I was recently diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I was started on synthroid 12.5 mcg a day. I can't tell any difference except I feel more sleepy and tired since being on the meds than before. I go back to doctor on Friday. She told me ahead of time that I probably wouldn't be able to tell alot from this first dose because it is so low but after my blood work she'll have a better idea of what to raise my synthroid to. I have read alot on here about antibodies and T3 and T4, what exactly does that mean? What should I ask my doctor Friday on my next visit? Any specific tests or meds I need to ask her about?

thanks, Kenzy

Hi! I read you message and it took me back (way back) to when I first was diagnosed with Hypo. Try to be patient. The Drs always seem to start you at the lowest dose and gradually go up from there. It took them 18 months to ge me regulated and I had to go to a specialist to do that (extremely over-sensitive system).

Right now I find myself feeling tired all the time, and that includes just after waking up after 7 hours of sleep. I think I may have to plan a trip myself to the doctor to check to see if I'm out of whack again. So I know it's easy to get discouraged. And on top of that we're both trying to get control of our weight. Now that's discouraging!!!!

I have around 80# to lose, but my determination is strong right now and hopefully this forum will help me keep it strong. Good luck.

Oh, by the way I'm female, contrary to what my login says.

Talk to ya later.

Hey kenzy!

T3 and T4 are the hormones produced by the thyroid. They control cellular metabolism. When you are hypothyroid, your metabolism is slower than normal and can cause stalls in weight loss or weight gain. Any excess T4 is supposed to convert to T3 (that is where most of your T3 comes from-conversion from T4). T3 is the hormone that directly affects how fast your metabolism runs.

One other hormone that affects the thyroid is called TSH or thyroid stimulating hormone. It is produced by the pituitary gland in the brain and it tells the thyroid when and how much T4/T3 to produce. So, the way it works is the body monitors how much T3/T4 there is-the pituitary sends TSH to the thyroid to tell it to make more T4/T3 and the thyroid produces those hormones.

They will have to regulate your thyroid replacement for a while. You won't notice too much difference for about a month. It took that long for my body to adjust to getting enough hormone. It isn't a massive change-one day I just noticed I wasn't sleeping quite so much.

If you want to get some really good information on the tests, what they all mean, etc try visiting this site:

http://thyroid.about.com/mbody.htm

I just got a card in the mail from my doc that says I have hypothyroidism! She wrote I need to see an endocrinologist ASAP. It is all new to me and I haven't had a chance to read up on it. (Just got the card in the mail about an hour ago) I decided to take a look on this forum to see if anyone else had it, and sure enough! This must be why I can't lose. This must be why I'm tired all the time, have headaches a lot, feel lethargic and grumpy a lot (lately) and have the most weight around my middle. It's (sickly) comforting to hear that others here have this problem. Is it a really big deal? Should I be really worried? It sounds stupid but I'm not sure how to take this news. Somebody else who has this, could you please tell me how it has affected your life? Is it really serious (like diabetes) or less worrisome (like..hmm..don't know what could be non-serious if it's affecting your life!) Does it make my metabilism slow down so I gain weight, or speed it up? Am I going to gain a bunch of weight when I start taking medication? Sorry about all the questions!


sheri

After you get on a thryroid replacement (and ALL they do is replace hormones) you will begin to feel better in about a month. It is not as big a thing as diabetes by any means! Many, many women suffer from this and it often runs in families.

It is most probably why you cannot lose weight. Low thryroid slows down your metabolism-so getting on a hormone replacement will help get it back to normal. I tried everything until low carb and an adjustment in my thyroid replacement finally clicked. My doctor told me that people who are hypo cannot process carbs like normal people-it goes straight to fat. So, you have already done the correct thing by going low carb.

The effects depend on how hypo you are. I personally just slept a lot-couldn't lose weight-have dry skin and hair-and a swollen right foot. Low carb has mostly fixed the foot and the weight issue. I still sleep a lot-but that may be just because I like naps.

It is never fun to find out something is wrong with you. However, this is really treatable and will have a minimum impact on your life if you get on the hormone and stay low carb. My life hasn't really changed at all-except I take a little pill at night before bed and I feel better.

Check out that link I provided in a post below-it has TONS of information.

thanks for your reply Paleoanth. I feel really stupid, because I looked closer (my doctor's handwriting is pretty garbled) and it sayd "hyperthyroidism" Isn't that the opposite, where your bodyis too hyperactive and you can't gain weight? If that is what I have then how come I still have all those problems (no weight loss, tiredness) It is a mystery to me. You'd think at least if I had hyperthyroidism I'd be able to lose some weight! (The only good benefit of that sickness) I guess I'd rather have "hyper" than "hypno", but i'm afraid once they put me on hormones then it'll really screw up my weight loss! If I have trouble losing now I can only imagine if my supposed "hyperthyroid" slows down to normal...
Thanks for all the info,
guess I'll just have to go to the doc and find out for sure.

Sheri

i think you should really do LC for a while (4 mos.) before going on to meds. you'll need to do some learning about why your body stimulated the thyroid to produce more T4 than you need. you'll get relief from the tiredness if you add more fats and way more water to your diet, and if you make sure to have salad greens. you're doing great, really.

Nitro-

From what I understand, and I am hardly an expert, people with hyper can have problems losing weight. I am not sure why that is-but I know that not all hypers lose weight easily. My best educated guess is that hormone imbalance can affect different people different ways-your body may be fighting against your metabolism by holding onto weight.

You definately need to get your hormones regulated regardless. Being hyper is not necessarily being better than hypo. I think once your body is back in balance, you will find the weight loss easier.

LCer- I don't really understand why doing LC for 4 months would teach me why my thyroid is acting up? I don't know if this is a new problem or not as I've never had blood tests done until now. I've been pretty good about excercising vigorously about 5 times a week (mostly weights, not so much cardio) and that has helped my energy level a lot. I think I also have lack of sleep a lot of the time because I have to get up at 4:30 and don't usually go to bed until 10:30 or 11. But a lot of times I'm just plain tired all weekend, even when I sleep till 11 or 12. I've also been really trying to drink a lot of water, which I drink mostly in the form of hot tea and Crystal light (I figure it's better to have a little caffeine and aspartame if it makes me drink all the water I need).

Paleoanth- I've made an appointment with an endocrinologist, so I'll get to the bottom of this soon. I also ordered some virgin coconut oil to eat, hopefully it'll help! I'm not sure if this is only for Hypnothyroidism, or both types.. but I'm sure it can't hurt. My BF wants me to go to a Homeopathic doctor.. but is that a good idea? It seems they'd just prescribe some herb or vitamin and nothing would happen. I could be wrong though. But what could they possibly prescribe?


thanks for all the feedback!
Sheri

Hey Sherri-

I am glad you made an appointment with an endocrinologist. I wouldn't do anything about homeopathic medicine before I saw the doctor and this is why: lots of medications do originally come from plant or animal materials (i.e. aspirin can be obtained from willow bark and penicillan comes from moldy bread...) and are then synthetically replicated. Other medications are from chemical sources only and homeopathic medicine can be a good option. I personally think most Western doctors treat symptoms and not the original problem anyway-so I have no personal issues with alternative medicine. HOWEVER, thyroid problems are due to hormone imbalances and cannot completely addressed with homeopathic treatments as far as I know. You will probably end up on some kind of antithyroid medication that will supress the thyroid gland and get it to stop making as much hormone. The best thing for you to do before going to the endocinologist, in my opinion is:

1. get a hold of a copy of your blood test. You are allowed a copy. I have either a copy or the numbers from all my thyroid panels for the last couple of years.

2. Find out what those numbers mean. You can post them here and I can take a look at them-but I am a layperson and my opinion is not worth a whole lot. I would be happy to look at them, though. You will need your T4, T3 and TSH numbers. You can also go here:

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/hyperthyrdgraves/ and get some information on hyperthyroidism, what the test results mean and what your alternatives are for treatment. There is also a forum there that specifically addresses weight loss and thyroid disease. I have been there before and found the people very helpful and nice.

In short-educate yourself as much as you can before you go in. You will be better able to ask questions of your doctor. I find that I have to be proactive when it comes to my own health.

Please keep me posted on your doctor's visit!

Paleoanth

i did not mean to suggest that doing LC for any length of time will teach you what you need to know. i think that you need to research the best you can as to various reasons your body wants to produce extra hormones. i AM suggesting that your body will change the way it acts as it catches on to the diet, and you may indeed find out that the body will begin to act "appropriately" again.

Paleoanth- thanks for all the info! I'm going to go pick up my test results like you suggested. I'll post the numbers also. I've been perusing that site you posted but had to stop because it makes me a little faint to read about it! (Yeah I know I know, I'm a big baby) That's also where I read about the Virgin Coconut Oil. Do you take that, or know anybody who does? I saw a post from a guy on this forum who takes it.
My appointment isn't for a month so I have some time to learn about it.

Isn't it weird how sometimes our bodies do such wacky things? I usually trust my body to tell me what it wants/needs (unless it has to do with sugar or carbs!) Our bodies can do so many amazing things, and are incredibly self sufficient (as long as we take care of them). It seems so weird to me that my body will suddently go out of whack and start overproducing or stop producing something that it obviously needs. It seems so fishy to me.... there must be a reason things like this happen.


sheri

Sheri-

You are more than welcome! And LCer does have a point that diet can affect so many things. Your body may be just adjusting to LC or it may be that your thyroid is just out of whack for whatever reason.

Do you know if anyone in your family has a thyroid problem? I have a grandmother and two aunts that all have hypo and I am assuming mine is a genetic issue.

No, I haven't tried the coconut oil-mainly because I had my thyroid meds increased and switched to low carb. That seemed to deal with the weight loss issue. I ought to look into it though!

LC'er- that's for sure! My body feels so much different when I'm low carbing.. For the better! Maybe when I see my doctor my body will have regulated and be normal again. I never told my doctor I was LC'ing, and during that time I kept cheating on the weekends so my blood sugar might have been going crazy! I'm definately going to learn about this disease and the treatments before I go.

Paleoanth- I don't think anybody in my family has a thyroid problem. Not that I'm aware of anyway. I'm hoping maybe this is just a temporary problem, maybe due to diet (I had just started LC'ing again at that time) or maybe some of the medications I'm on. Maybe they reacted with something I've been eating a lot of, I dunno. I guess I'll find out soon enough!

I'll let you know if the coconut oil does any good...

Sheri

Hi there...I just thought I would throw this in...broaden your focus to include other autoimmune diseases.

Here's why...a vast majority of thyroid problems can be, and in fact, are attributed to autoimmune disease. Hashimoto's=hypo & graves=hyper and the current trend is beginning to believe that if you have hashi's you very likely have graves too!! ARGH!!

Anyways....I digress. The thought here is that you can be the first generation sufferer with thyroid disease but have family members with things like diabetes, lupus, crone's, rhumatoid arthritis, etc. What that means is that you might be predisposed to an autoimmune problem of some kind. That's me. My grandfather's brother had diabetes and my grandfather died of non-hodgkin's lymphoma. My doctor believes that I was pre-disposed to get an autoimmune disease and I got hashimoto's. And unbeknownst to me...was on the verge of diabetes. Another thought out there is that autoimmune disase can be triggered by some stress event like epstein barr (mono) or other serious illness. Who knows.

But I think Paleo is right...get yourself to the endo first and figure out how severe your problem is and then based on that...you could go to a homeopath for supplementation.

Good luck! And don't let the endo tell you that you're crazy..you aren't!