Help!

[scatterby]

New here - I have been hypothyroid for about 9 years - am currently on 150mcg Levothyroxine a day (which I have now switched to taking at night after reading some posts).

Can somebody tell me why I can't lose weight - I'm getting really frustrating, have gone on slimming world diet, doing lots of exercise (have been all along, but upped it a bit). I feel lethergic and tired a lot of the time, but blood tests okay. I have suffered with severe anxiety over the last 9 years (is this connected) and have taken anti-depressants on and off (off at the moment).

My GP is excellent when it comes to mental health, etc., but I think when it comes to hypothyroidism, she's the same as any other!!

I also had fertility issues and was lucky enough to have two children by IVF, but is that also a side effect?

[nostoneunturned]

Who told you blood tests were OK? Your doctor? You are entitled to copies of all blood tests, just ask for them. Then post on here all results plus reference ranges (figures in brackets) as labs ranges differ. From these results deductions can be made about whether you are undermedicated, etc.

It is unlikely IVF has a connection to your symptoms. Severe anxiety is linked to thyroid problems so is being lethargic and tired.

We look forward to your blood test results.

[shaws]

Many female problems are due to underactive thyroid which aren't remedied due to the reliance on the TSH blood test for a diagnosis. These are usually corrected when on optimum medication.

If you can get a current thyroid gland blood test from your GP incuding Vit B12, Vit D, ferritin, folate and iron and post the results here complete with the ranges and someone will comment.

This is a link which is informative about many facets of thyroid gland problems.

web.archive.org/web/2010122...

[greygoose]

As to the weight, read here :

thyroiduk.healthunlocked.co...

[greygoose in reply to greygoose]

And here :

thyroiduk.healthunlocked.co...

[scatterby]

Oh thanks - I will ring GPs and get the blood test results - I know I won't understand them, but hoping somebody here will!

Thanks

[Hashi_since_age9-1988]

What is optimum and what is normal are 2 different things. the normal range goes up to 4.5 but having a 'normal' TSH of 4.5 might not give you optimum health. You would probably feel better with a lower TSH. I find 0.5 is good.

[scatterby in reply to Hashi_since_age9-1988]

Do you achieve that by medication?

[Hashi_since_age9-1988 in reply to scatterby]

yes if you have a thyroid problem your TSH will depend on how much thyroid hormone you take. The most important thing to realise is that the normal range is too wide (the doctors have it wrong), anything above 2 is not ideal. And also if you are on just thyroxine this is not simulating what the thyroid does in the normal situation. A healthy thyroid also produces a little T3 so for optimum health you should also take a little T3 eg 5-10ug. But if the doctor refuses this you can compensate for the lack of T3 by taking slightly more T4 and keeping your TSH low ie below 1.

Thyroid levels also affect fertility so if your levels weren't optimum that could make it difficult to conceive. Doctors are also supposed to automatically increase your thyroxine by 25-50ug as soon as you become pregnant. But if a doctor doesn't know his stuff he might not do this.