Hypothyroidsim

Hello group, I am a revision from lap band to sleeve 07/11.  I was doing pretty well up until the last two months.  I was feeling extremely tired.  I went to my doctor and she ran some labs.  My labs showed that I have an underactive thyroid.  I started Levoxyl 50mg about a month ago, but I have scheduled to see my doctor next week because I have put on about 8 pounds.  I know that I will probably need to get my dose adjusted probably to 100 mg.  But this is very frustrating, I do not see myself overeating and the pounds are coming on.  Has anyone had a similar experience?  Any suggestions?  Don’t get me wrong, I am glad to be made aware that my extreme tiredness was an actual medical condition that is treatable, but the thought of gaining weight over this is stressing me out.. 

Thanks,

Santos Bronx, New York

Hi, I'm so sorry you are going through this, and so glad you got diagnosed.  My husband was diagnosed 3 years ago, after gaining 30 pounds and being exhausted for months. 

After he started meds, he was able to drop the weight.  He's military and was given a weight waiver that allowed him 6 months to get it off, which he did. 

After being on meds for a couple of years, he found he was still very tired.  Then a doctor friend of ours told us to read this book (I'll post a link).  Through this book, he learned that there are several tests that you can get to make sure you are really taking the correct meds.  From what he learned, he was able to demand a few more tests, and learned he needed a combo of two meds to feel good.  I highly recommend you read this book so that you can learn about your hypothyroidism, and as a result, your doctor will listen to you better.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_6_29?url=search-alias %3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=what+your+doctor+may+not+tell+y ou+about+hypothyroidism&sprefix=what+your+doctor+may+not+tel l%2Cstripbooks%2C272

Don't worry, treating your hypothyroidism will make losing the extra weight easier.  After starting meds, my husband had no problem dropping that 30 pounds.  It literally fell off of him.

Thank you so much:) I will make sure I read the book..

I ordered the book, I look forward in having it delivered in the next week or so.  Thanks again for your help.

Regards,

Santos

Awesome!!!  You will be armed with knowledge!

You would be surprised how many men are low on Testosterone too. It is a simple blood test you can ask for. Once you are stabilized for your thyroid, if you need Testosterone, that can be added. My husband felt so much better getting supplemented with it and lost weight too as his activity went way up and his general feeling of well-being. Good luck and stick with it and demand answers until you feel on top of the world again!

Low testosterone...  OMG, I have been on intramuscular injection for low testosterone for about five years.  When I weighed 355 lbs it was so easy for me to inject myself.  Now that I lost the weight I have to have my partner inject me in the muscles in my butt.  I am no longer able to use the muscles in my arm to inject myself because that injection is pretty long and it has to go into the muscle, which through the weigh loss I have lost a lot of muscles too.  So yes by all means all of those things are related.  That and I am getting older :(  lol..

Thanks,

Santos

I'm hypothyroid, currently stabilized on 75 mcg of levothyroxine. About 2 years ago, I put on 7 lbs very rapidly with no change in eating. Possibly this is when my borderline hypothyroidism went over the edge? It was another year before it was diagnosed and a while after that before I started meds. During that time, I didn't gain any additional weight, but I couldn't lose the 7 lbs either. Since I've been on meds, I've been able to take off 5 lbs. I can't say that I'm positive that either the weight gain or loss is due to the thyroid, but I'm glad to have the extra weight off again! Good luck!

Lizanne

Thanks for sharing.  It could very well be that you caught the problem at an early stage and you had it addressed before it caused any damage. 

Regards,

Santos

What were your labs?  TSH? fT4? fT3?

Make sure they don't try to medicate you based on TSH alone. It is a pituitary hormone, not a thyroid hormone.  It does not measure your thyroid function or absorption of thyroid hormone into the cells. It measures the levels of thyroid hormone in the pituitary where they are acted upon by a different set of deodinase enzymes than those which work in your cells and liver.

The thyroid produces primarily T4 which is an inactive transport horomone. It has to be converted into T3, the active hormone.  You can be deficient in production of T4 or have poor conversion of T4 to T3 or both.  T4 supplementation is preferred because has a half life of 6-7 days whereas T3 is less than one day. You get fewer peaks and valleys' however, if you aren't converting properly you will not get the benefits.  Weightloss  in itself supresses conversion of T4 to T3, and you may need to take a combo T4/T3 pill rather than T4 alone. Also, low ferritin is associated with poor conversion. 

I take .175mg of Levoxyl, but I have no thyroid function at all.  Mine was knocked out with radioactive iodine almost 20 years ago.  You really have to push endocrinologists. They can be very dogmatic, and half the time they leave everything to their PA's who are even MORE dogmatic.  The American Association of Clinical Endocrinogists came out 10 years ago saying TSH above 3 is hypothyroid, and doctors STILL tell patients they are fine at levels of 4-4.5.   

Your TSH should be 1-2, your fT4 and fT3 should both be within the normal range. If your fT3 is low, you are hypothyroid at the cellular level which is where it actually matters.