hi, this is my second post regarding under active thyroid & trying to get a straight answer for loosing the weight. Was given lots of advice from your members & advised to get full bloods done, saw GP & she did all bloods, results are on here now, asked about the weight & still couldn’t get a straight answer, point blank refuses to prescribe NDT or anything else other than thyroxine! Will not refer me to endocrinology (not sure why) but has sent them questions on my behalf. All I want help with is the weight pls, thanks in advance x.
You probably didn't get a straight answer because there is no straight answer. And, to be honest, I'm not really sure what your questions is from the above post.
Are you asking how to lose weight when hypo? First of all, you have to optimise your thyroid hormone levels. And that in itself is complicated enough because there's no one level that is optimal for everyone: we're all different. But, I would say that your FT3 is on the low side, and I would be very surprised if you could lose weight at that level.
Secondly, is your weight-gain due to fat or water-retention? If it's water-retention, as it usually is in hypos, it's far more difficult to lose than fat-weight. It has nothing to do with diet or exercise, But, you do need to be optimally medicated and have all your nutrients optimised.
There are various methods people have found that help, like intermitant fasting, or keto. And, you have to try things to find out if they work for you. And, frankly, there's not much else anyone can say except to suggest what worked for them. As I said, there are no straight answers. And, you certainly wouldn't get one for your GP, because whatever they pretend, doctors know nothing about dieting or nutrition or that sort of thing. And a lot of them even deny that being hypo can make you put on weight!
As to the endo, your GP probably refused to refer you because she knows that the endo would probably not agree to see you, anyway. They are diabetes specialists and don't particularly like thyroid patients/problems. They consider that GPs ought to be able to deal with that. I'm generalising, of course. But that's the way things usually are.
Get TSH, Ft4 and Ft3 tested privately in few weeks
Always test early morning, ideally just before 9am, only drink water between waking and test…..and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test
Meanwhile work on improving low folate by taking a daily vitamin B complex instead of separate B12
Ferritin is too low
Look at increasing iron rich foods in your diet
High thyroid antibodies confirms autoimmune thyroid disease also called Hashimoto’s
You need coeliac blood test BEFORE trailing strictly gluten free diet
Hashimoto's affects the gut and leads to low stomach acid and then low vitamin levels
Low vitamin levels affect Thyroid hormone working
Poor gut function can lead leaky gut (literally holes in gut wall) this can cause food intolerances. Most common by far is gluten. Dairy is second most common.
A trial of strictly gluten free diet is always worth doing
Only 5% of Hashimoto’s patients test positive for coeliac but a further 81% of Hashimoto’s patients who try gluten free diet find noticeable or significant improvement or find it’s essential
A strictly gluten free diet helps or is essential due to gluten intolerance (no test available) or due to leaky gut and gluten causing molecular mimicry (see Amy Myers link)
Changing to a strictly gluten free diet may help reduce symptoms, help gut heal and may slowly lower TPO antibodies
While still eating high gluten diet ask GP for coeliac blood test first or buy test online for under £20, just to rule it out first
Assuming test is negative you can immediately go on strictly gluten free diet
(If test is positive you will need to remain on high gluten diet until endoscopy, maximum 6 weeks wait officially)
Trying gluten free diet for 3-6 months. If no noticeable improvement then reintroduce gluten and see if symptoms get worse
The predominance of Hashimoto thyroiditis represents an interesting finding, since it has been indirectly confirmed by an Italian study, showing that autoimmune thyroid disease is a risk factor for the evolution towards NCGS in a group of patients with minimal duodenal inflammation. On these bases, an autoimmune stigma in NCGS is strongly supported
In summary, whereas it is not yet clear whether a gluten free diet can prevent autoimmune diseases, it is worth mentioning that HT patients with or without CD benefit from a diet low in gluten as far as the progression and the potential disease complications are concerned
Despite the fact that 5-10% of patients have Celiac disease, in my experience and in the experience of many other physicians, at least 80% + of patients with Hashimoto's who go gluten-free notice a reduction in their symptoms almost immediately.
Similarly few months later consider trying dairy free too. Approx 50-60% find dairy free beneficial and can help with weight loss
I don’t have an answer but in my thyroid-less experience the moment you go to a doctor about thyroid and your weight troubles your doomed this includes the Endo they just can’t wrap their hamster brains around thyroid problems and weight and they look at you like you trying to get more thyroid “drugs” like your a junkie… its crazy but I don’t even mention my weight troubles to them anymore it just stresses me out and solves nothing.
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