does anyone else out there have a thyroid problem??

[justjulie]

hi,
i have a thyroid problem which ment i went from a nice weight of 55kgs to over 130kgs in about 8 months. i am on tablets for it and i eat really healthy ... i also do excerise EVERYDAY whith out fail sometimes up to 3 hrs.. but im still gaining weight not as fast as i was .. but i feel like im about to explode.. i know there are other ppl with a thyroid problem and i would like to find them and see if they can help me.. any advice would be helpfull thanks

[SmittenKitten]

Hi I have severe hypothyroidism, my thyroid doesn't work at all. The doctors believe I developed hypothyroidism when I was 5 or 6.

I was undiagnosed until I was 13 and so by then was very short & extremely overweight. It took a long time to get my levels in a good range and now I take 200mg of Oroxine a day. I am 153cm tall and currently weigh 82.8kg, my heaviest weight was 98.4kg 18months ago, and I have been slowly losing it, my lowest weight has been 77kg when I was sick. I hope to get down to 58kg which is on the edge of the healthy range for my height.

Once your levels are right your skin won't be as dry, your hair should stop falling out and you should have more energy. I used to be able to sleep all night & day - I really was that tired! It can take months to get your levels right so keep talking to your doctor if you are not seeing the results you and your doctor expected.

You will be given a dose of oroxine/thyroxine (or other brand) that gives you a "normal" metabolism. Because of this you may only lose 4 - 5kgs and then your body accepts the new metabolic rate as normal and you simply have to lose weight the hard way like everyone else. It seems unfair but the weight you gained whilst being undiagnosed will not be lost now you are taking medication, you will have to work it off with healthy exercise & nurtrition.

Some people report that having hypothyroidism makes it harder to lose weight, this is true if it is undiagnosed or not managed correctly. Assuming you get your medication levels right you will be able to lose weight like any other person - slowly & steadily. If you are taking your medication & exercising & eating well but you still find you are gaining weight or can't lose even a gram talk to your doctor, they may organise another bloodtest to make sure your medication is right.

Unfortunately it is not a magic weightloss pill Do not be tempted to take extra medication to speed up the weightloss! This can have a very damaging effect on your body! Higher risk of heart problems & osteoporosis are just two. If you are tempted look up the side effects of hyperthyroidism, this should put you right off the idea!

You will have to have bloodtests every few weeks to start with but once everything settles down you normally have a check up every 6 months. If you lose or gain a lot of weight you will need another bloodtest as this can affect the effectivness of your medication.

Don't consume soy products as these can interfere with your medication. This is debatable but some people believe you should take your medication 1hour before breakfast. There is a great thyroid website but i'm unsure if I can post it on here so please message me if you are interested.

Because of my height, weight & activity level I only need about 1400calories a day to be healthy & lose weight. I always ate healthy & exercised but still gained weight, even after checking my medication. It turned out I was eating about 1800calories a day and although it was healthy food it was causing me to gain weight. You can count your calories & work out how many your body requires on another website - again not sure if I can post the link.

If you have any questions at all, or would like to know more about my experiences please don't hesitate to ask.

[CronicBadger]

Yes, One of the my friend was facing this thyroid problem and he gained around 40 kg in 5 month and he is also feeling some depression due to this. Now he has joined some yoga class these days and we are hoping that there are some special type of breathing exercise which will thyroid problem. Lets see what will happen now, we are hoping for the best.

[justjulie]

oh wow i finally did it.. i went and got weighed today and for the 1st time in ages i not only didnt put on any weight but lost it.. its only a kilo but its a start.. i finally feel like all this hard work and the tablets are working.. im so proud of myself.. and i want to thnk other people on hear by my reading your stories it gave me the conviction not to give up.. you all trully are wonderfull

[ruwan]

well it very much depends on what kind of thyroid problem it is, i.e. underactive or overactive because an underactive thryoid will cause weight gain and an overactive one will cause you to lose weight. from what you have said sounds like an underactive thyroid. thyroid hormones controls your basal metabolic rate i.e. the speed of every reaction going on in your body and so if its underactive your bodys intake will be more relative to how much it uses, whcih is the problem its not using enough. unfortunately if its weight loss your want to achieve, there is only one thing that will help you and may have geuessed it, thyroxine from your doctor. the only other thing i could suggest is trying to increase iodine intake but i doubt even this will help.

[Elise86]

I have an over-active thyroid (Graves' Disease) and the only symptom I didn't get was weight loss. Go figure. No weight loss at all. I remain 40kgs over weight.

[summer_is_coming]

Thank god there are people out there like me.
I too have graves disease and have not experienced weight loss, although I'm
not huge I'm well over what I should be for my petit frame
I have an insane appetite that feels uncontrollable at times
I'm at my wits end with it ! I'm worried that I will gain even more now I'm receiving treatment
I know with all thyroid problems , over or under, it affects mood significantly , which complicates things if you're an emotional eater like me.
I'm here for you if anyone wants to inbox me , it's so hard to find anyone who understands / cares

[SuziW]

I have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimotos and Graves). I had suspected for years that my thyroid wasn't 'right' then about a year ago I was diagnosed hyperthyroid. I too didn't lose weight (I was actually gaining) - until it got really, really bad and then I dropped about 6 kilos, but it was all muscle. The body fat was still there and my arms were hanging, my legs were wrinkly and baggy and I was weak, shaky and just a mess. My heart rate was around 90 - 100 beats a minute when I woke up in the morning and a stroll on the beach had it at about 160 or 180 beats a minute for hours afterwords.

After lots of reading, I've resolved the hyperthyroid but back with my more normal 'hypo-thyroid' instead. That too is improving though with supplements and the GAPS diet which I'm on to heal my leaky gut.

That's the cause of Hashimotos and Graves for most people - leaky gut. It's what causes almost ALL autoimmune diseases, because the food particles are passing through undigested into the blood where the immune system sees them as invaders.

Thyroxine and other drugs won't cure your thyroid. For most thyroid sufferers, they won't even make you 'feel' normal. I don't take any drugs - haven't done for over 20 years (not even pain killers).

If you have thyroid disease, remove gluten from your diet at the very least - I've now removed all grains (corn for me was part of the problem also). Take a serious look at the GAPS diet - the results are amazing. Not weight loss results, but health results (for me anyway - I'm sure the weight loss will come once my body is healed).

Make sure your'e getting enough selenium (incredibly important for thyroid) - but be careful with iodine - if you have Hashimotos, it can make you swing to Graves (that's what happened to me - I was taking Lugols iodine for over a year).

Eat a 'clean' diet (stay away from processed food). Detox and get rid of the chemicals from your home - cleaning products and personal care products.

To lose weight over the long term, you have to change your lifestyle and support your body to make it healthy. I'm changed many, many things over the years and kept off 35kg for 20 years now (I still have about 15kg that I struggle with though).

I hope this helps.

[SuziW]

Oh - and avoid fluoride! Invest in a water filter that removes it from the water...

[fortyfour]

there is some dangerous advice here on this thread. It should be removed.

It is dangerous to take iodine if you have an underactive thyroid. It is also stupid to think that a diet can fix a hormone problem.If you have an underactive thyroid, you should be taking oroxine. It is the only thing that can regulate your hormone levels and with that resolve your other symptoms.

Of course if you are already overweight, you will not find all of a sudden that the weight will just drop off. You have to lose it the same way everyone else has to.

I also don't accept that one can put on 80kg in a short space of time due to this disease. The weight gain is due to unhealthy eating and lack of exercise.

Weight gain and other symptoms are usually slow to gather pace with the onset of this disease. So much so that you might not even realise you have a health problem. It is considered an insidious disease because of this.

A lot of obese people seem to hope and pray that their fatness is caused by this hormonal problem but really most of the weight is caused by unhealthy lifestyle choices. People need to face facts.