Can gall bladder problems lead to problems with my thyroid?

[Nora86]

I am a 23 year old female and I had gall bladder surgery a year and 5 months ago. Before I knew my gall bladder was going to need to be taken out I kid you not I gained 40 pounds in 1 month. No clue why because I exercise 7 days out of the week. In Feburary 08 I had my gall bladder taken out, and have been working at my weight loss even harder than before. I went from 135 to 175 and still at 175. I mention to the doctors something is not right, but they laugh and sasy in the polite way I eat too much and exercise too little. Try cutting calories back more and increase exercise! I am sick of hearing this because no matter what I do I will exercise lose five pound and in 2 days be right back to where i started. meaning I have to be one pig to gain that back. so Could this be a issue with my Thyroid?

[laura1967]

Very well could be, but the only way to know is to have the Proper bloodwork done: TSH, Free T4 and Free T3. Also wouldn't hurt to have your antibody levels checked for Graves and Hashimoto's thyroid autoimmune diseases if you can get your dr to run it. Have you also been checked for PCOS?

[gimel]

One quick way to find out for yourself is to check your basal temperature.  The procedure and an explanation are covered in this link.

http://www.drbobnd.com/low_thyroid.htm

If your basal temperature is substantially low, then you should get your doctor to do some thyroid testing.  As a start,  the specific tests that you should insist on having are free T3 (FT3) and free T4 (FT4), along with the ever present TSH that the doctors always run.  The reason for requesting FT3 and FT4 (not total T3 and total T4) is that they are the thyroid hormones that are biologically active and regulate metabolism and other body functions.  Free T3 is four times as potent as free T4 and is the most important test because it correlates best with hypo symptoms.   TSH is a pituitary hormone that is only an indicator of hypothyroidism, and it does not correlate well at all with hypo symptoms.  Always make sure that you get a copy of your lab test results so that you know the actual numbers.  Don't just accept that they are "normal",  because the reference ranges are very broad.  When you get the info from these tests, please post here so that members can  provide their evaluation.

[Nora86]

I want to thank everdyone who responded first!

And I just spoke to my doctor. I had tests done yesterday for sugar thyroid and cholesterol. Here is what he said and when he calls me back I will posts numbers.

My sugar came back fine. thyroid seems okay. But you have high cholesterol. (Duh i have been trying to lose weight since feb 08 nothings working!!!) He told me to be on a low fat diet and exercise. Thats when I had to stop him and say no somethings not right. I told him my diet cannot get any more "low" fat. I eat lean meats, no pork, no cake, no ice cream, nothing sweet except cereal (and mostly I eat cheerios and special K) I take fish oils, I eat fish. Me and my husband eat out once every 2 weeks and even then I get the smallest salad with "low-fat" dressing. I eat skin milk cheese drink skim milk, no salt. I exercise 40-60 minutes cardio and walking a day. I dont think my caloric intake can get any more less than what it is or I would really have prblems. So doctor can this truely  be something more?

He said oh well since you are doing what you can you might need medication I will look at this and call you back..... I did mention that even though my thyroid seems okay it still could be that....hypothyroidism can cause high cholesterol (I did my research)

When the thyroid slows down (hypothyroidism), it also slows down the body's ability to process cholesterol. This processing lag is largely explained by a reduction in the number and activity of what are known as LDL receptors.

When he calls back I will post my lab numbers!

[Nora86]

I just spoke to my doctor and lekt me tell you im so sick of doctors relying on one blood test!!! IM NOT A PERSON WHO SITS AROUND AND EATS ALL DAY! is what I told him.

He stated that my low fat diet is not what I should be following. Which i told him consited of low fat cheese lean meats no pork chicken greens vegetables skim milk no ice cream, cake, cookies. I drink milk, juice, water and tea. No pop! I exercise 7 days a week 40-60 minutes. Which is not even the reccomended amount of exercise. I can burn atleast 1000 calories and I eat about 1100 a day.

He then said well then you havent been on this diet very long.....and I replied well actually I have been doing it ever since I lost weight from 215 to 135 and on so thats 6 YEARS including today.

I said you didnt do a t3 or a t4 why are you jus relying on a tsh? Well that came back in the normal range he said....and I asked for the numbers and he said well I do not have the paper right in front of me.

As I was starting to get frusterated because I have not lost any weight since my gall bladder surgery following everything I stated at the top about my exercise I should have lost something. its been a year and 5 months and I cannot lose 40 pounds?

he said well it doesnt happen over night ya know. Your right but a year and 5 months isnt over night, I then proceeded to tell him that I can sleep for 10 hours a day and still want to sleep when the alarm goes off. I have a low libido (I havent made love with my husband for 3 months now...and even before the 3 months it was once a month because I dont feel anything sexual) I have the weight issue, he also said that when you have gallbladder surgery weight gain is not a symptom.....*hello weight gain or weight loss a drastic gain is a symptom of gall bladder*

He then said well keep exercising and cutting calories and in 6 months we will test it again and if cholesterol is high we will give you medicine for it he also recommended a dietition which I have already seen...he also did not offer or mention having a t3 or t4 done because my tsh was "normal....I wanted to scream STOP AND LISTEN....MY WEIGHT PROBLEM ALONG WITH EVERYTHING ELSE IS NOT BECAUSE IM A BIG FAT PIG! SOMETHING ELSE IS WRONG WITH ME DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

instead I just asked for a copy of my lab results and let him know I am seeking a second opion from an endocrinologist I had spoke to and said it sounds like a thyroid issue.