hi all, this is my 3rd post this week but everyone is so so helpful it’s really refreshing to be able to ask questions to people who understand!!
This one is about exercise.
So, I’ve been running for 15 years, I began running to help my anxiety which is absolutely did. I recently ran a marathon and since then haven’t felt well (shortly after the marathon was my diagnosis for subclinical hypo/hashis)
My question is, I still suffer with extreme anxiety and exercise/running is one of the only things to help that - however I am still in the process of adjusting my dose of levo to feel well (only recently started 100mcg) due to symptoms.
It’s a hard pill to swallow (mind the pun) to give up exercise and running all together, the GP (of course) said continue running as much as you like, but I’ve read other things about how running can really set you back with hypothyroidism.
does anyone have any advice or experience?
Please no negative or scary stories I’m already anxious enough as it is
Thank you! X x
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I was a keen x country runner but found that I couldn’t run as long/ hard until thyroid medication and key vitamins were optimised. I swapped to walking/ pilates until levels improved. My energy levels are now back to normal but (more recently) have had to swap running for spinning due to knee issues. I fully understand how exercise can help with anxiety but (from experience) know over doing it can actually spike anxiety.
'all or nothing' is probably not the right way to look at the question of exercise.
i'd say it's more a case of ~ perfectly good idea to continue some regular sustainable exercise in a way that is supportive for good function of the body / mind ,,,as opposed to pushing the body to it's limits and beyond being a pretty bad idea at the moment .
regular gentle run down the prom/ an hour of tai chi practice / or a little swim every morning ~ absolutely fine, if it suits you.
pushing yourself to beat personal bests ~ not at the moment .
aiming to do about 50% ~75% of your capacity and making yourself stop slightly before you want to ..... good
keeping going till you reach your limit and beyond .... not at the moment.
I was very sporty and athletic when I was younger, swimming, gymnastics, dance etc., I even taught sport classes when I was a student. This did change around a year before I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, as I did not have much energy to do sports. I was also very anxious around the time of diagnosis, coupled with stress at the workplace. I took up T'ai Chi classes, which are great, slow exercises and which helped me enormously.
Over the years, I added yoga and Qi Gong exercises but for a long time vigorous exercises were out of the question, as I just did not have the energy to do them. I had a very bad incident, when my GP lowered my levothyroxine level by 12.5 mcg due to the suppressed TSH (T4 and T3 within the range) and I could not do much and felt very depressed about that, as I was always an active and positive person. I went back on my previous dose and on advice from here also optimised my vitamins and minerals and felt much much better since.
I slowly started to increase my walking around 4 years ago (up to 3-4 miles a day) and have increased my yoga routine (2-3 times a week). I also do cardio exercise (bike) but I do not trash myself, just making sure the pulse gets a bit higher and my heart rate goes up, but it is at a max around 80% of the max for my age, usually lower. If I go too high, I really do not feel well.
My anxiety levels have really come down with the exercise, but the greatest impact was being on the right levothyroxine dose again, taking Magnesium & Vit B complex and having a very good level of Vitamin D (currently 126 nmol/L).
I have learned over the years that I need to be kind to myself, I do not have the stamina I had 30 years ago; yes, it is an age thing but also perhaps a hypothyroid thing, and I have accepted that I just cannot do everything that I could do before. But there is always a solution and I had to find the things that work for me and make me feel good. And believe me, being able to hold some of those challenging yoga poses gives me a really good endorphin kick!
Be kind to yourself and perhaps if one path has closed for now, another path may open and you might find something that gives you as much pleasure (or even more!) than your previous activity. And once your levels of hormone and vitamins have been optimised, that first path may open up again - you never know. Keep going - there is a light at the end of the tunnel!
No worries, glad I could perhaps put things a bit more into perspective. There is always a way, and I am sure you will be able to find yours. 👍
I am taking Magnesium citrate in form of a powder (from Peak Supps), which I mix into juice (a bit gritty but works for me), there are also Magnesium citrate capsules on Amazon, but watch out for the 'buffered' preparations, as they contain Magnesium oxide, which we cannot absorb well. Mg citrate can be laxative in some people, but it works well for me as I am a bit 'slow' in that department. 😉
There are also Magnesium glycinate and taurate preparations, which have a good bioavailability and they have been shown to help with anxiety levels. These can also be sourced on Amazon. Make sure though you look at the ingredient list, as many have fillers and additives, which are not so good.
Hypothyroidism is the result of having a slowed metabolism caused by a thyroid Auto Immune disease and or as a result of having had definitive treatment and lost your thyroid for one reason or another.
A slowed metabolism will cause some slow down of your physical and / or mental capacity and can cause a multitude of symptoms as the thyroid is much like the body's gear box and synchronises the sum of your parts - from your physical ability and stamina through to your mental, emotional, psychological and spiritual well being, including your inner central heating system and your metabolism - and symptoms of hypothyroidism can effect all parts of your body - both the inside and outside from the top of your head down to your toes.
Anxiety is a very common thyroid symptom though rarely picked up as thyroid - as anti depressants are more lucrative to prescribe and seen as a quick fix - as treating thyroid health issues are complex and very rarely the quick fix patients and mainstream medical like deal in.
At the end of the day if there is enough T3 circulating in your body and getting into your cells - you will be neither hyperthyroid nor hypothyroid - and just well - and take for wanted your health and well being.
Too much T3 circulating in your blood stream may cause symptoms of anxiousness - just as too little T3 circulating in your bloodstream can cause - the aim is find where in the range your T3 needs to sit to alleviate the symptoms be tolerated.
Whatever your level of T3 - it will be expended quicker with exercise - and we also need enough T3 to repair, restore and regenerate the body o/night - ready for whatever the next day throws your way -
so until optimally medicated with thyroid hormone replacement you could be actually be creating a diminishing return for yourself - it's a bit like a catch 22 - running out of energy before the day is over and demanding more of your thyroid that is becoming further disabled and struggling to keep up with all you need and want to do.
With a faster / or slowed metabolism the body struggles to extract key nutrients from your food no matter how well and clean you eat - so in order to keep a strong core - ready to support your body as best it can - we do need optimal levels of ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D run and we can advise where best these need to sit -
Being in a NHS range is not optimal -
all this means is that the NHS does not need to offer you a prescription -
some ranges are too wide to even be sensible and being in range is just the first step as you'll likely find hypothyroid symptoms within the lower / middle end of the ranges - and where in that range best suits the individual is down to the patient who is living with symptoms
I think I saw your diagnosis one of Hashimoto's - you might like to start reading around on this patient to patient where you'll probably find many forum members follow the research and suggestions of Dr Izabella Wentz who writes as thyroidpharmacist.com
That is so educational thank you so much! I really do think that until I’m optimally medicated I need to admit to myself I can’t run right now. It does tend to cause a ‘hangover type’ feeling for the following days and could last for a week or longer. It’s such a frustrating situation because I love the endorphins from exercise! The GP has actually just increased my Sertraline (antidepressant) so it’s interesting you say that. I actually feel worse on the higher dose than I did on the lower one x
It will take a while until you feel better, even when you had an increase. Based on your last results you were quite under-medicated and really needed the increase, and it might mean that you might need a further increase of levo until you feel better.
Especially lower T3 can worse symptoms of anxiety and it zapps your energy levels too. A normal replacement dose for adults is around 1.6 mcg levothyroxine per kg of weight, rounded to the nearest 25 mcg. Some people might need more, some are okay with less - it is a rough guide but documented in the NICE guidance:
For example, I weigh 58kg, so that would mean according to the guidance I need 92.8 mcg levothyroxine. I take 100 mcg per day and any lower dose will cause me symptoms.
Ok - so it does take some time building up ferritin -
I couldn't tolerate the NHS tablets so purchased an iron bisglycinate supplement which was much kinder on my stomach and started eating liver once a week as well as incorporating iron rich foods.into my diet -
Now I'm able maintain my ferritin with a fortnightly tub of frozen chicken livers which I make into a pate and keep in the fridge in an old jam-jar and take a spoonful a day with a dollop of Helman's.Mayo to help this medicine go down.
Likely you will not ‘feel the benefit’ of the 25mcg increase for a few more weeks. Remember to retest levels 6-8 weeks after being on a consistent dose (and share with us, so we can offer further advice/ support)
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