Synthroid and weightloss

[boone]

I had posted before about my fiances quest to losing 10-15lbs and lowering her bf% in time for our wedding. (we are about 12 weeks out) She has been doing cardio in the morning 4-5days/wk at 20min/day and workout with weights 4 days/wk with her diet in check. Its been 3 weeks now and she is still around the same weight. I kept telling her that it would take some time but I was sure we would see results by now.

Now, after that said Ill get to my question. She used to have a hyperactive thyroid which made her very skinny. So what they did was destroyed her throid altogether and she takes (1) synthyroid .125mg tab/day to act like her thyroid. I figured if she uped the dose it would kinda be like it was before(hyperactive) thus losing weight. If anyone my have some experience with this or may be able to point me in the right direction I would be greatful. That is the only other thing I can think of that would be holding her back. Thanks again, Boone

 

[DrJMW]

She may be happier taking cytomel (T3) instead of Synthroid. I had one client switch from synthroid to cytomel and she did much better.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

BEFORE relying on drugs and self-medicating (which, I will say, is often a bad idea)

1) Diet in check? What does that mean? Post SPECIFICS for her diet, like a sample days worth of food. Including exact weight, amount, preparation, condiments, time eat, etc.

2) Maybe try dropping cardio down to 3-4 times a week but increase the intensity. Try doing 3x a week of HIIT....5 min warm up, 20 min of intervals (alternating 1 min "sprint", 1 min recovery), 5 min cool down....total 30 min. Then 1x a week of moderate intensity 30 min cardio (could do something nice outside, like a walk, rollerblade, bike, swim, hike, etc).

Just some thoughts.

 

[gingernuts]

give it another week or so.I find when dieting my weight stays the same for three weeks and the scale doesn't show the drop until week four when four weeks of weight loss shows! I suspect this is due to hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle affecting water retention etc.I try to ignore the scales for several weeks at a time when dieting.Not seeing the numbers decreasing is offputting and enough to send me to the Pizza takeway shop!

ALso when starting a new training programme you may put on muscle before you lose fat a good guide is to see how your clothes fit - you may stay the same weight but drop a clothes size.

 

[bw1]

I would really be careful uping her meds

 

[boone]

Thanks for all the good info. She step up a doctors appointment next week. Her diet looks like this.....
6am: 1 scrambled egg, 1 tsp salsa, 1 tortilla = about 350 calories
9am: Protein shake = about 235 calories
Noon: Turkey sandwich with wheat bread and 1 tsp of mayo = 405 calories
3pm: Protein shake = about 235 calories
7pm: Varies; usually 1 protein and 1 carb = about 300 to 500 calories

 

[Daisy_Girl]

She isn't eating much AT ALL. Veggies? Fats?

I doubt her breakfast is 350cals....ONE EGG? One egg has about 70 calories, salsa has about what, 25cals?, so her tortilla has 250cals? I REALLY doubt it.... My low-carb tortilla (La Tortilla Factory) has like 50 cals.

There are better carb sources than bread. Try a potato, green veggies, rice.

And going 11 hours without eating isn't great for the metabolism (7pm-6am).

Are one of those shakes Post-Workout?

Try something like this....

6am - 5 egg whites, 1 whole egg, w/salsa, low-carb tortilla
9am - Snack ....examples: Cottage Cheese w/ fat source, raw veggies w/hummus, etc
12pm - 4oz lean meat, 3oz potato/yam, green veggies
3pm - Shake (post workout?)
6pm - 4oz lean protein, green veggies (unlimited), fat source
9pm - shake (whey/casein mix, digest slower)

 

[Sassy69]

what daisy said! I'd be interested in what the doc says too about switching from synthroid. I don't recall hearing much about thyroid patients using t3 instead of synthroid.

 

[DrJMW]

One of my female clients was diagnsoed with hypothyroidism and prescribed Synthroid. She was never really happy with the results. I suggested trying cytomel instead. She responded very positively. On the blood tests, many times people taking Synthroid will test high/normal T4, but low or low/normal T3. That means that T4 is not being converted into the active thyroid form, T3. Switching to cytomel will increase T3 levels.

 

[NYCSquatter]

Boone, I have taken .175 mcg for 19 years for hypo.

Is your fiance feeling tired or fatigued in any way? Dry skin or hair?
What your fiance CAN do, and I highly recommend it, is have a full TSH and thyroid panel done. A lot of docs look at the basic tests and if the number is within a "normal" range they think all is well, and even being at the low end of normal can make losing weight harder. There are other factors, such as T4-T3 conversion, that affect the absorption and effectiveness of synthroid. Some people have experimented with using a combination of natural and synthetic thyroid hormone if they don't respond well to synthroid alone.

It's not a good idea to up the dosing on her own, though. It can have side effects and will skew future tests, leading to inaccurate prescribing of a lower dosage. I recommend checking out this page: http://my.webmd.com/hw/womens_conditions/hw27377.asp
and then going in and asking to look at the full lab results.

I've had a hella time losing weight for many years. I did very well eliminating starchy carbs and lifting regularly, and eating small, frequent meals. I sometimes suspect that insulin resistance and hypothyroidism are linked. Cardio alone never worked as well for me as lifting and eliminating carbs. I also had good luck cycling a homemade ECA stack (vasopro Ephedrine HCL tablet, 200 mg caffeine, and 325
mg aspirin), but you need to be careful if you're taking synthroid or drink coffee or other stimulants (soda). I took my synthroid early in the am and used the ECA stack 2x a day, midday and late afternoon.

I had posted before about my fiances quest to losing 10-15lbs and lowering her bf% in time for our wedding. (we are about 12 weeks out) She has been doing cardio in the morning 4-5days/wk at 20min/day and workout with weights 4 days/wk with her diet in check. Its been 3 weeks now and she is still around the same weight. I kept telling her that it would take some time but I was sure we would see results by now.

Now, after that said Ill get to my question. She used to have a hyperactive thyroid which made her very skinny. So what they did was destroyed her throid altogether and she takes (1) synthyroid .125mg tab/day to act like her thyroid. I figured if she uped the dose it would kinda be like it was before(hyperactive) thus losing weight. If anyone my have some experience with this or may be able to point me in the right direction I would be greatful. That is the only other thing I can think of that would be holding her back. Thanks again, Boone