The FastDay Forum

Help please! I have been doing 5.2 since Feb 2013 very successfully until October and was just 3lb short of my target weight,then my weight loss stopped. Over Christmas and New Year I put on 4lb and am finding it impossible to lose it. I started doing 4.3 last week hoping to get back on track.
I am on medications for an underactive thyroid, hiatus hernia and high blood pressure, strangely my weight loss stopped about the same time as my medication was reduced for the thyroid problem.

Sorry to hear this.

If your medication has been reduced, your metabolic rate will have fallen and so you're TDEE will be less. Sadly, you'll have to cut more calories out of your diet. Doing 4:3 could be the answer. Can you speak to your doc and find out if your really have to have your meds cut? Have they checked but only TSH but also fT4, fT3 and rT3?

Hi jam i wonder if its having your thyroid medication reduced thats caused it?
The blood tests for thyroid are not that accurate. I wonder if yr doc could doublecheck your thyroxine ( or whatever medi you are on )needs and ensure that it hasnt been reduced too much.
Its very dispiriting isnt it when this happens..could be a plateau like many of us experience
You could try eating more for a while in case yr body is going into starvation mode after some months of dieting ...
Eating right up to and over your TDEE for a while rather than doing 4:3 might reassure yr system that there's no famine to worry about x

No ideas, but me too! It's dreadful, isn't it?? I am not on any meds but like you haven't dropped a pound in almost 6 months, despite still fasting strictly twice a week. I think I need to lower what I eat on my 5 days, but I haven't really done that. It seems so hard! Good luck to you!

Hi @GardenJan Well I was going to say SNAP!!!
But I did assume it may have been down to your medication and as Caroline has given you the best advice anyone can I'll just wish you the best of luck.
because at least my plateau isn't caused by meds I need to keep looking and trying.

Thank you all for your replies and advice. My Dr. only tests for TSH. I see him again in two months time and will talk to him then. I'll carry on doing 4:3 for a while.
Good luck to nycnyc 2013 and Sue too!

TSH alone doesn't tell you much. It only gives a measure of how much your brain is stimulating the thyroid. You need to know how much T4 the thyroid is producing, how much is being converted to the active T3 and how much of the opposing hormone rT3 there is in order to know whether someone's thyroid is working properly. During weight loss there can be changes in how much T4 is converted to T3 so if that happens the TSH values will be normal but their effect on metabolism is not the same as when more T4 is being converted to T3. You can demand that your doc tests for freeT4 and freeT3. I think rT3 is hard to get tested though.

In the meantime you have to assume your TDEE is lower than predicted. 4:3 is a good idea but make sure you eat well on the non fast days. Fasting for more than 36 hours can slow thyroid function in some people so don't be tempted to carry on into the next day. Better to fast more often for shorter times I think.

Also check out the threads on fasting with thyroid disorders in the Fasting with Medical Conditions section.

Hi @carorees
The situation re thyroid testing in Uk seems to be abysmal in the Uk..but seeing as thyroid medication is so vital it's prescribed free on the NHS,i can't understand why it isnt tested for properly? Apparently from what ive read, doctors have argued about this for many years.

Ive been thinking of getting a private blood test to get an accurate reading for my thyroid but ive heard that if they show you need a higher dosage of meds,you can't get it on NHS anyway,and it works out very expensive on a private prescription
However,as i do lose weight generally when i cut my calories/ fast, i can only assume that i am already getting adequate dose of levo thyroxine..but not such good news for others here

Good luck Jan when ypu next see yr gp