[leelah1807]

#1017867

Hello!

I am new to this site but have already found it so helpful, thank you to all for sharing your stories.

Here is mine… I am 22 and have spent the last year battling a variety of ‘strange’ symptoms. I reached my breaking point in April when I thought I was having a heat attack on the ski slopes and finally sought medical help. Despite the fact that I had ALL the symptoms, it took several doctor visits before I was diagnosed with Grave’s. My initial uptake scan came back at 89% and I began taking methimazole and atenolol and was told to refrain from any physical activity.

Prior to developing Grave’s, I weighed 135 pounds (I’m 5’5), lifted weights regularly, and ran at least 3 miles a day. Refraining from exercise was very difficult for me, but I obeyed the doctor’s orders and put myself on a low calorie diet to compensate for my inactivity. Despite my efforts, I gained 20 pounds in only 2 months. On June 13th, I had my RAI and was excited at the thought of finally getting healthy. Unfortunately, today I was horrified to find that the scale is still climbing and I am still not feeling better. I currently weigh 157 and am frustrated beyond belief. Although I am now "allowed" to exercise, I have such severe bone and joint pain in my legs that running takes everything out of me. I am weight training, biking, and doing other forms of mild cardio, but am still gaining. I eat 1000 healthy calories a day but it just doesn’t seem to be helping. The doctor wants me to begin synthroid next week, but I have read so many stories of people gaining even MORE weight on that and am honestly just terrified.

I realize that my health is ultimately all that matters right now, but all this extra weight is making me feel worse… does anyone have any personal stories or recommendations for other types of replacement hormones? I would truly appreciate ANY advice at this point. Thank you so much!

Leah

[Kimberly]

#1061384

Hello – If you do a search for “weight” on this board, you will see that many patients struggle with weight issues after treatment. However, if you are being prescribed Synthroid, it’s because your body has gone *hypo* after the RAI, and taking the Synthroid to get your thyroid hormone levels back in balance should help, not hurt.

I’ve included some tips below from a nutritionist who presented at our 2009 conference in Charlotte. Also, she did not recommend going below 1150 calories per day, in order to ensure that our bodies are getting all of the nutrients that it needs.

1. Include breakfast daily within 2 hours of waking up.
2. Don’t go longer than 5 hours in between meals
3. Select “high volume” and “high fiber” foods such as fruits, veggies, and whole grains
4. Limit servings of healthy fats to 1 per day
5. Prioritize at LEAST 7 hours of sleep a night

Once a doctor’s clearance is obtained to engage in activity, she also recommended 150 minutes per week of physical activity, plus strength training 2 times per week.

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