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I'm a 19 year old college student.
As a 14 year old, I starved myself on 1000 calories but didn't lose ANY weight. I remember telling my dad what I had been doing, and I remember him calling me a liar. He made up stories about me binging secretly at night, just so he could keep his "calories in, calories out" model in tact. Even now he refuses to believe my weight gain has anything to do with my thyroid. He will tell me, "you decide what you want to weigh," and, "when you really want to lose the weight, you will."
Back when I was 14 and eating 1000 calories, I was diagnosed with an eating disorder because I did not get my period.
They asked me, "what was your highest weight?"
I replied, "this is my highest weight."
They told me that, eating 2500 calories, I would hopefully be able to gain 1/2 a pound a week. I gained 6.
I now have the diagnoses of hashimoto's thyroiditis and probable PCOS. I am on tirosint (t4 med, like synthroid without filler), and still gaining. I chose my doctor because he was SUPPOSED to give out T3, yet, I never got any.
I can tell that he does not like armor. He called it "pig stuff. Just gross".
I want to lose weight, but I don't want to compromise my quality of life. I started around 140. My weight would jump spontaneously. Steady... steady... steady... +5 POUNDS!... steady... steady... steady... PLUS 3 POUNDS!
I guesstimate that I am around 170 now. A size 12. How can I lose without starvation?
Dear Teal,
You have a sad story, particularly the part about your relationship with your dad. It is so hard when you try and try to lose weight with no results. People who don't struggle with their weight (or who can lose weight when they want to) just don't understand.
As much of a pain as it is, I would try to find a new doctor. I always recommend an Osteopathic Doctor, simply because the two that I've seen have been so helpful to me. Osteopaths look beyond symptoms to root causes. It seems to me that any doctor should be doing this, but they simply are not trained to. The fact that your doctor "fu-fu"ed Armor shows how uneducated he is about your illness.
Here are the facts: T4 is the hormone that enables the other thyroid hormones (and there are several) to be absorbed by the body. It does not do the metabolic work. So, typically, a doctor will test your T4 and your TSH. If they are off, he will prescribe a T4 replacement. Then, he will test your T4 levels to see if the prescription is working. He will then pronounce you cured because the lab work says so. In the meantime, you are still experiencing every symptom that you did before and are still struggling with your weight.
Prior to the 1950's, doctors prescribed by symptoms alone; now they typically do not even consider them.
However, even if your doctor can be coerced into prescribing Armor, I would still look for an Osteopath. There can be so many other factors affecting your thyroid. Here are a few:
Adrenal system - if your body is under extra stress for any reason (emotional, physical, etc.) your adrenal system could be maxed out. If this happens, it will throw off your thyroid. They work as a team.
Food Allergies - if you have unknown food allergies, they could be causing inflammation, weight-gain, and physical stress (which can trigger adrenal fatigue).
Other hormones - as with the adrenal system, thyroid systems are interwoven with other hormone systems. If one is off, others may be off, complicating the problem.
When I transferred to my Osteopath, she found that I had issues with each of the above categories, and helped me work with them in the most natural ways. After some tweaking, I have been able to lose weight for the first time in about 10 years. I am now down about 50 pounds and still losing.
Don't give up; and don't get bullied by an ignorant doctor. You know your body best. Fight for it!
Best of Luck,
Joy
