Thyroid vs metabolism
Common Questions and Answers about Thyroid vs metabolism
armour-thyroid
This SLOWS down metabolism. So in Thyroid terms that would be low thyroid or more commonly known as hypothyroidism or Hypo for short. Hypo most common symptoms are; chronic fatigue, cold hands & feet, low body temperature, inability to take cold temperatures, always bundled up when others seem fine, loss of hair, brittle hair, dry skin, brain "fog", low libido, weight gain/inability to lose weight regardless of amount of exercise. Depression & sometimes anxiety.
The problem with the last part of your statement is that, if your metabolism is working very slowly because of your thyroid or otherwise, you could be eating 500 calories and still taking in more than you burn. We would agree that eating 500 calories per day just to not take in more than one is burning is not the answer either. Obviously fixing the metabolism is the answer, and in some cases the metabolism is repaired through adjustment of the dose of right thryoid meds.
If you have low or hypothyroid, I can imagine how you manage to move or think clearly without at least 50 mcg. Your thyroid is activating your whole metabolism. If your hypothalamus can't produce enough TSH hormone, you will have a low TSH level and not have enough thyroid to energize your metabolism. Your brain needs 1/3 of your protein and energy levels. With a low metabolism you have to be on a low carbohydrate diet, under 100 grams per day so that your body is able to burn up the carbs.
The thyroid controls metabolism and hypothyroidism causes metabolism to slow way down. The doctor is correct that the medication should help your metabolism return to normal, once the medication has a chance to start working.
I'm very sorry you're going through the eating disorder, as well as hypothyroidism. Yes, you should believe your doctor that you should continue to work with your therapist to make sure you eat enough food.
Not sure how much you know about thyroid, but just because levels are in the "normal" range, doesn't mean your thyroid is fine. If your actual thyroid hormone levels are low in their ranges, you could still have hypothyroidism; AND it's not unusual for symptoms to show up before labs indicate a problem. High cholesterol is also a symptom of hypothyroidism.
If you can find info on what people who have experienced this have done to help improve their metabolism, this might give you a place to start from. You might need to take thyroid hormone and specifically something with T3 already present if there is no easy way to reverse the problem.
Long answer : I'm sorry you are dealing with this! I gained about 30-35 pounds in 2015-2016, and found out last year (2018) it was due to an undiagnosed thyroid problem.
I'm not sure to whom you are addressing your question.
I haven't done a lot of research on the subject, but since hypothyroidism does affect metabolism, I'd guess that alcohol metabolism would be altered, just as food metabolism is altered.
You should talk to your doctor about getting some simple blood tests done to check your thyroid function. The thyroid controls metabolism, so if the thyroid becomes under active, it will be difficult to impossible to lose weight. Ask for the following tests: TSH, Free T3 and Free T4. Don't let them get by with just a TSH.
We are now considering Celiac, as I bloat immediately after eating bread, and the excessive gas was a major problem. My mother has had her thyroid out, and my brother is on thyroid meds also. My grandmother had type 2 diabetes.
I'm so tired of feeling terrible, I have given you my brief history.
Based on the above information, What in the heck is going on with me? Do I have some kind of cervical cancer? Celiac Disease, Hormone problems, or thyroid problems????
Peg – Can you supply a little more information? Has he been eating and losing weight or has he stopped eating because of side effects?
If it's the latter there are a few practical steps that can help: cold food vs. hot, many small meals vs. a few big meals. Although it's damn difficult, he needs to try to do everything possible to keep his weight up.
If I do decide to continue the synthroid 25mg as prescribed by my Dr. what are the pros vs. cons? Will I become dependent the rest of my life? How will it effect my metabolism? What do you think about thyrostim as an alternative? Thank you for your time.
This happened to one of my daughters who is a very moderate eater. But we think, in her case, that we have found the cause. She suffered from overwork and lack of exercise, along with the only diet that was available to her (bad). This all happened when she was in Iraq for five years.
Now our doctor has taken her in hand. He has solved a digestion problem (insufficient stomach acid) and found that she was mildly hypothyroid.
Talk to your doctor and ask him to run some very simple tests to check your thyroid function. Often when metabolism slows down, it's because the thyroid, which controls metabolism isn't working properly. The tests you need are TSH, Free T3 and Free T4.
Lacking that assurance, and in view of the fact that FT3 and FT4 are the actual, biologically active thyroid hormones that largely regulate metabolism and many other body functions, my opinion is that it is important to always test for FT3 and FT4. Especially since FT3 correlates best with symptoms.
You have been so helpful and so generous with your knowledge. The main reason I picked this alternative/holistic doctor was her view on hypothyroidism/metabolism etc. She points out that the tests don't always show a poorly functioning thyroid and there are many tests to do (like you suggested) and also many ways to treat hypothyroidism...Her goal is to help her patients having "optimal functioning thyroids"...sounds like heaven to me. I will try to remain upbeat.
Many years ago BBT was shown by Dr Broda Barnes to be a very reliable indicator of metabolism and thyroid levels. Take the BBT in your armpit, before getting out of bed. Dr. Barnes established a normal range of 97.8 -98.2. The lower you are below 97.8, the greater the need for medication. If you want to read about this there are many references on the net. Look for Dr. Broda Barnes. Please post results so other posters can pick up on this.
i would consider taking a multi vitamin for menopause and possibly talking to your doctor about this because this could be a sign or thyroid problems or something else.
t mean that he is a good thyroid doctor. Many specialize in diabetes, not thyroid. Even those who claim to be thyroid specialists frequently are so rigid that they treat only by TSH, not symptoms. So, I would not wait around for very long without knowing for sure if they are good thyroid doctors.
You might try posting a new message asking for members to send you a Private Message if they have a recommendation for a good thyroid doctor in your area.
All I ever read is the key to weight loss is your metabolism. How do I increase it without a thyroid? It is very frustrating!
This is not an argument to use thyroid hormones to increase metabolism above normal to achieve weight loss. Our goal is to correct the hypothyroid response in a weight loss patient and return him/her to normal metabolism so that the patient feels normal and is better able to lose weight and maintain that loss.
At best it is only an indicator to be considered along with more important indicators such as symptoms, and also levels of the biologically active thyroid hormones, Free T3 and Free T4. When already taking thyroid meds, TSH becomes even less useful as a test because many patients find that in order to achieve symptom relief thyroid med needs to be increased enough to relieve symptoms and that will frequently suppress TSH.
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