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Hashimotos- Weight Loss?
I am 17 and was recently diagnosed with Hashimoto's and PCOS. I am now on Levothyroxine and I was wondering if I can lose weight or if I'm stuck. Help?
To answer your question about weight loss, Yes, it is possible but will take a lot of patience, determination and good eating plan, along with excersise.
I had undiagnosed Hashimoto's for over 15 years and ballooned out to over 102kgs (224 lbs) Check my profile photos and you will see me at my heaviest in one of the pics. I had no medication and decided that since the doctors wouldn't listen to me that I had to do it all by myself. nearly 3 years later I have lost nearly 40kgs.
It can be done! Just take it one step at a time and don't think you have to join a gym. Little things can make a huge difference and you can still get to eat yummy foods sometimes!
I had undiagnosed Hashimoto's for over 15 years and ballooned out to over 102kgs (224 lbs) Check my profile photos and you will see me at my heaviest in one of the pics. I had no medication and decided that since the doctors wouldn't listen to me that I had to do it all by myself. nearly 3 years later I have lost nearly 40kgs.
It can be done! Just take it one step at a time and don't think you have to join a gym. Little things can make a huge difference and you can still get to eat yummy foods sometimes!
The thyroid enlarges to as it desperately tries to compensate for the reduction in thyroxine. If your meds are the correct dose, your thyroid should shrink to normal size within a few months. If it doesn't, your dose needs to be adjusted but don't let them make the decision based on TSH levels alone - check the free T3. It should be in the top 20% of the "normal" range if your dose is correct.
Also check out stopthethyroidmadness.com - great info there too...
Also check out stopthethyroidmadness.com - great info there too...
No personal experience, but I think I have read here on the Forum of some patients with enlarged thyroid glands related to having Hashi's.
Thank you for the feedback and for the two links. I will just have to do more testing with my doctor, and wait to see what the levothyroxine does. Do you know anything about an enlarged thyroid? Is that just because of the Hashimoto's, does it come with that? I had an ultrasound done on my neck, they found it was not as "smooth and gray" as it should be, but there was no sign of cancer, or cysts, etc.
Sorry, I forgot to mention that PCOS is frequently linked to hypothyroidism. Here is a link about that.
http://www.ovarian-cysts-pcos.com/news12-hypothyroidism.html
http://www.ovarian-cysts-pcos.com/news12-hypothyroidism.html
In case Hashi's hasn't been explained to you, it is a disease that affects females much more than men. With this disease, the autoimmune system produces antibodies that attack and eventually destroy the thyroid glands. The time for this to be completed varies widely. In the interim you gradually lose capability to produce thyroid hormone, which of course affects our metabolism and many other body functions.
Some doctors tend to wait until the patient is showing overt hypo symptoms before starting on medication. I'm not a believer in this personally. With adequate testing of the actual, biologically active thyroid hormones, free T3 and free T4 (FT3 and FT4, not total T3 and total T4) and a corresponding dosage of medication, I see no reason why a patient cannot at least escape the worst of becoming hypo, during the time waiting for the thyroid glands to ultimately cease functioning. Here is an interesting link about that .
http://thyroid.about.com/od/hypothyroidismhashimotos/a/preventative.htm
What you will need most, now and in the future is a really good thyroid doctor that will be willing to test and adjust FT3 and FT4 levels with whatever type medication is necessary to alleviate symptoms (including low metabolism), without being constrained by resultant TSH levels. Endocrinologists are not always in this category. It could be your own primary care doctor. Sometimes you have to read up a lot about hypothyroidism and discuss it with your doctor and jointly work out your treatment. Many of us on the Forum have found that we had to become very knowledgeable about hypothyroidism and become our own advocates, and in some cases literally guide our doctor, when they were receptive.
Just stay positive and remember that you have gone to a good place for valuable feedback from our many experienced members who will be very glad to help in any way possible. I suggest that as a start you should have a discussion about all this with the doctor and insist that if not done already, that they test you for FT3 and FT4, along with TSH. Make sure you always get a copy of the lab report for reference and when you have data and reference ranges for each, then post it here and members will help interpret.
Some doctors tend to wait until the patient is showing overt hypo symptoms before starting on medication. I'm not a believer in this personally. With adequate testing of the actual, biologically active thyroid hormones, free T3 and free T4 (FT3 and FT4, not total T3 and total T4) and a corresponding dosage of medication, I see no reason why a patient cannot at least escape the worst of becoming hypo, during the time waiting for the thyroid glands to ultimately cease functioning. Here is an interesting link about that .
http://thyroid.about.com/od/hypothyroidismhashimotos/a/preventative.htm
What you will need most, now and in the future is a really good thyroid doctor that will be willing to test and adjust FT3 and FT4 levels with whatever type medication is necessary to alleviate symptoms (including low metabolism), without being constrained by resultant TSH levels. Endocrinologists are not always in this category. It could be your own primary care doctor. Sometimes you have to read up a lot about hypothyroidism and discuss it with your doctor and jointly work out your treatment. Many of us on the Forum have found that we had to become very knowledgeable about hypothyroidism and become our own advocates, and in some cases literally guide our doctor, when they were receptive.
Just stay positive and remember that you have gone to a good place for valuable feedback from our many experienced members who will be very glad to help in any way possible. I suggest that as a start you should have a discussion about all this with the doctor and insist that if not done already, that they test you for FT3 and FT4, along with TSH. Make sure you always get a copy of the lab report for reference and when you have data and reference ranges for each, then post it here and members will help interpret.
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