Weight Gain

[PaganBaby]

I am curious to find out if anyone else out there who has Hyperthyroidism if they have had any problems with weight gain instead of weightloss?  For a solid year and a half before the doctors finally diagnosed me they couldn't figure out why I was gaining weight.  It would be a couple pounds here and there but it has added up over time to almost a total of 100 pounds of weight gain.  They couldn't figure it out because I rarely ate, so they thought it was some of the meds that I have to be on which one of their side effects was weight gain, but not at the drastic extent as mine has ended up being over the past 2 to 3 years.  After I finally told my doctors either they figured out what the hell was wrong with me or I would find doctors that could (btw I have new doctors now) the light went on and they decided to finally test my thyroid.  Outcome ended up being Hyperthyroidism.  Which they said absolutely could not be the cause for my weight gain. So I took it upon myself to find new doctors that would actually help.  I know there is a very small percentage of Hyper patients that actually gain weight instead of losing...but finally since I have different doctors I am starting to lose weight extremely slowly.  LOL  I'm just curious if there is anyone else out there who has ran into a similar problem with their weight and what they have been doing to help reverse the weight gain.  Thanks in advance.  ; )

[Venora Moonwind]

I havent had your problem although weeight has been a problem for me.I have lose about 10 lbs and now I am stuck at this current weigh.Hang in there the weight will come off but we just have to work a little harder at it.
Love Venora

[cwtmichele]

I have been hyper for a few years that I know of and I am overweight. When I mentioned to friends that my lab results were hyper they looked at me and said "You mean hypo" and I had to say no. Nobody would think it. But I finally had my first appointment with the doctor today and have a walnut size nodule in my right thyroid. I'm in the first steps of being treated but I am about 50 pounds over weight. I'm so hungry all the time and if I don't eat I get very grouchy and sick. Since I sit down all the time for work I just assumed that was the cause of my weight gain... maybe it still is? I'll find out more over the next few weeks

[hypogirl80]

Yes, I am hyper, I gained weight. It is hard to lose them, I am still working on it, so far I am losing the battle.   The book said, a small % of hyper do gain weight.

[xeNthai]

i'm also hyper, and i gain weight on and off..i weight about 85 and then go up to 91, 93,95 always around there never change, and then come back down to 85..no lower then that though. now i'm almost four months pregnant and my weight right now is 91...doctor im under weight for being pregnant but what can i do, i eat as much as i can...hopefully later on in pregnancy i can weight a little more..i think i will.. may god bless you with love..

[utahmomma]

I'm artificially hyper (high dose of Synthroid post cancer treatment) with a TSH of about 0.9 and I've put on 20 lbs since my original surgery 4 years ago.  I never had a weight problem before my surgery/RAI/treatment.  Sigh.

[cheshire]

How did they diagnose this HYPERthyroidism? Not with the TSH I hope!? Sounds like hypopituitary or secondary hypo to me: LOW TSH, Low Free T3 and Free T4. This happens so often so please get a copy of your results and make sure the right tests were done:

Free t3 (HIGH is hypo, low-normal and low is hypo)
Free t4 (HIGH is hypo, low-normal and low is hypo)
TSH
graves antibodies
AND
both Hashi antibodies (yes you can have both!)
Free testosterone
estro and progest

[illsurvive]

do u know something abt hypo thyroid. do hypothyroid patient gain wait even they dont eat fatty food.

[vall401]

I was just looking for something like this on the web. I was just told that I have a hyperthyroid. Over the past 2 years, I have gained about 25-30 pounds. Used to always be fairly slim, and now I am overweight. I attributed it to eating junk food and not exercising, but I never really believed that I ate that much junk food to result in 25-30 pounds of weight gain. I think some of the weight gain may be due to the hyperthyroid, but now I worry that if I take antithyroid medicine, I will gain even more!

[hypogirl80]

Yes, Hypo people (85% of them)gain weight, Hyper people (15% of them) gain weight. I am one of the 15%.  nothing work for me so far, but I am working on it...

[three2much]

yes i was hyper 218 lbs went up 245 lbs
had treatment now im at about 275 lbs cant move
have to many painfull spasms. good luck

[hyper_what?]

I gained 15 pounds before I started realizing I had a problem and now dropped that plus 16 more for 31 total pounds.  I read somewhere that a lot of hyper people actually gain weight before they lose it.  I'd love to lose another 30 tho...ha ha!

I just started a temporary tx of tapazole until I can get in for my TT.

[duannie]

I had 3/4 of my thyroid removed 8 yrs ago..When I had the surgery because of nodules I wieghed 145 I'm 5 foot 9 and a female...After the first 5 months after surgery I gained 75 lbs..The docotor said It was what I was eating (BULL)...Now 8 yrs later I have three more nodules on my thyroid and wiegh 245...I have thyroid test and the doctors say It's working fine ,how can that be??????. I'm 46 and give up I guess I'll just be fat for the rest of my life..Thanks for listining.....

[mirabella45]

My hyper started in May 2008 and I couldnt hold anything in my stomach..My tsh was 0.003. I dropped 70lbs in 5 months. started methimazole and 10 of those pounds came back quickly..so I fight everyday not to eat a bunch of stuff even though I am starving. I do eat I try to make healthier choices..alot of this weight I believe is water weight..I swell like a balloon..my feet.. ankles

[AlwaysTrying]

I am so glad I found this site. I have had hyper for 3 1/2 years with a lot of weight gain. Opted early to go totally natural. I have always been very natural in my health choices. Been semi vego for 10 years now. My naturapath looked at my blood work and could tell by my kidney reading that I REALLY do eat well. Finally someone believes me when I tell her "I don't eat much", well actually I don't eat like a sparrow either, just normal healthy choices and portion sizes. My cholestrol is great and so is sugar and blood pressure. My naturapath has given me herbal decoctions on and off for three years now. My levels go back to normal and i feel great when I am on them but my 7 nodules don't shrink. Its so expensive to do the healthier alternative and so much more effort and yet they didn't shrink! taking a break from the herbs right now. My last normal blood test was 2months ago. My neck throbs sometimes and eyes looks so tired even though I am eating healthier than ever. My sister pulled me aside and said my eyes look like a holocaust survivor's. Unfortunately my body looks like a blob!! Everytime i am about to give up I somehow find a new motivation from somewhere. I read about a link between vitilgo (pigment problems), b12 absorption and hyperthyroid. If thats the case  I may have had this for 20 years because I have both. I never had a weight loss problem in the last 20 years though. Worked hard to maintain my weight at where it was all my adult life though.I am now waiting on a natural drug that I researched and ordered to see if it will help shrink the nodules but not put more weight on. If it does work I will come back and let you guys know. Somehow i think it would be better to have hypo. At least I would have a reason for my symptoms and empathy from my doc and friends.I wish they would come in here and see these messages. Maybe it would encourage them to recognise and research a new kind of thyroid condition such as ours.

[AlwaysTrying]

I have huge ankles too. I can put on so much weight in my legs in a matter of a couple of weeks that my jeans don't fit overnight but my shirts are still ok. I think your right about the fluid. Might be a lymphatic link there. Anyone else with these symptoms?

[Rylie1]

I was just diagnosed and have to go for 2 ct scans.  I'm pretty scared but also pretty confused.  I was sure I had hypo, but the results were hyper.  I would lose tons of weight during pregnancy and about a month after having my kids I balooned.  I never changed my diet and I was nursing.  I seem to want to huver around the 233lbs mark for some reason, I don't go up, I don't go down.  I just find it strange!

[popipina]

Hi I am 42 year old was diagnosed with Thryoid Ca that mets to the bones lung and skull, I had a TT in June 2008 and followed by a high dose of RAI.  Then in Sept a had a hip surgery due to the cancer.. I had a second dose of high RAI in January 2009 and have to repeat in six months.. I have monthly zometa for my bones... I gained about 35 pound since all of this and cant seem to loose it Iam afraid that I will gain more.. What can one due.. I need advise tooo...

[Smilerdeb]

I was HYPER prior to RAI and because I was on anti-thyroid meds, to block the thyroid...I gained 16 kgs.
I went from 55kgs to 71kgs.
My levels have now been stable a few months and I weight 64.1 kgs and havent tried losing the weight...just ate healthy.
As the levels stabalise, so does the weight but remember one thing..........
The weight you had PRIOR to diagnosis is HYPER weight and you may never get back down to that weight.
Many lose track of that theory and as long as I have quality of life , I dont mind the few extra kgs as long as it doesnt interfere with my health.
Good Luck :)

[MelodyBelle]

I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism last year. My symptoms began around March, but I wasn't formerly diagnosed until the beginning of August. In March of last year I weighed 130 lbs. I have gained 30 lbs since then and have tried to get it out with diet and excercise, which didn't work long. When I got a dose of the radioactive iodine I began to slowly lose weight. Unfortunately... the iodine didn't thoroughly kill the thyroid gland like they said might happen. So now I've gained all my weight back. You aren't the only one out there and I'm glad I'm not either.

Also. I want to know why some people gain weight with hyperthyroidism. I wonder if there is a common link somehow.

[jesucrew5]

I just had thyroid removed in Dec. 08 with papillary carcinoma.  Doctors have adjusted me to .125 Synthroid with a TSH level of .22 (hyper), but I have gained 25 pounds in the last 3 months after losing 40 pounds last year between July-Dec.  I complained to the doctor, but was told it was probably from stress - baloney!  I have two other friends at church who also had thyroid removed, are in hyper state and gaining weight even with massive amounts of exercise.  It is depressing and we want to find a cure.  We started a support group at church called "We're Not Crazy" because we knew that our symptoms were more than "depression" prior to doctors finding our thyroid diseas and we know that there is more to our weight gain than "stress".

[gimel]

I just wanted to ask what made you conclude that you were hyper?  Was it the TSH test?  Or were you also exhibiting hyper symptoms?  How can you be sure that weight gain was a hyper symptom rather than a hypo symptom, unless you have test data for the most important thyroid hormones  (free T3 and free T4), that shows very high levels of these hormones?  

I'm really curious about this because so many times doctors decide your are hyper based only on TSH results that are in the low part of the range, and yet there are no overt hyper symptoms.  This frequently results in patients who are actually still hypo, with all the  wonderful symptoms such as fatigue, low metabolism, etc.

[Smilerdeb]

I have Graves and suffered with hyperthyroidism until I had RAI and TT last year.
BEFORE RAI, I gained 16kgs from Carbimazole.
I started off at 55kgs , went to 71kgs and now 12 months later, I weight just over 60kgs.
Once your levels stabilise, the weight starts to come off.
I dont eat junk or pre-packaged food, I eat fresh fruit, meat, fish and vegetables.
I avoid milk..only for coffee as basically I found that it 'turned my stomach' after RAI (iced coffee).