with Levo I was wary of too much T4. However actually it looks like he might have been right. I will phase out the T3 and just go with the Armour. I will also look into insulin resistance as I have PCOS as well so likely to be a factor. Oh the joys!
I think this is an excellent article by a doctor who really knew how to treat thyroid disease:
tpauk.com/main/article/how-...
As you can see, he says that some people need to be on T3 only permanently. Depending on why your experience with levo was so bad, you could belong to that category. Or you may be one of those people who, once on T3, only need a tiny amount of T4 and mostly T3 (however, in that case, Armour may not be the most cost-effective option as it contains 80% T4). But what I am wondering is: how do you know you need T4 at all?
If your problem with levo was poor T4 to T3 conversion, that should have improved with the addition of +/- 50 mcg T3 daily.
Hi
PCOS weight gain is often linked to insulin resistance. A low carb diet might be worth a try. I lost a lot of weight by cutting out bread, rice pasta and sugar. I don't have PCOS but a lot of people struggle with high blood sugar levels and stubborn weight gain due to eating carbs.
Hypothyroid- GP stopped my t3- and I've put on over 3 stone! 
Half a Thyroid better than none?
Case report: Rhabdomyolysis and kidney injury in a statin-treated hypothyroid patient-kill two birds with one stone
A Year on Thyroxine
Medichecks shows abnormalities - what do I do now?
