Obese: I feel incredibly upset about this. Med students/others please help!
If you're going to abuse me, please don't bother, I feel bad enough already.
I'm 5'9 and weigh 15stone 5pounds.
I have put on 4 stone since April. I have not changed my eating habits or exercise amount. I'm at a complete loss as to what is causing such a high level of weight gain. I noticed today that I'm starting to get stretchmarks on the sides of my belly and top of my thighs. I cried for ages when i saw these as i know they're permanent.
I saw my GP mid-July and he did a blood test which showed my thyroid hormone level was a tiny bit low. I got prescribed meds for this and retesting 2 weeks later showed my levels were normal. I still did not lose any weight however, despite cycling and walking more.
I saw him again today and he did another thyroid test. I get the result Tuesday. I'm still taking the thyroid med so have no idea why he'd need to do it again but anyway...
I feel utterly disgusting. I don't have the money for new clothes so I only have 1 pair of trousers, 1 pair of shorts, and 7 pairs of boxers. I like larger sized tshirts so thankfully they are still wearable even though they're all tight and uncomfortable.
Anyway, enough rambling. I just wanted to know has anyone else had sudden unexplained weight gain and then managed to work out what's wrong? Or maybe a med student has read about some condition that causes this? I think my GP has no idea and I don't see how retesting my thyroid an help. I've googled and not found anything which i think sounds like what I'm going through.Is there anything I can do to slow down, stop, or preferably reverse the weight gain does anyone know?
If you made it this far, thanks for reading and thanks for the advice given.
I'm 5'9 and weigh 15stone 5pounds.
I have put on 4 stone since April. I have not changed my eating habits or exercise amount. I'm at a complete loss as to what is causing such a high level of weight gain. I noticed today that I'm starting to get stretchmarks on the sides of my belly and top of my thighs. I cried for ages when i saw these as i know they're permanent.
I saw my GP mid-July and he did a blood test which showed my thyroid hormone level was a tiny bit low. I got prescribed meds for this and retesting 2 weeks later showed my levels were normal. I still did not lose any weight however, despite cycling and walking more.
I saw him again today and he did another thyroid test. I get the result Tuesday. I'm still taking the thyroid med so have no idea why he'd need to do it again but anyway...
I feel utterly disgusting. I don't have the money for new clothes so I only have 1 pair of trousers, 1 pair of shorts, and 7 pairs of boxers. I like larger sized tshirts so thankfully they are still wearable even though they're all tight and uncomfortable.
Anyway, enough rambling. I just wanted to know has anyone else had sudden unexplained weight gain and then managed to work out what's wrong? Or maybe a med student has read about some condition that causes this? I think my GP has no idea and I don't see how retesting my thyroid an help. I've googled and not found anything which i think sounds like what I'm going through.Is there anything I can do to slow down, stop, or preferably reverse the weight gain does anyone know?
If you made it this far, thanks for reading and thanks for the advice given.
Original post by 999tigger
Open an account on MFP , then WEIGH (using a scale) and log all your food.
Whats your accurate calorie consumption each day?
How much exercise are you dong per week?
Whats your accurate calorie consumption each day?
How much exercise are you dong per week?
I haven't changed my eating habits at all. And I've been doing more exercise over the past 5 weeks or so than before I put all this weight on.
But anyway, I worked it out. I would need to eat 1217 calories extra every day over what I was eating when my weight was stable before April in order to put on this 4 stone. That's not exactly an easy task and it would definitely be noticeable on my wallet.
Original post by shawn_o1
You clearly know you have an underactive thyroid. According to nhs there is No specific cause of this, so it's best to follow your doctor's advice
What do you mean I "clearly know" I have hypothyroidism? it was 0.2 below a normal range the first time the doc measured it. I then took the pills (and am still taking them) which put my thyroid levels into the normal range - yet I'm still gaining weight.
Original post by iThrow
started drinking more alcohol?
Nope. I don't go to pubs or drink spirits or anything. Just a couple of ciders perhaps once a month while watching a movie or something.
I'm not a health professional but I know a lot about hypothyroidism and from what you've said I don't think the cause of your weight gain is from hypothyroidism. If your second blood test showed you had normal levels then in theory you should be able to lose and gain weight just like any other person. Do you mind me asking what your current dose is? From what you've said I think there might be something else wrong and agree that another blood test seems somewhat pointless. I know you've probably done lots of research online but do you think you might have any of these conditions:
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/loseweight/Pages/medical-reasons-for-putting-on-weight.aspx
Sorry I can't be of much help, to me it certainly doesn't seem like your weight gain is due to a thyroid problem so I would really push your doctor to try to investigate more as it's obviously affecting your emotional and probably physical health.
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/loseweight/Pages/medical-reasons-for-putting-on-weight.aspx
Sorry I can't be of much help, to me it certainly doesn't seem like your weight gain is due to a thyroid problem so I would really push your doctor to try to investigate more as it's obviously affecting your emotional and probably physical health.
Original post by jape
Calories In, Calories Out. It's literally that simple. Not easy necessarily, just simple.
me
I have put on 4 stone since April. I have not changed my eating habits or exercise amount. I'm at a complete loss as to what is causing such a high level of weight gain.
Unless you're gonna try telling me that suddenly my body needs 1200 calories less every day?
Original post by ed98
I'm not a health professional but I know a lot about hypothyroidism and from what you've said I don't think the cause of your weight gain is from hypothyroidism. If your second blood test showed you had normal levels then in theory you should be able to lose and gain weight just like any other person. Do you mind me asking what your current dose is? From what you've said I think there might be something else wrong and agree that another blood test seems somewhat pointless. I know you've probably done lots of research online but do you think you might have any of these conditions:
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/loseweight/Pages/medical-reasons-for-putting-on-weight.aspx
Sorry I can't be of much help, to me it certainly doesn't seem like your weight gain is due to a thyroid problem so I would really push your doctor to try to investigate more as it's obviously affecting your emotional and probably physical health.
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/loseweight/Pages/medical-reasons-for-putting-on-weight.aspx
Sorry I can't be of much help, to me it certainly doesn't seem like your weight gain is due to a thyroid problem so I would really push your doctor to try to investigate more as it's obviously affecting your emotional and probably physical health.
Tbh I think I might see another doctor as this one doesn't really seem to know what he's doing. My heart rate is consistently above 115 bpm. He got me to do a holter monitor test and then decided nothing was wrong. Despite me recording that my heart went crazy for no reason several times during that 24 hours. I can be sitting in class and suddenly my heart will start going over 140. So yeah, probably another doc is in order.
to answer you though (thank you for the reply), I don't think I have any of those conditions. I'm on levothyroxine 50mcg - so a low dose. I really don't understand his reasoning for checking it again other than not knowing what else to do.
Still, I'll find out the result tuesday.Original post by Anonymous
Unless you're gonna try telling me that suddenly my body needs 1200 calories less every day?
Ingest as many calories as you like. But burn more.
Original post by jape
Ingest as many calories as you like. But burn more.
If you read the OP and my other replies in this thread, you'd learn that I haven't been eating more. I have been exercising more. And in order for me to put on 4 stone in the time I did, I would need to eat 1200 calories extra a day. That's not really something that a person can do accidentally. 1200 calories extra every day for about 160 days. How the hell would I even afford that?
I have no idea. But the fact is that the weight isn't just materialising, especially given your doctor's indication that your Thyroid is probably fine. Maybe your diet has changed and you just haven't noticed. Exercising more is an important part of the process though, so well done on that front.
To the OP. Sorry you're having such a bad time. I have an underactive thyroid and had it for years and never experienced weight gain.
My advice to you is to insist that your GP refers you to a specialist for tests. GPs are the first point of contact but they are rarely specialised in any specific field.
I don't think people should diagnose you here but I can understand how anxious you are.
I hope you get the answers you need. X
My advice to you is to insist that your GP refers you to a specialist for tests. GPs are the first point of contact but they are rarely specialised in any specific field.
I don't think people should diagnose you here but I can understand how anxious you are.
I hope you get the answers you need. X
You sound very stressed. Try to calm down. There is not just one thyroid test. There is a thyroid test you do initially, and then there are further thyroid tests testing different levels of different things to get a more detailed picture of whats going on and how everything is interacting, and what the cause may be. Your doctor sounds like he is doing the right thing. I'm glad you have a doctor that agreed to test you in the first place, from what I've heard many are dismissive. I don't know why your heart rate is high? That can be due to the hypothyroidism or maybe anxiety. Stretch marks are not a big deal and they are not necessarily permanent, they will fade at least. It has been 2 months you're not going to lose weight that quickly. And you say "it was only a tiny bit low of the normal range" I'm guessing this was TSH level? It doesn't matter that it's a "tiny bit" low. It was low. It indicates hypothyroidism. 0.2 you say? Well according to info i'm posting below, normal range can be 0.5 - 5.0 so yours was definitely low. And it is more complicated than you think. Sorry if this sounds harsh but here I think your doctor knows better than you so just try to calm down, leave it a bit in their hands, and wait and see. If you get nowhere and you are really worried by all means ask a second opinion/to be referred to a specialist, but, really, perhaps your doctor does know what they are doing after all so give them a chance, it's not magic.
Some advise from Thyroid UK:
"Before you make the appointment:
Find out whether you have had any previous thyroid tests done. If you have, find out exactly which tests you have had done and make a note of them. The most common thyroid tests are Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH), Free T4 (FT4) and Free T3 (FT3). Sometimes the thyroid antibody tests will be done – Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) and Thyroglobulin (TgAb) - but not often. Sometimes the receptionist will give them to you over the phone but you will probably need to go into the surgery and ask for your test results."
"
Ask your doctor if you can have all the thyroid tests available if you have not had these done. Many doctors only do the TSH test. However, some doctors believe that all the tests need to be done i.e. TSH, FT4, FT3, TPO and TgAb. This will ensure that other thyroid problems are not missed such as non-conversion of T4 into T3, Hashimoto’s disease, central (secondary) hypothyroidism or Graves’ disease. Be aware, though, that your GP may ask for FT3 to be done but the lab that the test form goes to may refuse to do it. You could try asking if your GP will add something to the test form to say "Thyroid function test including FT3 & FT4, regardless of the TSH reading." as this may help."
"Do not just accept “normal”. You should always ask for the actual figures of your test results – your level as well as the ranges. Be aware that different areas in the country use different test ranges so one TSH test range might be 0.5 – 5.0 but in another area the TSH range might be 0.4 - 4.0. You could be “borderline” (near the bottom or top of the range) or have “subclinical hypothyroidism” (high TSH and normal FT4) or “subclinical hyperthyroidism” (low TSH and normal FT4) and not be aware of this because you have not been given the ranges of the tests. Subclinical thyroid disease is not usually treated although treatment may be useful."
http://www.thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/diagnosis/getting_diagnosis.html
More complicated info, don't know how credible.. :
https://chriskresser.com/5-thyroid-patterns-that-wont-show-up-on-standard-lab-tests/
Some advise from Thyroid UK:
"Before you make the appointment:
Find out whether you have had any previous thyroid tests done. If you have, find out exactly which tests you have had done and make a note of them. The most common thyroid tests are Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH), Free T4 (FT4) and Free T3 (FT3). Sometimes the thyroid antibody tests will be done – Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) and Thyroglobulin (TgAb) - but not often. Sometimes the receptionist will give them to you over the phone but you will probably need to go into the surgery and ask for your test results."
"
Ask your doctor if you can have all the thyroid tests available if you have not had these done. Many doctors only do the TSH test. However, some doctors believe that all the tests need to be done i.e. TSH, FT4, FT3, TPO and TgAb. This will ensure that other thyroid problems are not missed such as non-conversion of T4 into T3, Hashimoto’s disease, central (secondary) hypothyroidism or Graves’ disease. Be aware, though, that your GP may ask for FT3 to be done but the lab that the test form goes to may refuse to do it. You could try asking if your GP will add something to the test form to say "Thyroid function test including FT3 & FT4, regardless of the TSH reading." as this may help."
"Do not just accept “normal”. You should always ask for the actual figures of your test results – your level as well as the ranges. Be aware that different areas in the country use different test ranges so one TSH test range might be 0.5 – 5.0 but in another area the TSH range might be 0.4 - 4.0. You could be “borderline” (near the bottom or top of the range) or have “subclinical hypothyroidism” (high TSH and normal FT4) or “subclinical hyperthyroidism” (low TSH and normal FT4) and not be aware of this because you have not been given the ranges of the tests. Subclinical thyroid disease is not usually treated although treatment may be useful."
http://www.thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/diagnosis/getting_diagnosis.html
More complicated info, don't know how credible.. :
https://chriskresser.com/5-thyroid-patterns-that-wont-show-up-on-standard-lab-tests/
(edited 7 years ago)
And please don't be too hard on yourself <3
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