The FastDay Forum

Thyroxine dosage is directly related to weight. My doctor said if I choose to have my thyroid killed with radiation, and get put on thyroxine, the dose will have to change whenever weight goes up or down.

He said 10 lbs of weight loss or gain will affect the dose.

Weird - I lost 13 kilo's 8 years ago but had to increase my thyroxine dosage considerably. May be coincidence, not all thyroids are completely dead in Hashimoto's, maybe mine just lost functional area over time. Just goes to show. Probably a good idea for those with a thyroid condition to check thyroid function after a significant change in weight (in either direction).

[Tracieknits]

Oh yes, if you have thyroid tissue, it could totally affect it. My doctor was telling me about dosages if I chose to get my thyroid destroyed or removed.

In the last 7 years (ish) I have lost close to 6 stone and my dosage of thyroxine is still 150mgs, I have a weird thyroid which was very hard to regulate - my doctor said I was the only one on his books where the graph looked like a roller coaster UNTIL I read about taking the drug on an empty stomach.. so I take it when my husband wakes up at around 6.30 and then I don't eat until after 8 and the difference in my blood tests (every 8 weeks) has been

The line on the graph is now very stable and my TSH is around 0.2 - 0.8 whereas before it was anywhere between 5+ and 15 - my doctor was very surprised at the difference it made to me taking it at that time of day..

All very interesting stuff!

I've never been told to take it on an empty stomach either. Usually take it before bed

Taking it in the morning now

Never take your thyroxine with any hot fluids, either - only with cold.

And don't get me started on the subject of thyroxine either! It's all down to money in the end. It costs pennies to treat with T4 (thyroxine), a drug that only does 1/2 a job. All GP's and endo's should be drugged up with valium for a month, so they can see what it's actually like to live on thyroxine.

I have an underactive thyroid too. But the doctor did not reduce the medication (50mcg) as the levels were the same after 3 months of IF. Hope this diet will get our metabolism going too!

Hello - I too am on Thyroxine, just reduced from 175mg to 150mg (new doctor wanted to change it)I have now lost 17lbs and am intersted to see whta my next blood test will show in a coupel of months - will keep you all posted.

marlathome - I am very interested in changing to T4 from Thyroxine -can you arrange through your doctor to change to this - can you offer to pay?

Hello
This is a really interesting thread... It was suggested that I look at this tread because I have an under active thyroid (100mcg levothyroxine) and have not yet lost any weight 4 weeks in - anyone else notice slow weight loss compared to other fasters?

Glad I found this thread. My mother doesn't have a thyroid gland and takes a huge dose of thyroxine everyday. I worry if she carries on with this does she'll have a massive stroke or heart attack.

I had read on another forum that people taking thyroxine and fasting felt their thyroxine was being absorbed better.

Another under active person here.
This is a fascinating subject.
Mine is under control, but my sisters is all over the place and often she feels like she did before being diagnosed.
I personally think Gp's aren't very knowledgeable when it comes to thyroids.
I also think a lot of weight problems are related to thyroid problems.

[carorees]

I've been looking into this problem with slow/no weight loss for people with thyroid problems. There are a few sites that offer some info.

It seems that carbohydrate intake affects thyroid hormone function and release. Another issue is that thyroid hormone is released in a circadian rhythm with much higher release at night. Another problem is that a rapid change in diet can cause problems.

It seems that by not cutting carbs too much too quickly and perhaps using meal timing it may be possible to optimize fasting in cases of underactive thyroid.

One site suggests that 16:8 fasting may work. In this situation you aim to have a 16 hour complete fast and are allowed to eat during an 8 hour eating window (basically finish eating at say 6pm, skip breakfast and then have lunch after 12 next day and dinner before 6pm). They recommend ensuring that the eating window is during the afternoon rather than the evening as the daylight may be beneficial.

Another site suggests not letting carbs go below 20g per day.

I wonder if it would be worth trying the 16:8 approach, perhaps more often than twice a week but with a bigger calorie allowance that includes some complex carbs.

If you were to do 3 times a week with an allowance of 1000 cals in the eating window, you would be getting the same calorie reduction as with 5:2. If that works well you could try dropping to 750 cals to get a bigger calorie reduction which might be necessary with thyroid issues.

Of course there are no scientific studies at all to support this, just the experiences of people on other fasting regimes!

Thoughts?

Info came from here: http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2010/12/in ... hyroidism/
and here: http://drcate.com/going-low-carb-too-fa ... imbalance/

Hello - I too am on Thyroxine, just reduced from 175mg to 150mg (new doctor wanted to change it)I have now lost 17lbs and am intersted to see whta my next blood test will show in a coupel of months - will keep you all posted.

marlathome - I am very interested in changing to T4 from Thyroxine -can you arrange through your doctor to change to this - can you offer to pay?

Sorry, only just seen this. T4 is Thyroxine - do you mean changing to T3? It's an uphill struggle to get T3 prescribed on the NHS and most GPs and endocrinologists refuse - it's all down to cost, of course, as my GP told me frankly. It is possible to have T3 prescribed privately by your GP, if he/she is thinks you would benefit from the change, but it's quite expensive - a month's prescription (28 pills) is £80 at Lloyds, although I believe some chemists are cheaper. I have at last managed to persuade my GP to prescribe T3 on the NHS although he has had problems with the local NHS trust for prescribing.

The whole topic of how hypothyroidism is treated in the UK is problematic - an excellent source of information and support is: http://thyroiduk.healthunlocked.com/ - if I can help further with this in any way please feel free to pm me.
Marlene

Great post caro - the information about circadian rhythm and thyroid is spot on - a great deal of research has been done around this and, if anyone is interested, I can recommend a book "Recovering with T3" by Paul Robinson who addresses this topic, amongst many others. Another good resource book is "Your Thyroid and how to keep it healthy" by Dr Barry Durrant-Peatfield, a thyroid expert working in the UK who had his licence to practice rescinded by the GMC for routinely prescribing T3 for hypothyroidism. If you want to learn more about your thyroid condition, these books, together with the link in my post above, are good starting places.

So far as IF and hypothyroidism is concerned, I have tried 5:2 and 4:3 and, interestingly, have found that I am naturally hungry during any day round about 2-6pm so I am now eating my 'fasting' allowance of approx.400 calories during this 'eating window'. This usually means I don't want to eat again until around the same time the following day, but am hungry enough to eat around 1000/1200 calories or thereabouts during the same 4 hour interval. However, if I am hungry outside this time on non-fast days I don't prevent myself from eating, or limit myself too much. I feel I am finding a natural rhythm and pattern to eating which is dictated by innate drives I was previously unaware of. I am also eating less meat and fewer processed carbs than before.

[Tracieknits]

Carorees - that's fascinating! Of course my thyroid is too fast, and I am medicated to slow down my thyroid.

I too am naturally hungry later in the day. I mean if a girlfriend wants to go out for coffee at a patisserie at 8am, I'll gladly eat. But if I'm not watching, I can easily eat the vast majority of my calories between 4pm and 9pm. It's just how I want to eat.

[carorees]

Hello

I was wondering if anyone on here has tried or is on Dessicated Thyroid Hormone rather than T4 (levothyroxine)? I've enquired with my GP and he's looking into it for me.

I've been on T4 for 4 years and noticed a significant difference in my energy levels and general well-being at first but this has slackened off in the last 2 years, my energy levels are no quite low, or take a lot of management and I'm finding weight loss incredibly difficult.

Stoat.