I'll preface this by saying my period started today!

I've often seen it in diet books that its laughable that your thyroid made you fat. Even on this board I see people putting hypothyroidism in the category with lazy people that eat too much. It comes across as a slap in the face to me to have an autoimmune condition that lowers your metabolism considered as laziness or the backhanded comments that you must eat like a pig.

I just wondered how you guys perceive this and deal with it.

LOL!

Its always men, usually young ones, that have metabolisms like furnaces. They lose weight easily so they figure everyone else is exactly like there, therefore they're cheaters or lazy. It ticks me off a bit, but I chock up their attitude to blissful ignorance.

I'd wish them my metabolism for a few months so they could understand.... in fact, I'd gladly trade metabolisms with them!

My understanding (because of my own medical issues) is that thyroid problems don't just make you fat, they cause other symptoms as well. These symptoms should be enough to take you off to the doctors for tests, and if necessary, medication. The medication will alleviate the other symptoms as well as putting your metabolism back on track. Of course you are left with the problem of getting rid of the excess weight that you may have put on prior to diagnosis. However once medication has been prescribed and is taken daily you should no longer continue to put on excess weight unless you are eating incorrectly.

If you think you have a thyroid problem get it treated. It can be life threatening.

I think you're right Nancy it is young guys in the war zone, then I read it and get all sensitive.

Alex the problem for is that it seems like my thyroid is only right when its in the real high normal range. For 2 years my hair was falling out, joint pain and weight gain but my thyroid was in the normal/low normal range, so I thought had arthritis and stress. I just haven't quite figured my own body out so maybe it isn't fair for me to blame it all on the doctor when the tests results are normal.

Hello nawchem - I really sympathise with you over this. I have to keep my dosage high enough to keep my on the high normal range. My body does not cope at all with a low normal range. I'm lucky I have a doctor who understands this and who keeps me in that range. It is 9 years since I started having thyroid problems so I do have a string of test results behind me and can see at what levels my body functions best.

Good luck with resolving your thyroid issues.

Just wanted to say "go get 'em". I was tested for the same symptoms--turned out to be something else.

(BUT! It's gonna be the Colts vs whoever beats the Pats for the Super Bowl! LOL)

It's all very well to say that after medication, you should stop gaining weight and just concentrate on taking the weight off, however it's never all that simple!
If you naturally have a high metabolic rate prior to the disease hitting, then off course you do put on weight once your thryoid goes out of whack. Once they start medicating you, they don't take into consideration how high your metabolic rate may have been before the illness - they simply medicate to a "medically" acceptable level - which may well be still quite low compared to where you where before.

So if you are lucky enough to have a doc who is willing to medicate to the high end of the scale - then you are one of the lucky ones!

I find it a lot harder to lose weight now than I ever did before I got sick, and I am by NO means a slacker. In fact my normal weekly training regime would probably be more than most people do in a month. I watch my diet and it all happens, but so much slower than it used to.

I put this down to being medicated to a significantly lower level than where I was before the illness, but thems the breaks!

Alex its so nice to be understood. It raises my confidence in approaching a doctor with my desire to be optimized, not just hitting the normal range of the test. Usul I think you said it just right. I never bothered looking at my test results at first so I didn't realize over the 2 years my thyroid levels were slowly falling.

I get frustrated that we're not looked at as superdieters or godesses. It seems like most hypos really work at their weight, god if you hit some stressful point in your life, or can't workout it just stinks.

Kuukuu the colts are amazing this year. Too bad the Patriots have all those injuries. Well Denver beat the Chargers and the Chargers beat the Patriots so...

Umm, well I get stroppy and start putting down URL's to thyroid pages and how it all works, whilst telling people that they seem very opinionated for one so young ....

Thats a good idea! I don't mind them not understanding but I just get so sick of those you eat too much and you don't exercise posts. Its sort of against the lowcarb philosophy (you ate the wrong food) and it sure isn't the whole picture for hypothyroid.

Nawchem, if these guys don't understand that there really is a valid medical reason for some people's weight problems, it's usually because they CAN'T. Unfortunately, as Nancy said, ignorance is bliss. It's also rampant, dangerous and prejudicial. As the wise man said, never argue with a pig. It wastes your time and annoys the pig.

(... the colts had better be phenomenal. The citizenry of Indy are footing the bill for their new stadium being built with new taxation. With a 7 cent restaurant tax on the dollar, we're hoping to purchase a nice superbowl trophy! LOL)

WEll I'd like to announce that I have lost three pounds this week ... Now I have meds it seems my body is getting back to normal.
If anyone says you're overweight because you're lazy and eat too much, send them to me.
I'll sort them out!

I haven;t lost anything in almost 6 weeks... but I'm assuming that's because my meds keep getting adjusted. I'm still on Atkins and not cheating so that's not it. Good news, I'm not gaining so if I maintain here for a while can live with it

As far as laziness goes.. When you don't feel good you don't feel like working out, plain and simple. It can be a major victory just getting out of bed and showering and doing normal every day things others do.

The meds do not always put you on the right track to increase metabolism. I would encourage everyone to read the book by Dr. Ken Blanchard, “What Your Dr. May Not Tell You About Hypothyroidism”. It really opened my eyes and at least got me feeling much better with 85% of my symptoms eliminated, except the weight and the occasional brain fog.

I have to agree with Usul, it is just not that easy. I too have been on meds for a while, and I am really struggling, I follow my diet, exercise and though I do not gain, I lose so slowly it is like not losing at all.

Many years ago when I first when on meds and low carbing I lost a lot, then a doc took me off my meds saying “you are fine, in normal range” no one should have put you on them in the first place.” And in threes years time I gained back every pound, plus some! Now I am back on meds and they have gone from .025 mcg to now 100mcg, and 15 mcg of Armour! Now I am lucky if I lose one or two pounds a month. Obviously if I have to continue to increase the dosage every so often and I am still not losing weigh despite the diet and exercise something is still not working right!

Here are the facts. Not everyone responds to meds. Not everyone responds the same way to the same meds, for some Armour is best, for other Synthyroid is best and for others a combination, and for others like me “nothing” seems to work really well. Some people must have the thyroid removed and others struggle through their whole life with that decision because having it removed can cut a significant amount of time off your life, yet keeping it does as well. Others as we have read on this board were misdiagnosed and had it taken out just to find out it was really Celiac’s disease! Then there is this whole new list of things to avoid when taking meds such as fluoride, calcium, soy and Cruciferae vegetables. It is bad enough we have to eat low carb all the time, but with hypothyroid that list just eliminated about a 1/3 of our options!

The truth is the endocrinologists even do not have all the facts on this topic, and those of us suffering with autoimmune problems just have to do the best we can, learning about new treatments and hoping and praying we stumble upon something that works for us.

Please do not assume that we all are just lazy and weak willed, we aren’t, most of us eat just like the rest of the population that are within normal ranges, its just that our body produces fat at a faster rate than others.

I have been able to discover through low carbing how to stop the hemorrhage of gaining weight, however no matter how low I go in carbs I just cannot get down to where the medical society says it “healthy for my height and bone structure”. According to them I should be at or below 130 lbs…well maybe in the next life!

I do not mean to be a drag, but please, it is just not that easy to treat and “get back to normal”. I am not sure I am ever going to be normal again, but I am going to fight it every step of the way to find an answer.

I'm on Armour and finding I am still having a hellaciously difficult time losing weight. :\ Although, the brain fog is gone, I still feel a bit lethargic at times.

Does Dr. Blanchard have any suggestions about what is going on that the metabolism doesn't come back with thyroid treatement?