Dr. Broda Barnes did the studies that showed that hypothyroid females lost WELL on around 1300 calories (or 1300 to 1600 depending on size) and over 30 net grams of carb.

We see people TRIGGER hypothyroidism (particularly Hashi's if they HAVE TPO AB) when they 'starve down' under 1300 cals or so.

I lost 50 lbs. BEFORE i was replaced with dessicated thyroid. On Lowcarb. On 1800 cals, and about 20 NET grams a day...(yeah...but you can have LESS carbs if you eat MORE calories) and lost it in three months. Then it came to a screaming halt, lol. But picked right back up again when I started incoming replacement hormone.

I also want to say that most people DO know they have thyroid DISEASE...it's the DOCTOR that wants to 'placate' with anti depressants and just give a pituitary test!

My Mom was dx'd schizoid/bipolar, and placed in mental institution and given electro shock. Guess what??? Autopsy....she died of Hashimoto's Encephalopathy! For want of a little thyroid hormone. She was 48, this was in 1976 (in case someone wants to ask if it was in the 1800's,lol) and I'm STILL seeing cases of doctors chucking anti-d's at women instead of investigating thyroid disease.

Many of the people with thyroid disease I know are NOT overweight/fat...those are the UNlucky ones IMHO...for they are exhibiting the depression, and anxiety, heart palps, lost weight of a 'hyper Hashi's swing'...and if all the doc does is a TSH...the poor folks get 'labeled' 'hyper' and don't get proper treatment.

Thyroid disease is way more than being overweight and not able to lose. if it's autoimmune, it can 'spawn' other autoimmune diseases.

Who KNOWS if I had to have: Sjogren's, HIE, Hyper Eos, Celiac, if my Hashimoto's were to be caught 'early' and treated? We don't know.

And I just broke my hand (again, eighth time) and the ER doc was QUICK to point out that 'taking this thyroid stuff for this long is what's doing that to your bones' to which I said 'Oh, then the hyperPARAthyroid adenomas 22 years ago have nothing to do with the Paget's disease and malformation of the bone NOW??? Would you like me to call my ortho for you to explain how that goes?' (yes, I got snarky...the situation called for it, I was PAYING)...and he just said 'Well, you should just take Synthroid till you 'get the TSH under control'.

Oh, no he did nt!! to which I said 'Yanno, you're quite overweight, you might want to have more than just a TSH done to see if thyroid disease is YOUR problem too!!!'. With a smile. Nice, big, smile. Everyone SMILE!!! LOL

wow that story is crazy, neanderpam. i feel SO much better on thyroid hormones: am i thinner? no, not yet, but I have energy, I have a LIFE. I haven't had time to update here because I can do things again...and I'm not depressed. I still take a low dose of wellbutrin because tapering off it has no point and it does help me with pmdd. if it wasn't for these boards i would have never figured any of this out.

SMILE.. omgosh PAM.. Im lmao!!!!!!!!!!!

You are one tough lady! Yet when I see what great things it has done for me to switch from Levoxyl to Armour it's pretty scary to see how hard it actually is to GET Armour! Almost NO ONE wants to prescribe it. They all probably follow that nutty Quackwatch guy.

OMG! You are the best!!!
Thank you for a good laugh this morning as I really needed this!

Hey, I once went with a prospective thyroid patient's appt. and her doctor said 'Well, the TSH is down now...you can stop taking the thyroid hormone!'.

So, later on that day, I had her call the doc back, say 'Hey, you have my Mom on insulin for diabetes, don't ya?' the doctor said 'WEll, of course!' So, she told him, "Well, I just did a monitor test and her blood glucose has dropped after I gave her her insulin....just like my TSH dropped...so I'm refusing to give her any more insulin...aren't you proud of me for following YOUR direction????!!!'.

Sometimes ya just gotta beat them at their own game! LOL

My sister is hypo and when it was corrected her doctor suggested to try a low carb diet. She lost a lot of weight and was the one who motivated me to go low carb (I dont have hypo).

So..what type of hypothyroid does said sister have? Cuz if it's Hashimoto's...it's said to not be 'genetic' but when you have a close blood relative with it, you generally exhibit the antibodies 'sooner or later'.

My daughter had TPO AB tested at: 21 yrs. old (negative), 29 yrs. old (negative, and by NOW, she was thumbing her nose at me neener neener), 34 yrs. old (negative..but her progesterone was waning then, and we KNOW that overdrives the thyroid to 'take over progesterone's 'job') and now at 39..um..yep, her TPOAB is QUITE high (off the high range) and she is now exhibiting hypothyroid symptoms (of course).

So, in order to say 'I'm not hypothyroid' you need a:

Free T4,
Free T3
TPO AB

Not a 'TSH' test. Many trigger the antibodies after a 'hormonal upheaval'...never say never...cuz that 'upheaval' is generally having a child, or being perimeno (progesterone is the thyroid's 'BFF' so when it starts to drop, as it does in perimeno..it's the first hormone to 'run out'..not estradiol!) as the thyroid tries to 'do the job of progesterone...or menopause itself.

I wish everyone could just get the 'proper' testing and then the 'proper' interpretation. I don't know if that will happen in MY lifetime, but one can 'wish' I suppose.

This guy is a complete moron and very ignorant. Unfortunately it is the traditional approach of most doctors in the UK and US. For me just taking thyroxine makes me very toxic and ill so I need a small amount of Armour, 1 grain and 12.5 mcg plain T3 x 2.

The reason many of us cannot convert T4 properly is because our adrenals are too weak. In my case I need a low dose steroid each day to make up for this because without it I wouldn't be able to tolerate sufficient thyroid meds.

I have lost 28 lbs since having my adrenals and thyroid treated and now I only weigh 133 lbs and look very slim which is good because I am 63 years old. Also I had a DEXA scan because I have been on the steroids for 8 years now and it showed I had the bones of a 30 year old.

It proved to me that everything I had read about T3 was true and our bodies need this. Dr Lowe write so much about this. I actually self treat with the T3 and Armour now but I get my bloods tested by my GP once a year. This year my T3 was at the top of the range but cholesterold was low and so was triglycerides so he said to me keep on doing whatever you are doing! That is good enough for me and I will always carry on self treating.

BTW My GP does give me the steroids I don't self treat with them.

Pam

Actually, in many women, low ferritin, low iron, and low progesterone is what makes them have adverse initial reactions to incoming T3, which some doctors inappropriately dx as 'poor adrenals' or 'don't need T3'.

Those women UNDER the age of menopause (well, for ME it was 32 yrs. old I was POST meno because of Hashimoto's and low thyroid) should have those tests done right away WITH 4x salivary cortisol.

I wouldn't ever 'self treat' with Armour or T3 (I have a good reason though...a person I know 'was told to self treat because it's ok, and blah blah' and ended up with a heart attack, I ask others to PLEASE DO NOT SELF TREAT without the proper testing, education).

I have the bones of a person with PsA (cuz that's what I HAVE) and it has NOTHING to do with my thyroid, rather, I had a parathyroid tumor at (also) a very young age.

Hope ya all over the age of 50 are also having serum calc and PTH done, it's not all about thyroid, that's for sure.

I know a woman who is 73, in great health and her doc (MY doc too, lol) has her at 5 grains Thyroid, and I know a young lady at 35 who is having trouble on one grain, has great adrenal function but the doc is 'missing the boat' letting her ferritin be just ONE POINT over the lowest range and not even testing her progesterone because, according to the doc 'Ya only need that if you're pregnant'!

EEEK....

Ya, who COULD self treat with steroids?? LOL you can get all kinds of things OTC but not medical steroids...you can't get them anywhere..except through a doctor's Rx. I'd been in situations where I desperately needed steroids (not the anabolic, illegal ones and not for any adrenal stuff either!) to keep my lungs from collapse, and had to pay out big bucks to an ER to get them as you cannot get them anywhere 'illegally' either.

I once said to my doctor 'How strange that poisons are available over the net, and other places but not medical steroids!' he said 'Yep, you could get heroin and other illegal substances before you could get medical steroids!'.

Just seems strange.

I'm seeing alot of replies here about Armour and T3 replacement. Everyone should know that the reason they don't give T3 replacements out that easy are that the majority of thyroid patients repsond poorly too it (I've read this on many thyroid boards) and get very ill. I understand it works wonders for people who respond well to it and thats awesome, I just wanted to post this so everyone is aware. Like the above poster has stated you don't want to end up with bigger problems (heart attack) then you already have.

As for weight loss I believe I was hypothyroid since roughly 2006, just recently diagnosed in 2010. I had all the symptoms (Losing hair, extreme weight gain (250 to 320), constipation, extreme fatigue, anxiety and depression). Before I was diagnosed I went on a low carb diet and still lost. I got myself down from 320 to 270, but I had to travel with work and slacked. Now that I am diagnosed and on meds I am thinking I should be good to go. Right now I am on .150 of levothryoxine and feeling pretty good. I have my moment but we shall see.

most people respond very well to T3.. where are you coming from??
Most people lack the proper enzymes to convert T4 TO T3. Properly dosed, you dont have heart attacks I've been on T3 for YRS... The ones having heart attacks o.d themselves.

untreated thyroid/ill managed thyroid leads to damage to ALL organs.

Let me rephrase, not everyone needs it. I came into the whole thyroid thing thinking that is/was my only option. I think a lot of people think this. Almost everyone I know with thyroid problems is on T4 only and they are fine, myself and my mom included. She recently lost 40-50lbs. My point here is that is your FT3/FT4, T3, T4, TSH are all were they should be maybe you should be search for other underlying issues, as not eveyrone needs T3 replacement and unecessary T3 replacement is not good.

Wondering if anyone can give insite.. I asked my husbands doctor what gets tested when he does a thyroid test.. if he does anything more than just test the TSH. He said the tests they have now are 'ultra sensitive' to the hormones so a TSH is all anyone really needs now.. And after those results come back, they start on meds (if a patient needs them) and if there continue to be problems, they adjust meds accordingly... From all I read about T3 and T4, I feel like this isn't the answer for everyone and fear some people aren't being diagnosed. Anyone know about the 'new and improved ultra sensitive' (lol) test?
It seems when I ask a doc or nurse about it, they don't do the tests or mention the tests I want done.

T3 thyroid hormone is not given for 'weightloss'. You have to look at your Free T4 and Free T3 testing to determine if you need T3. If you are only getting a TSH test, then you need to determine how much knowledge you have on this subject (and perhaps determine why a doctor would go by TSH to determine replacement).

I only have 23 YEARS knowledge and being a patient advocate for thyroid disease....adn I don't understand why you would say that 'most patients don't respond well to T3'??? That defies all of the medical studies in the world.

Please respond with your proof of 'most patients do not respond well to T3'. Thyroid disease doesn't have much to do with weight LOSS...that has to do with how you EAT and what hormones need replacing.

I have Hashimoto's hypothyroidism and my body does NOT convert ANY of the incoming T4 into T3 at ALL (meaning I have no effect taking T4...no matter how MUCH I take...I don't have good thinking patterns, I don't have energy).

In order to KNOW whether you NEED T3 added to T4 you need to be tested for the two hormones.

If you have had heart involvement and have had heart attack, than a doctor may not want to add in T3 for you.

Otherwise, that's just sad...very very sad that I'm seeing 88% of all women with Hashimoto's need both T4 and T3 (as well as T1 and T2, which is only found in natural thyroid hormone replacement) and most are getting it.

My Mother died from Hashimoto's encephalopathy. She didn't have ANY T3 hormone in her body. We found out from autopsy. Cuz her doctor said she 'didn't need no T3'. Hmmm.

TSH goes up and down as much as eight whole points in any given day. It's useful as a FIRST test to determine if the subject 'may be or may not be' hypo or hyperthyroid. My first was .00023. Not a typo. So, my doctor sent me to a thyroid specialist...cuz he THOUGHT I might be hyPER. I was NOT hyPER...most who have the most common autoimmune hyPOthyroid will swing between hyper and hypo for awhile until the antibodies take over and kill the thyroid.

I was and am still hyPOthyroid. I have hashimoto's, and when they did the Free T4 and Free T3 testing with that VERY low TSH..lo and behold I had NO T4 or T3 in me. Nope. Nada.

I am very happily sustained to this day, 16 years later, on Armour Thyroid...I feel well, have great energy and know that TSH will never actually be a measurement of the true hormones of the thyroid.

If you feel good on and are sustaining NORMAL weight on just T4..fine...but if and when you get your measurements of the actual hormones, don't be surprised if as your thyroid stops working completely..you might need a little T3 added in.