Weight gain with under active thyroid. Am I forever fat?

[Wetwashing00]

This weight gain is seriously depressing me. I made the mistake of weighing myself after a swim and I’m 4 stone overweight.
All the summer clothes I bought last year no longer fit so I’ve had to buy new ones.
My partner is also still making uncaring comments and I catch him grimacing behind my back when I’m getting dressed. My last blood test showed my TSH was 4.96, still high but almost in range. I’ve come down from 83. Had a blood test yesterday and still waiting on the results but I’ve definately felt better the last 6 weeks, still not perfect though.
I live a fairly active lifestyle, my job is very active and I also do the running around after kids. We swim, walk go to parks etc.. but I don’t go to the gym as I find after all of this I’m just still too knackered. My partner thinks going to the gym will be the fix it for the weight problem. We have always eaten healthy with good
Portion control so I can’t see a way to change my diet without starving myself. I’m already playing with recipes to plan going 100 % gluten free and I haven’t eaten dairy in 3 years.

Does anyone have any successful weight loss stories with under active thyroid? What did you do to change your diet/exercise? Would adding t3 help my occasional shitty symptoms & help me lose weight?

I need a magic pill!

Also wanted to add that my doctor almost laughed at me when I asked if I will start to lose weight once my TSH gets in range. His response was : No

Tow things here:

(1) your doctor is an idiot, but you;d probably worked that out already and
(2) with a TSH of nearly 5, you have a long way to go until you're properly medicated and the weight won't come off until you (a) get to that point and (b) work at it.

All is not lost, though, but it will take time. I put on three stone in two years and managed to get two of them off once I got to 150mcgs of thyroxine. I;m just in the normal BMI range now.

I have a long way to go? My doctor said I’m almost in range and should start feeling better soon.
It’s really disheartening

The range is not narrow enough! Everything I see here suggests that a TSH above 2 ish shows that your thyroid is beginning to struggle / struggling. People can display symptoms at that level.

With medication I understand your TSH should be below 1.

I'm afraid I'm not an expert on levels etc but you will get lots of good advice on here! I have underactive thyroid and am on 150mg of levothyroxine. I put on 3 stone while sorting diagnosis etc 5 years. I've had another pregnancy since then as well. I've lost 4 stone since October and am comfortably back in my pre children/ diagnosis clothes.

I had similar fears to you when I started trying to lose weight, that it just wouldn't shift, but it really has. I've done this using MFP and tracking everything I eat, sticking to a low calorie diet and reducing carbs although I still eat them in moderation! I remember feeling desolate when I was first diagnosed that my body would be like that forever, but please don't feel you have to give up. It can be done!

Agree with poster above though, it won't happen until your levels are at a suitable point, and for me this took well over a year of retesting and medication tweaks. 150 has been the magic number for me!

It's not just the being anywhere in the range: it's finding where within the range works for you. Poor DH (overactive thyroid) spent ages feeling poorly and not himself, being he told he should because he was within the range, until a wonderful GP told him he needed to listen to his body and experiment a little with dose to get himself at the level equivalent to his previous natural state.

Your TSH is way too high for someone on thyroid medication, and should ideally be nearer 1 - not something doctors will necessarily agree with, they often think “in range” is great. Whilst you are still so hypo, it can be nigh on impossible to lose weight. Doing lots of exercise can also be pretty detrimental to someone who hasn’t got their thyroid condition sorted.

And yes, I do speak from bitter experience – years of battling doctors who continually told me that all my symptoms were not thyroid-related. I took control of my own health, addressed my already-healthy diet with the help of a nutritionist, and also changed my thyroid medication (added T3 to my levothyroxine). I lost nearly 4 stone. I also got my life back.

You can only know for sure if you need T3 by getting your T3 level tested, something most GPs won’t agree to. If you can’t persuade yours to test it and, if you can afford it, you can easily get it done privately.

I hope you get your levels sorted. I had bloods taken yesterday as suspected hypothyroid. I've gained half a stone since Christmas and hate it as now at the edge of a healthy weight. My diet and exercise levels haven't changed so I was baffled but when I started adding up the flu-like aches in my legs when doing my every day exercise (walking including lots of big hills), the thinning hair, dry skin, cracked heels, feeling cold, feeling down, cramps, constipation and indigestion I had a lightbulb moment. My GP reassured me they would treat me even if the bloods were borderline because I'm symptomatic. She was really nice about it all.

I’m still waiting for the doctor to call to discuss it.
I’m Still having more symptom free days which I’m hoping will last. I’ve felt less bloated recently but maybe due to me cutting down on gluten.

Unless you are coeliac then cutting out gluten isn't the issue. It could be IBS causing the bloating so look into the low FODMAP diet. It's the fructans in things like bread that cause bloating rather than the gluten.

I’m on 200mcg a day (Graves disease but permanently under active following radioactive iodine treatment) and have also got PCOS and am Coeliac . I’m also 4 stone overweight but have lost 2 since January and am trying really hard at the moment to shift it! I think that’s the tricky thing - it seems to be much harder work for me to lose or maintain a stable weight and soooo much easier for me to put it on...

Dp and I both joined slimming world in January and one example is that when we had a week off in March, we both went ‘off plan’ and ate/drank more - but pretty much the same as each other. She put on 1.5lb that week and I put on 4.5lb... .

So, we’re back on plan now and I’m losing a steady 1-2lb a week as long as I’m very mindful of what I’m eating. I would recommend joining SW - it’s a very sensible plan and does work if you stick at it!

What was your weight like before?
I was previously overweight for years until I joined slimming world. Got down to a healthy weight and loosely followed the plan for about 5 years just maintaining my weight. I then put 2 stone on suddenly without any changes to my diet. That’s how I I found out my thyroid was under active......Along with the tiredness etc. Once I got my levels correct (can’t remember what they were) the weight came off. Again with no changes to my diet. Im not a doctor but I believe you absolutely need to have your levels within range or it won’t shift. It’s really bloody hard when you know you’re eating well and it’s not coming off. But you just have to keep going at it. X

I’m 5ft 3 and was always a
Size 12. Between 10.5 / 11 stone.
I’m now a size 16 at 14 stone. I never seemed to shift the baby weight like I did last time, once he hit 18 months I started putting on more. My eating habits haven’t changed much since he was 1, except I don’t eat/drink milk/yogurt/cheese and I try to eat gluten free as much as I can. Not because of allergies but because it makes me feel less bloated/symptomatic.
A PP said something about gluten not being an issue, but I find it is. After reading that gluten has the same molecule mimicry as thyroid tissue, I would prefer not to eat it as much.im trying to limit the attack on my thyroid as much as I can. I seem to have more hypo symptoms when I eat a lot of it.

I received a letter in the post Friday about making a doctors appointment. But have I managed to book one yet?! NO!
I don’t have time to sit on the phone everyday from 8am. I’m either at work or getting kids ready for school.

@Wetwashing00

At my surgery they say 8am but I've been made aware that calling after midnight or at 7.30am also opens up some appointments, can you try that?

My surgery opens at 8 so I have the phone on speaker whilst doing my make up and getting dressed for the school run. Sometimes I've had to keep it on speaker for the first ten minutes of the walk to school but even if 7th in the queue I've only waited about 20 mins. Thank god for loud speakers! Alternatively go to the surgery on the day they open later after work and make an appointment. Or phone on your break. Or email the gp asking for an appointment because you're having trouble doing it via phone. Can you book online?

I’ve tried calling to book on my break or later in the day and all appointments have been taken.
I’ve then been told I have to wait till 8am the following day before I can start ringing again. If I try before 8am the phone is never picked up.

The appointments for that day will be gone but you should be able to book one for in the next week or two. Surgeries usually have book on the day and book in advance appointments. If it was impossible to get an appointment then no one would be able to. Explain you've had a letter to book an appointment when you phone up. If you don't get anywhere ask to speak to the practice manager and explain the situation.

I’ve done all of this already, calling at 8am is my only option.
Luckily I have a day off tomorrow to try again.

Meh... levels have gone up to 6.3.
Now on 125mcg a day

You are aiming for your TSH to be under 1 and your T4 and T3 to be in the upper part of their ranges. You should only do gentle exercise until your thyroid levels are optimal. Too much exercise depletes your T3 and can make you feel worse and possibly gain weight. Dieting is also not recommended until then either as your thyroid needs calories to work do it can be counterproductive. Eating healthily though and not overeating is obviously a good idea.

As mini says, you're no where near right yet.

This book does say most people need to be around 1 (an endo would even say some need to be completely suppressed) - show it to the gp and say as you're still symptomatic you'd like to try to get to 1 and reassess. It's BMA so 'kosher'!. www.amazon.co.uk/Thyroid-Disorders-Understanding-Family-Doctor/dp/1903474191

Also, always get your tests in the morning. Take that days thyroxine after the test. Get your tsh around or just below 1 and see how you are for a good 3-6 months. It will take time for your muscles to recover - muscle does waste if hypo or hyper so attempting exercise is pointless other than anything gentle and soothing eg floating in a pool for a bit. It's the equivalent of an endocrine chronic fatigue syndrome so you need to pace now and when tsh is good as it takes time to rebuild muscle/ strength/ stamina.

Weight is mostly water retention though when you don't do anywhere near as much due to exhaustion you can put in weight too. Some don't; I get terribly thin though have puffy ankles.

I hope you can get sorted - switch gps if you can!

Thank you for your replies, I’m just about to post a thread about copper toxicity from a copper coil. Do you think it would benefit me to have mine removed?

Never heard of that being an issue regarding thyroid but don't know if causes other issues.

Thought it had no hormones though? Oestrogen pills can interfere with thyroxine.

It’s to do with the copper it doesn’t have hormones