Any Help or suggestions with battling weight, depression, and medications

[havingfaith11]

I have been mildly depressed for a while because of my weight gain. I went to physician weight loss two years ago and loss 75 pds. I have since gained 38 of the 75 pds. Never did my first doctor suggest to go to an endo/thyroid specialist. I complained about my weight, fatigue, and tiredness before but it fell on deaf ears. I thought it was something that I was doing wrong. So when I got off of physician weight loss I thought all I had to do was continue with exercise and a controlled diet. I was wrong. I started balloning back up and now I am 215 pds and am very embarrassed about it. I finally started to take a proactive approach and started pushing to find out what was going on with me. Finally, my previous doctor scheduled me with an endo/thyroid specialist. Of course, I left my previous doctor and now with a second one (I still don't know about this one as I discussed my concerns while waiting on the endo/thyroid specialist but it wasn't positive). The suggestion was made to go to a weight loss center after lab results were done that ruled out Vitamin D, B12, TSH (normal), iron, prediabetic, etc. I continue to talk about my metabolism because I truly believe that this is where the problem lies but again it fell on deaf ears. I went to the endo/thryoid specialist on today (10/5/11) and he suggested to try Cytomel 5mcg and changing my levothyroxine to 100 mcg. ( I was originally on 125mcg levothyroxine). He is running additional test on my thyroid and stated that he will inform me as to when I can go forth and order the Cytomel and Levothyroxine. I questioned him about the metabolism issue but didn't receive a good response. I don't know of what else to do as it seems that this is my last option before I go back to the weight loss centers. I hate to go back because it a short term solution, in addition, to paying a lot of money only to have to go back again because my body is out of balance. Any suggestions that you all have will be welcomed. I never heard of taking adrenal for hypothyroidism. I will do more research on that. However, it seems my ideas of what can be done to combat my hypothyroidism was not received with a warm welcome by this endo/thyroid specialist. By the way, I exercise like crazy!!!! I have been trying to lose these pounds for a year and 8 months. Anyone have any suggestions??

Here are my current lab results:

T3- 84

T4 - 1.6

Hemoglobin 5.5

Vitamin D (Normal)

Ferritin 20

Iron 62

B12 1000

[Barb135]

Don't forget that it's normal for weight to fluctuate, depending on when you last ate, went to the bathroom, whether or not you're retaining fluid, etc.  Mine can fluctuate as much as 5-6 pounds in a day's time.

It's good to be measuring vs weighing all the time; you can see the inches go away!!

Hopefully, the Tirosint will work for you; it really made a difference for me, as to the way I feel, though I still haven't been successful at losing much weight, but then I haven't worked at it real hard either.

[havingfaith11]

Hi,

I went to the endo/thyroid specialist on last week and will post the results once received. The doctor did tell me that my levels were good but it always been good....I still have the symptoms of being sleepy. Some of my symptoms have improved like the brain fogginess and feeling like I got run over by a truck in the mornings.  The doctor did listen to me about increasing the cytomel and I reviewed some of the DQs on this site that suggested changing to tirosint.I approached him with this suggestion as well.  He has changed my medication to tirosint and kept the cytomel dosage as is. I will be getting my new medication on tomorrow. I hope it will work well for me.

I must admit that I fell off the wagon due to being frustrated about this weight. In my binge I lost two inches off my waist. My waist doesn't look so bloated as it did before. (Gold figure on that one). So I am now back to fighting the weight. Hopefully, I can continue to lose the inches. I will not get on the scale as it fluctuates back and forth but never out of the 200 range yet....

[Barb135]

Not sure where you heard that you have to only eat 1000 calories/day when you have thyroid issues -- not true.  Calorie intake is as individual as everything else; it depends on what YOUR body needs; what works for one, may not work for another.  

[havingfaith11]

Yes, when I joined the sparklepeople website, my weight, height, age, etc. was calculated. They have my caloric intake at 1200-1500. I just feel I need to go lower after researching additional information on the web. Some say to be at a 1000 when you are having low thyroid issues.

I will be retested on 12/15/11. I will request the free t3 test. I feel better on my new meds but I still have the symptoms. I don't feel heavily sleepy and draining in the mornings but I still feel a little sleepy still. I am not 100% yet in where I feel totally good.

I am trying to eat coconut oil every day as well. I read in where this helps in losing weight and increasing the metabolism. I do this four hours later from my medications, etc.

I will go and look at the weight loss and dieting forum as well.

[Barb135]

Forgot to mention -- when you retest, insist on getting the FREE T3 test, not total....

[Barb135]

It's not uncommon for weight to fluctuate - mine can vary as much as 5-6 pounds/day.

Your calories need to be based on your current height, weight and activity level; not just an arbitrary figure like 1000 or 1200.  Your body needs so many calories/day just to function and if you don't give it enough, you will have trouble losing weight, plus you will stay tired.

Feel free to check out the Weight Loss and Dieting Forum also; there are some good ideas regarding both diet and exercise.  The important thing, though, is making sure your thyroid levels are right for you.  

Do you know when you will be retesting again?