-
AuthorPosts
-
I go in Tuesday for my surgical consult and have been reading alot of horror stories about weight gain. I’m really not that fat and am OK with the way I am, but I dont want to get bigger. I am 5’6″ and weigh 195….. I have lost 15lbs in 3 months without trying. Does EVERYONE go into hypo after removal? Any good stories out there?
Hi!
I had my TT 4 months ago and have not gained any weight. I’m hoping it stays that way! We’ll see I guess. I eat healthy most of the time and exercise 4-5 days a week. Everyone usually goes hypo to one extent or another after surgery until your replacement hormone dose is figured out (which takes time- 6 weeks for each dose change until labs accurately reflect your levels). So, you could go hypo after surgery for awhile. I had one bump in dosing and then my levels evened out. I was fortunate in that I never really went hypo at all. My TSH was 6.35 after 6 weeks on 100 mcg, but my free T4 & T3 were normal range. I was upped to 112 mcg. and my TSH is now around .68. Do I feel great? No. I don’t. Do I feel much better than when I was hyper? Absolutely! I don’t feel terrible, but I’m not quite the same as before Graves. Maybe it will get better- I hope so. I get some headaches and am down sometimes, but otherwise, not too bad- I sleep pretty well for the most part and 98% of my other symptoms are gone- no heart palpitations (heart rate is now 62), no tremors, no anxiety- sometimes an eensy weensy bit, but not much really. So, all in all, a good decision to have the TT. Good luck!
It isn’t about what treatment option you choose. When we are hyperthyroid we lose muscle mass. Losing muscle mass causes us to lose weight, because muscle weighs more than other body tissues. But it is horrible weight to lose. Losing muscle makes us weaker. The heart is a muscle, remember, so some of the weakening goes to the heart as well. When we get back to normal levels of thyroid hormone — by whatever treatment means we choose — at least some of the lost muscle slowly comes back on, and this looks like weight gain. It is weight gain. But it means we are getting strong again. Some of the weight we lose while hyper may be due to the higher metabolic rate caused by being hyper. And we may get used to eating more as a result and have to change portion sizes to accomodate the lower metabolism associated with normal levels of hormone. But the key, for me was to understand the lost muscle, and the weight issues associated with that. As soon as I was able to exercise, I did, to strengthen the returning muscle. And I did gain some weight, but I did not go up in clothing size when that happened.
As for your question about going hypo after the surgery. Yes. And no. “Hypothyroid” is a technical term that simply means that the body has too little thyroid hormone….a lower than “normal” level of thyroid hormone. When we have surgery or RAI and the thyroid is removed, the whole point of the procedure is to remove the thyroid. So, yes, you would be hypothyroid, if nothing else were done. But then we take replacement hormone. Replacement hormone (the levothyroxin types) are chemically identical to our body’s own T4, which is a sort of timed-release thyroid hormone (layman’s terms). It is converted in the liver and other parts of the body into T3 which the cells use. So, on a proper dose of replacement hormone, we have normal levels of thyroid hormone in our bodies and we are NOT hypothyroid.
Thank You guys…… This made alot of sense and makes me feel better about opting for the TT. I have a surgical consult tomorrow to I will keep you posted.
Bobbi, what an excellent and concise summary of the thyroid hormonal process. i don’t know what you do for a living, but you would be a good technical writer. To echo what many have already said, this forum is a godsend!
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.