The FastDay Forum

... my Mum has had her thyroid removed too, and she says she needs it both to take her Thyroxine with and to wake her up.

Thanks for the suggestions, Esmecat... but colour me puzzled!
I have always taken my thyroxine first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, at least 20 mn before any food.

I avoid breakfast on fast days. If I were to start eating early on a day when I'm meant to restrict, it would be impossible to stop!

I haven't used sugar or even honey for several years now. But I did have some maple syrup this morning!
I use powdered stevia when I need to sweeten something.

1 lb a week? I wish!

Keihira
must be very frustrating for you. You have done so well.
Wishing you all the best as you work you way through this tough bit

[carorees]

Amazon is a good source for getting supplements that are hard to find, I just used the shop and support this site link to order some magnesium oil, which I want to try because they say that if you have low magnesium you can also have problems absorbing from the gut (also if vit d it
s low) so either soaking in an Epsoms salt bath or applying magnesium oil to the skin works better. I'm sure you could get vit d supplements on Amazon too.

Can I ask how the magnesium comes and what type you all use? I was in a health food store today to get some epsom salts and I looked for magnesium but didn't see it.

[carorees]

Epsom salts are magnesium sulphate, so soaking in the bath with the salts added is a good way to absorb magnesium.

Magnesium oil is magnesium chloride and it is applied to the skin

If you prefer tablets you should look for magnesium citrate or magnesium orotate as they are better absorbed.

You are looking at trying to supplement with approx 300mg of elemental magnesium.

There is a thread about magnesium in the 5:2 labs

Thanks carorees, will check there.

[Betsysgr8]

Having a soak with epsom salts will also help relieve some stress levels and if you do this before bed, it might help with sleep relaxation.

Quick update:

I have just ingested a mega dose (200 000 ui) of Vit D, as prescribed by my French GP this afternoon when I mentioned the borderline level shown on the blood test last month.
I have another for next month.

I'm going to a health food shop with my (slim) neighbour tomorrow, as she wants to buy some Nigari salt (= magnesium chloride). She has been talking about it non-stop lately and drinks a glass of salty water every morning.

As I have never enjoyed soaking in the bath, unless someone can correct me, this would appear to be a suitable alternative to Epsom salt baths...

That's it for now...

Thank you all! Much appreciated

[Tracieknits]

Keihira - I get it. I hadn't lost a POUND since early March. I know exactly why - my thryoid slowed down a lot. I know, I know, I need to be really thankful that I didn't really gain anything (although I was going up and down a 4lb window in March and April, which narrowed to a 2lb window in May). With a low thyroid, one is supposed to gain weight like mad.

I got a normal thyroid reading almost two weeks ago - Finally! and last week I didn't lose anything despite being SO GOOD! I had really cut out trips to the patisserie. I was eating so many more veggies and exercising more regularly than ever in my life. This past weekend, I kind of went "sod it" - I'm going to use what Carorees posted about eating more as an experiment. And I ate more! I had pastry. I ate Poutine on Monday night (a quebecois specialty - french fries drenched in gravy and cheddar cheese curds). And today? For the first time in months I broke down below 239.8. That was a wall I had been banging my head against since early March.

So I'm glad I persevered, and maybe, just maybe I should listen to Carorees more often

I'm not going to pig out every day, but I think I'm going to make it my mission to have one glorious day of gluttony every week end.

I have to agree with Esmecat's mum regarding breakfast. When having thyroid problems, our metabolism is so slow that we need to wake it up!

[carorees]

Re your comment about breakfast: Yes, thyroxine should be taken on an empty stomach...you need to wait 30 min before having breakfast!

I just had a thought while doing the school run: When you look at your neighbour and your OH's weight loss...remember that they still have a thyroid! Sadly, you can't compare their weightloss with your own because their TDEE is likely higher. So, even if you followed your neighbour's plan, you might not lose any weight...you would need to work out the calorie intake. It is quite likely that a dietician would prescribe a diet of around 1500 cals for the average person to lose weight, but we have established that your TDEE might only be around 1500 so it likely wouldn't work for you.

It's a bummer, I have to say.

Tracieknits is right of course...you need to follow my advice!!!!!

Seriously, though some of the tips I noted down may be of value, plus re-read the thyroid threads as marlathome had some good tips plus a link to a website (forum?) dedicated to helping people with thyroid deficiencies. I expect that the levothyroxine is not really replacing your missing thyroid and I'm sure I read somewhere that it is common for its effectiveness to reduce over time...marlathome wrote about this.

I hear you, but you've already lost 13 kilos, that's loads!!

And well just looking at your neighbour's food plan makes me not want to do it, first of all the precision, the exact weights and exact foods...no cake or chocolate...and 7 days a week for life...I hope she manages to stick to it but I know I couldn't!

And dont forget that on these type of diets we lose weight quickly and then put it on even quicker. I have been the super star at slimming world with my badge and everyone clapping me on then within months I was heavier than ever. Remember that this is slow but it is something we can stick with forver!!! I agree with others in posts try to kick start it with fasting or exercising more. The best of luck And please dont give up. You just need to get through this blip!!

This study shows that certain individuals do better on a high carb low fat diet.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21 ... ensitivity

So, not everyone benefits from a low carb diet, although many do.

My suggestion for Keihera then is to mix things up a bit and have some indulgent days where bread is allowed!

I agree with this. You actually might not be eating *enough* on your non-fasting days. That whole 'starvation reflex' thing isn't complete bunk. I've never heard of any diet that did *not* have some sort of plateau. "Mixing up a bit" is great advice for anyone who's hit a plateau on any diet.

I agree with what others have said here, too. Anything that is too restrictive would never work for me, personally, in the long-term. As you said, I could never give up bread and pasta!!

I think in % health risk terms, losing as much as you have will have had a huge impact impact in reducing your risks. The cortisol released by being stressed will affect any weight loss & your sleep. The paleo web resources go on about this endlessly...

I use hypnotherapy cd's & they help me.

The TPA (Thyroid patient Advocacy) website and link to their yahoo forums is a great resource for thyroid patients. I don't know about doctors in France, but British doctors will usually only prescribe 'just enough' levothyroxine to a patient, which for a lot of patients isn't enough for optimum health.
Have a look at the website and the yahoo group where there are loads of pages of helpful information, one in particular is about which vitamins are important for the body and its thyroxine conversion.

http://tpauk.com/