[Kimberly]

#1065906

First, I want to mention that you should get a doctor’s clearance before engaging in any type of strength training exercises. When we are hypER, the body is actually tearing down muscle mass — and trying to do strength training or engaging in other intense exercise can make this *worse*, which will set back your healing process. It’s best to clear any type of activity with your doctor if your thyroid levels are still too high. Your #1 priority right now is to get your thyroid levels stabilized so your body can begin healing.

But, yes, metabolism is where the body converts food to energy. We had a nutritionist present at last year’s conference, and she said that the energy is used as follows: 60% for keeping the body going (breathing, pumping blood, etc.), 30% for physical activity, and 10% for digesting and absorbing food. When we are hypER, our metabolism goes into overdrive. The problem with this is that the body starts breaking down muscle (and even bone) mass to use for extra energy. This can be especially dangerous because the *heart* itself is a muscle. So the ATDs are designed to block production of extra thyroid hormone, which will bring your metabolism back down to a "normal" level.

Once your hypERthyroidism is under control, will your "new normal" metabolism be the same as your "old normal"? No one can say for sure, but from personal experience, mine is not. I’ve found that I need to eat less than I did *before* I went hyper in order to maintain my weight. Part of this could be that I lost muscle mass when I was hypER. Muscle is said to be more "metabolically active" than fat, as it burns calories even when at rest. So once your thyroid levels are stabilized, adding some strength training exercises can help boost your metabolism in a good way — and not in a damaging way.

[Corinne]

#1065907

So, I don’t really know exactly how Graves and ATDs and related things affect your metabolism but here is a general explanation of metabolism:

"burning calories" is literally your body taking sugars, carbohydrates, and other compounds from your food and using them to produce energy your body can use to function. "Energy" to the body is actually a MOLECULE that is required for the majority of chemical reactions that take place in our body. Many processes require this energy thats made, but for example muscle happens to have a really high energy consumption. So say you eat something, and you want to run, your body will take sugar from your food and make it into energy, the movement of your muscles is enough to use up some of that energy so the sugar you ate is now gone, or "burned" up by the muscle’s activity. But, if you ate a really big meal there may be some sugar left over. So if your body doesn’t need it right now it will, instead of making it into energy, store it in a different form for later use. So the more muscle mass you have, the more energy your muscles will require for activity, and there will be less left over that needs to be stored for future use. Metabolism is kind of your body’s "balance" between energy being used and energy being stored for later. The more energy you use up initially, the faster your metabolism is. The more energy you store for future use, the slower your metabolism is. One way your body stores energy for later use is in fat. So a slower metabolism can mean a person would have a harder time losing weight. The amount of energy your body uses is not the only thing that regulates metabolism though (of course because the body is so complicated there are so many different things controlling every aspect of life!). There is also hormonal control of metabolism, which is different for each person, and this is how Grave’s can enter the equation. When you are hyper, we can lose muscle mass due to muscle wasting, which can slow our metabolism. Even if we are losing weight because our muscle is disappearing, our body is not using energy that we are getting from our food, so this is why it can affect people differently weight-wise. I lost no weight with my Grave’s, instead I have steadily gained weight, even when I was consistently working out before my diagnosis. But, when we go hypo, through hormonal "communication" our body can tell us to consume less energy, and actually slow our metabolism too. I think, just from what I have read about them, ATD’s since their goal is to inhibit our thyroid function, make our bodies mimic a hypothyroid state, so our metabolism may slow when we take them as well, which is one cause of the weight gain from ATD’s.

I hope that maybe explained a little bit about our body’s metabolism. Maybe it was just more confusing. I have thought about this a lot lately, because my weight gain I think was one of the reasons my doctors were confused and didn’t think to check for Grave’s right away. I am definitely responding to the ATD’s differently than the majority of Grave’s patients too. My doctor described my weight on my first 3mo of methimazole as "rock steady". The number might be the same from week to week, but man does it feel like my pants are getting smaller! Its so frustrating.

But like I said this is just a general overview of metabolism, because there is so much more to it….because the body is amazing and sooo many things are happening in our body that we don’t even need to think about….they just happen! So cool. ” title=”Wink” /> I have always just been awed by biology, so excuse my corny-ness about the body!

[kristenb]

#1018596

what does burning calories actually mean?

I always think of it as increasing my metabolism, and if thats the case, I am out of luck because I am taking ATD (pretty high dose right now). Don’t the drugs restrict my levels from increase?

I have googled it to really understand it but I can’t wrap my head around it. Is running really only increasing your metabolism? Is building muscle only increasing your metabolism? Can we do that

[kristenb]

#1065908

Kimberly- I have been given the okay! the doctor just wants me to stay on 300 mg of ptu until my next apt, which is the 15th… I have been on ATD since January.

I am still confused though- I understand that muscle boost metabolism, but does this occur even if levels are medically maintained? I lost about 15 lbs being hyper, and I gained that all back, which is great, but it went from lean, to flabbbby! Will I get my muscle back?? Even on ATD?

I definitely have to eat less as well, but I have eaten like a horse my whole life.

Can you boost your metabolism if you are taking a fixed thyroid hormone as well?

[kristenb]

#1065909

Thank you corrine… a little confusing but helpful!

Graves is related to the metabolism because the thyroid produces hormones that have a lot to do with converting food to energy. With out that hormone, how does that happen??

[Bobbi]

#1065910

A quick correction: while ATDs do inhibit the production of thyroid hormone, they do not "mimic" hypothyroidism. They can CAUSE it, if we are taking too big a dose, but if they have us solidly in the normal zone, we are not hypothyroid. The problem some folks have with weight gain when normalized on the ATDs is the same phenomenon that occurs when we get normalized on thyroid hormone replacements like synthroid. We’ve lost muscle and our metabolisms are commensurately lower than they used to be. Also, no matter how we’ve regained normal levels of thyroid, the muscle mass starts to return — and this looks like weight gain, too.

Also — thyroid hormone is related to metabolism because it acts as the catalyst for cells in the body to function. With no thyroid hormone we would die. None of our treatments leave us without thyroid hormone. If we choose ATDs, we need to find the "Goldilocks" dose — the dose that is not too much (hypothyroid), not too little (hyperthyroid), but just right (normal levels of thyroid hormone). When we have our thyroids removed either via RAI or surgery, we take replacement hormone which is chemically identical to thyroxine (the pro-hormone that converts to T3 for cell metabolism purposes).

But, there is more to our metabolism that just thyroid — saying thyroid "is" our metabolism is over-simplifying things. Our activity level contributes to how many calories we burn. The amount of muscle mass we have contributes to how many calories we burn, too. I have a friend who trains, all the time, for marathons. She’s an exercise junkie, who is about a size 1. She eats about three times more than I do without gaining weight. And this was true even before I got Graves. She is solid muscle, and she exercises a couple of hours (or more) a day, when she isn’t competing. She burns lots and lots of calories.

[kristenb]

#1065911

how does muscle burn calories? just by boosting metabolism?

[kristenb]

#1065912

If you are on thyroid hormone- are you able to exercise, and increase your metabolism to help lose weight? I feel like this may be a problem because you are given a prescription dose of hormone..

[Kimberly]

#1065913

kristenb wrote:Will I get my muscle back?? Even on ATD?

Can you boost your metabolism if you are taking a fixed thyroid hormone as well?

Hello – Yes, you *can* get that muscle mass back by doing some strength training (again, making sure it’s with your doctor’s blessing). It’s best to start with LIGHT weights, and then SLOWLY increase as doing the reps get easier and easier. You definitely don’t want to deal with a physical injury on top of your Graves’ disease!

There are a few things we can do to rev up our metabolism — here are a few suggestions from the nutritionist who spoke at last year’s conference:

* Prioritize at least 7 hours of sleep at night
* Eat breakfast daily w/in 2 hours of waking up
* Do NOT go longer than 5 hours between meals and/or snacks.
* Do 150 minutes of physical activity per week, plus strength training twice per week. (Again, for those who are still hypER, please check with your doctor before starting any exercise routine).

Under NO circumstances should we use diet pills, excessive caffeine, or alter our thyroid medication. Yes, weight is important to all of us — but our #1 priority is to protect our health by keeping our thyroid levels stabilized.

[Ski]

#1065914

Muscle tissue, STRONG, healthy muscle tissue, burns calories while you’re sitting still. That’s how it helps your metabolism.

[Kimberly]

#1065915

kristenb wrote:If you are on thyroid hormone- are you able to exercise, and increase your metabolism to help lose weight? I feel like this may be a problem because you are given a prescription dose of hormone..

Oops, looks like our 2 e-mails crossed in cyberspace. I wasn’t sure if you were asking if you are "allowed" to exercise — or if the exercise will impact your metabolism if you are on replacement hormone. If you are asking if we are "allowed" to exercise, the limitation on exercise only applies when we are in a hypER state. So those who are on replacement hormone, but have tested in the "normal" range CAN exercise. Although when starting any type of exercise program, it’s a good idea to check with your doctor first to see if he/she has any concerns.

If you are asking if exercise can help increase calorie burn for those who are on replacement hormone, yes it can. About 30% of our total calorie expenditure for the day comes from physical activity, so any increase in physical activity can help burn extra calories. Exercise can also help re-build some of that lean muscle mass that we lost while hypER…which can give our metabolism an *extra* boost. However, while our bodies are still trying to heal from the effects of being hypERthyroid, I would recommend starting slooooow with any activity, and then gradually increase the time and/or intensity of your workout.

If you are interested in finding out your own Resting Metabolic Rate (the amount of calories your body burns at rest), a nutritionist can can help you find a facility that administers this test. The nutritionist who spoke at our conference said that her local YMCA provides this service to members (for an extra fee, of course).

[kristenb]

#1065916

SKI- I guess I am having a hard time understanding what "burning calories" actually entails.

[Bobbi]

#1065917

Cells throughout the body are functioning, even when we are asleep. Proteins and other compounds from the foods we eat, are converted into usable form, to provide energy for the cells to continue to work away. Think of gas in a car’s engine. While they work, heat is generated. even if the car is only idling. And, as Ski mentioned, muscle cells apparently need more energy to maintain themselves, to do their basic functions, than other cells do. A calorie is a very specific, scientific term at heart. If you look it up in the dictionary, you will see that it means the amount of heat needed to raise a specific amount of water one degree celcius at a specific atmospheric pressure. At some point in time, someone, somewhere decided to use the concept of a calorie to describe the amount of heat generated by the cells in the body as they work. But also — which makes things confusing, too — people use the term to describe the amount of energy cells need to use, or "burn," to continue to function. The "basal metabolism" in the body is the amount of energy needed to maintain life, to keep the cells functioning, and we typically now use the term "calorie" to describe the amount of energy needed for this.

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