You are taking a pretty good dose of thyroxine. The question is are you converting T4 to T3? Do you feel tired all the time and need to take naps? How is your pulse after resting for 15 minutes?

I was just thinking that if you are not converting the T4 to T3, then it can cause hypothyroidism and unable to lose weight.

This might not be your problem, and just throwing a few things here.

I do know that it does take awhile to lose the weight after being placed on the right dose for you.

Are you having your Free T3 and Free T4 checked besides just the TSH? As bm55 says, you can then find out what your Free T3 is doing.

I am dealing with a low FT3, so I understand the problems you are having...

{{{hugs}}}

Maybe you should get your blood sugar checked out. Do you eat a lot of carbs, bread, sweets? I have insulin resistance along with hypothyroid, so I stay on a low carb diet. I still could not lose weight until I was put on Metformin, that helped with the insulin resistance, now I am able to lose the weight and keep it off. Of course exercise is very important also, as that gets the metabolism going. I swim a lot, as I have bad knees too!
God luck!
Jon

Thanks for your replies.In answer to jons ,i dont eat sweet things i restrict carbs and never eat bread ect .If you saw my diet you would wonder how i survive let alone put weight on and before anyone says i dont eat enough ,if i eat more the weight piles on.i know it is pointless going back to the doctor as she is no help what so ever .hope you dont think i am being rude to you all for your replies but i was diagnosed 5 years ago so have had plenty of time to try out everything i can think of....and as for swimming ,there is no way i would put a costume on looking the way i do.Thanks anyway everyone who answered much appreciated x x

Hi, I am in the UK too. At my drs it's easy to see a different doc. I rarely saw my own doc until I specifically said I wanted him...
Point being,you should be able to get info on the docs at your surgery telling you of their medical interests.See if you can find out. Or take pot luck with one of the others there....

I would think think there must be more they can do..
Oh and well done for the perseverence with the diet.(wish I had your willpower!)

Hi Debby - oh, how I sympathise! I can't shift the weight either, although I've only been diagnosed recently and on Thyrax (75 a day) for 3 weeks. I look most peculiar though! Slender arms and legs and a HUGE torso (mostly belly). Like you I eat practically nothing and, like you, refuse to expose myself at the swimming pool! I don't eat sweets, bikkies, cakes, chocolate (rarely) and my daily ration goes something like this (all minuscule portions):

Brekkie: Oats or Weetabix (1), fruit, seeds, nuts, skimmed milk, honey

Lunch: Slice wholemeal bread, slice cheese, 4 cherry tomatoes.

Dinner: Small portion chicken, 2 small potatoes, veg. Bowl of salad (with drizzle olive oil). No pud.

Tea and fruit juice in between.

And that's it! I CANNOT shift the weight and it's making me breathless and unable to walk far (plus I also have hemochromatosis, arthritis and osteoporosis), not to mention putting a strain on my heart.

I'm hoping it's just a matter of time before the Thyrax kicks in...

Andrea i can easily sympathies with you ,i see you eat sparingly .i eat even less ,banana for breakfast apple for dinner and a small plate of salad for tea is the most i eat.I have tried eating more and just pile on the weight !I hope the thrax works for you ,being overweight makes athritis more painful to walk and you have enough to put up with already!
It would be great to keep in touch and see how you are doing if that helps ,i get fed up with friends that are on diets and can see they dont believe me when i say thats all i eat .I think they believe i sit all day stuffing my face .So please keep in touch .Debby x

I had the same thing, docs didn't believe me (although they never actually said so, so I kept a food diary. My friends believe me of course, that say they don't know how I function on what I eat. But Debbie you must eat more than that, even if you put on weight, you'll get even more ill on so little. It's hard to exercise, I know, I try to walk as much as possible, but it's painful (all joints damaged from the hemochromatosis) and I try to garden, but can only manage about 10 mins before back goes (I broke that in a car accident and have never fully recovered). Perhaps it is the lack of serious exercise...

Couple things here, you did not say whether your T3 was checked, if it wasn't then you outta get it checked because you are not being treated properly then. You can not treat with T4 only and second you will never lose the weight until your hormones are at a healthy number...........one thats good for you, not what the range says.

Myra in NH

Have your cortisol level checked. If it's elevated, you could gain weight on 500 calories a day.

ask your doctor to check your T3

if possible see if he will add Cytomel (or another T3 sub)

I was where you are eating 800 cal a day and still gaining.
Since I added the Cytomel I have had more energy and have lost 40 lbs in the last nine months. It hasn't been easy--this is NOT a quick fix!!. I started by taking two Zumba classes a week. After about six months I added two gentle yoga classes. So it has been a battle, but the weight IS coming off. With your knee problems I would suggest Aqua Zumba or some other plan as regular Zumba is tough on the joints.

This is what worked for me, but I'm sure success is varied.

Good luck and don't lose hope!