Time to get the thyroid checked?

Alright.. I've had a really difficult time with weight loss. I got to about 19% bodyfat (From ~35%) over the period of a year or so on a series of plateaus, getting stricter and usually lowering carbs each time (Calories stayed the same at 1800-1900). People my age (17) generally don't have to be anywhere near as strict as this to get down to the lower teens in bodyfat. (I eat super clean, no cheat meals, stay very close to my macro and calorie goals..)

Once I was no longer able to break the plateaus, I switched to carb (and thus also calorie) cycling, with 2 high carb/calorie days per week (So overall average calories increased by 1-200 per day, was attempting to restart metabolism.). I lost another couple pounds.. but have now seen no new loss in a few weeks. My morning body temperature floats around 96.5, indicative of metabolic slowdown.. I've now just decided to up carbs and calories to 40-50% and 2500 for a week and see if that gets the temperature back up.. but if it doesn't, should I get my thyroid checked?

Has anyone else had their thyroid checked, and if a problem was found, What was the treatment?

Are you experiencing any other symptoms of hypothyroidism? Fatigue, weakness, hair loss, dry skin, can't really tolerate being cold... etc.

A lot of people don't really have symptoms... It just depends on how severe it is.

I have had hypothyroidism since I was about 10.  It's a simple blood test and if your hormone levels are low you just have to take a little pill of synthetic hormone every day. It's really not bad at all.

I've also heard that in some really mild cases that a special diet was enough to fix the issues.

I say if you are worried about it, just go ahead and get it checked. If it is your thyroid you can get pretty sick if you let it go for a long time untreated.

Hi,

Taking your temperature is not an accurate way to see if you have a thyroid problem. A couple years back my temp was around where yours was - all day long though, so it might have been even lower in the morning. However I got my thyroid checked as part of a routine physical exam and it was fine. You can go to your doctor and get a blood test if you think that's what it is.

If you end up being hypothyroid, it's just a question of getting the right dosage of thyroid hormone. Sometimes it takes a few weeks to start noticing a difference.

I wanted to add that there has been some evidence that taking your carbs below 30-40 g on any given day will slow the thyroid. I agree with taking your carbs and calories back up and see what that does.

Original Post by kat_1987:

Are you experiencing any other symptoms of hypothyroidism? Fatigue, weakness, hair loss, dry skin, can't really tolerate being cold... etc.

A lot of people don't really have symptoms... It just depends on how severe it is.

I have had hypothyroidism since I was about 10.  It's a simple blood test and if your hormone levels are low you just have to take a little pill of synthetic hormone every day. It's really not bad at all.

I've also heard that in some really mild cases that a special diet was enough to fix the issues.

I say if you are worried about it, just go ahead and get it checked. If it is your thyroid you can get pretty sick if you let it go for a long time untreated.

 

I actually have noticed a couple things.. one being dry skin (especially on one arm, doesn't matter how much I use lotion, it's just really dry and itchy all the time..) and also I've noticed that lately I feel sleepy really early (Like by the afternoon until I go to bed later at night) even though I'm getting more sleep currently than I ever did previously. On the cold count, I used to even keep my window open in the winter but I noticed lately that I've just preferred to keep warm rather than adjust to cold, that could be due to fat loss too though I guess.

Original Post by allnaturalgirl02:

Hi,

Taking your temperature is not an accurate way to see if you have a thyroid problem. A couple years back my temp was around where yours was - all day long though, so it might have been even lower in the morning. However I got my thyroid checked as part of a routine physical exam and it was fine. You can go to your doctor and get a blood test if you think that's what it is.

 

If you end up being hypothyroid, it's just a question of getting the right dosage of thyroid hormone. Sometimes it takes a few weeks to start noticing a difference.

I wanted to add that there has been some evidence that taking your carbs below 30-40 g on any given day will slow the thyroid. I agree with taking your carbs and calories back up and see what that does.

Well, I wasn't inferring it was an indication of thyroid problems, I just meant that it inferred a slow metabolism which could be related to thyroid. I never got to 30-40g of carbs but I have been as low as 50-60 on some of my low carb days (Which ends up at around 10-15%).

Anyway, I'll see how the week goes and if things don't seem to change I guess I'll get it checked out.. it probably wouldn't hurt anyway, I haven't been to the doctor in a couple years now..

Thanks for the advice

Sounds like it's time for a cheat day :) You're being too strict and your body got used to it. Trust me, it happened to me too. Try cyclying your calories instead of carbs.

I'm 19 and just got "diagnosed" with Hypothyroidism last week. Basically... I have an under-active thyroid.

The symptoms I suffered was of course being overweight, hard time losing weight (my doctor put me on a test diet, I lost 8 lbs in 3 months =/). I have dry skin, and psoriasis (apparently this can be linked to having thyroid problems), also I had thinning hair, it started to thin in my 10th grade year but it progressed as the years went. Finally after I graduated, my mom decided we should go get my thyroid checked out. This can be a long process.

First you go to the doctors, they check your weight, do routine check up, your doctor will feel your neck to see if you have any swollen glands, your thyroid is in the center of your neck above your collar bone.

Then he/she might put you on a diet, and you will need to get a blood test. Don't eat anything the night before for accurate results. He/she will probably also check your insulin and cholesterol. Then yeah, you go, they poke your arm with a needle, suck out your blood, doesn't hurt, just makes you a little sleepy later.

A week later, you can either call in or make an appointment to go in and get the results, I suggest just making an appointment. If it shows your thyroid is slow, he/she might want to do a thyroid scan.

There, they inject some radio-stuff into your veins, I think its so it'll get into your thyroid and they can detect the activity of your thyroid. Anywho, you will have to lie on a table, and they will have this thing that looks like a laser hanging inches above you and they will point it at your neck in different angles, basically taking pictures of your thyroid. Then you have to wait another week for results for that.

Then hopefully your doctor will give you medicine. Mine put me on levothyroxine.