I had gained about 60 lbs. before a doctor saw the need for meds.(levothyroxine) I quit smoking and went throught menopause before this.. I have enlarged gland as well as nodules. The printout from pharmacy says don't take with nodules but doc recommends.I recently had an episode of allergy after taking an antibiotic containing flouride. It felt as if my throid had enlarged about 3x. I read that the throid absorbs the floride. Be cardul. I have not had much success doing WW but cutting sugar and starches helps. Going to read my South Beach again. Hoping this helps. I need much more energy to get me where I need to be. Sleeping much too much.
Well...its great to know that others with hypothyroidism cant just easily lose the weight (by that statement I don't actually mean it's good), my Endo keeps telling me that if my levels are ok, I should have no problems loosing weight...but it's not that easy for me.
What have you guys done to lose weight? I see a couple are on South Beach...anything else??
I totally know what you mean! My endo says that since my meds are at a high dose, this should help me lose weight and this miracle hasn't happened! I just realize that I need to move more to increase my metabolism. (or at least that's my goal!)
Hi I have Hashimotos too. I was diagnosed in 2009 and it took a couple of years to figure out the right mess to stop my blood level fluctuations. I think it does make it difficult to lose weight and my skin is dry and I do get tired. What I do notice is that if I forget my mess a day ( it happens very little these days) that my thyroid swells and is really uncomfortable, almost like a weighty pulling sensation, especially if I bend over
I have Hashimoto's. I was diagnosed a year ago, after a multi-year battle to find a doctor who would listen to me when I said I had all the hypo symptoms. (They were going by outdated lab standards for what's "normal" and refused to believe me.) Well, by the time I found someone who'd listen to me my TSH was at hypo levels, regardless of what lab standards you went by. I had been exhausted during the day but experiencing insomnia at night for years, had a lot of trouble losing weight, and all my systems felt sluggish (particularly digestive). Tests showed I was hypo and had the high antibody count that meant Hashimoto's, plus some thyroid nodules and a generally inflamed thyroid gland.
My doctor put me on Levothyroxine, and after 6 months upped the dosage to 50gcm. I now only need 8 hours of sleep to feel rested. I can fall asleep within 30 min of going to bed at night, as opposed to the 1-2 hours it used to take. I am more...er...."regular"---digestive system actually seems to work now. And as far as weight loss goes....
It's difficult to say whether my weight loss has been due to my meds or my somewhat nutso diet and exercise routine. I have not lost weight at a consistent rate--it tends to go for long plateau periods and then suddenly another 5-10lb just sort of falls off. I've lost 40lb since 12/2015 (about 1.5 years ago) and I've only been on thyroid meds for about 9 of those months. The first year I lost 30lb, simply hiking once a week and doing 20 min of cardio twice a week. I ate 1300-1500 calories on weekdays and about 2000 on weekend days.
Then, around 10/2016, I decided I wanted to be fit as well as lose the weight, so I started running 1.5 miles 3 days a week, running 5 miles 2 days a week, hiking every Saturday and going on a long walk at the beach on Sundays. (The hikes I do, btw, are real hikes, not walks. We're talking 5-8 hours of hiking, and it's not because I'm slow.) I have not upped my food intake at all. My weight plateaued for a couple months because I was putting on a lot of muscle, and then my doctor upped my Levo dosage and the plateau seemed to end around that time.
So, I can't say for sure going on thyroid meds will help with the weight loss. What I will say is it DOES make diet and exercise so, SO much easier when you're not physically exhausted and sleep-deprived all the time. The sleep quality alone has made me feel so much better, and it's why I'm able to exercise the way I do. Before I got on meds in the first place I used to wonder why my fellow hikers could get in continuously better shape for climbing mountains than I could. Before, they seemed to get stronger and stronger while my energy level didn't budge. Now I do harder and harder hikes, at a faster pace, and am very sure those are the direct results of taking Levo.
I still feel I am not losing weight as fast as someone with a completely normal thyroid would. 40lb in 1.5 years is not exactly a fast loss. I have about 30 more pounds to go before I reach my goal weight, and the prospect of having to wait another 9+ months to not feel fat after having already waited 1.5 years is daunting. I'll just keep plugging along, though. I want my old body back!
Last edited by happyTrails; 07-17-2017 at 05:02 PM.
I was diagnosed about 10 years ago with Hashi's after going several years w/o a diagnosis and in misery for quite a while. I also have a couple of other autoimmune disorders and am diabetic.
My docs say my labs are all normal now, but I still feel like crud. I'm about to do something similar to the autoimmune paleo to see if that helps me to feel better.
Losing weight is a yo-yo. Up and down, and VERY slow. Weight loss with Hashi's is not impossible though. I'm down 90 or so pounds since 2014.
It sounds like most of you are being dosed based on the useless TSH test. Ask your doctor to do the Free T3 and Free T4 test and come armed with info from “Stop The Thyroid Madness” on how to read the results. If your doctor won’t do it, find a new doctor. As for diet, many thyroid patients are gluten intolerant. I am. But use an elimination diet to figure out it you also have other food issues. For me, I am having success with a gluten free diet combined with 16:8 intermittent fasting, walking 10,000 steps a day, 15 minutes of weights 3 times a week and a lot of water (1/2 ounce per pound). 35 pounds down so far after years of NOTHING working even though my thyroid meds were right.
I am so sorry... I went through the same!, but it took me 10 years for my doctor to take me seriously! he always said that I should eat less, make more exercise and I just keep getting depress because nothing what I did worked... Of course! because I had a Tyrol issue! after 10 years without sleep with 10 kilos more, finally I found a doctor who help me to put my thyroid under control.. I took anyhow at least 2 years to reach a healthy weight...
Because I train heavy lifting I have won at leat 5 kg of muscle, but my body looks amazing! ( even do I am not a size s) but I feel great which is the most important for me!
just have patience and stick to your thyroid medication, eat healthy and make little step, and celebrate each little step!
Here, too.
. I have enlarged gland as well as nodules. The printout from pharmacy says don't take with nodules but doc recommends.I recently had an episode of allergy after taking an antibiotic containing flouride. It felt as if my throid had enlarged about 3x. I read that the throid absorbs the floride. Be cardul. I have not had much success doing WW but cutting sugar and starches helps. Going to read my South Beach again. 
Hoping this helps.
I need much more energy to get me where I need to be. Sleeping much too much.
I have Hashimotos too. I was diagnosed in 2009 and it took a couple of years to figure out the right mess to stop my blood level fluctuations. I think it does make it difficult to lose weight and my skin is dry and I do get tired. What I do notice is that if I forget my mess a day ( it happens very little these days) that my thyroid swells and is really uncomfortable, almost like a weighty pulling sensation, especially if I bend over
