Can anyone steer me in the right direction

[DDH]

I have had a weight problem since I had my son 14 years ago. I am at my heaviest now. I have gained a lot of the weight I have now in the last 2 years. I went from 200 to 260. I have talked to the doctors because I am constantly watching what I eat and trying to change my eating habits.
I haven't exercised much in the last year due to surgeries and other health issues and just not feeling good. Well, in the last month and a half, I have began exercising, using my treadmill, and my wii fit and in the last week began biking again. A month ago, or maybe less, I weighed 260 and today I get on the scale and I weigh 276. How does that happen. I am so depressed now. I feel like the harder I try to lose weight the more I gain. Before anyone ask, I have not been eating more or pigging out. I have had some ice cream, but not daily by any means. The doctor just recently checked me for cushings syndrome, but evidently everything was okay cause I haven't heard from her. Is there anything else medically that could cause this. I just feel like it almost has to be something medical. How does a person gain 16 lbs in a month? While exercising and watching what I eat. Seems impossible to me.
I have to do something to lose some weight. I feel miserable in my own skin and there are challenges to putting shoes on and other things when you are this heavy. I just don't get it. I don't understand and as happy as I am to be riding again, after weighing myself today, I just don't feel like anything I do is worth bothering.

[maillotpois]

Auto-immune thyroid disorders (i.e. hashimoto's) will sometimes occur after you've gone through childbirth. If your doctor has not already done a metabolic panel on you it is worth asking.

[DDH]

Well, I had Graves disease and one of the symptoms is suppose to be weightless and I still didn't lose weight. In the last year, I have had my thyroid and gallbladder removed. I take 137 mcgs of levothyroxide daily to replace the thyroid hormones.
Could I possibly have that too?
I don't think I have ever had a metabolic test done. Is that exactly what I ask for?
I don't want to seem ignorant, but I guess I kind of am when it comes to testing and doctors. I try to put my foot down and it seems like I still get looked at like I'm crazy. My endocrinologist is the first one that has paid attention to the weight gain without looking at me like, I'm just eating to much.

[redrhodie]

Trust yourself. If you feel there's something medically wrong, there probably is. Be firm with the doctor. Explain you are not overeating, you are exercising, and you are gaining weight. Keep a food diary so you can prove your case to them. Don't let your doc blow you off, and if he does, find another. It may take a few tries to find someone capable and willing to help you.

[Eden]

Seems like if you have had your thyroid removed and are on replacement hormones you absolutely should have had a metabolic panel done to be sure your doses are correct.... and if I'm not crazy it should be repeated periodically to be sure they remain correct?

Low thyroid can cause weight gain - among other problems.

[maillotpois]

Seems like if you have had your thyroid removed and are on replacement hormones you absolutely should have had a metabolic panel done to be sure your doses are correct.... and if I'm not crazy it should be repeated periodically to be sure they remain correct?

Low thyroid can cause weight gain - among other problems.

Correct on all counts.

[DDH]

As far as I have ever been told when they check my thyroid, they only do a TSH check. I have asked and asked whether they should be checking t3 and t4, but because I am not savy about all the testing and have no research or knowledge to back it up, I tend to go with what they say.

I feel better than I did before they took out my thyroid. I'm still a bit hot, and my heart rate is still higher than I think it should be, but that could also be from the extra weight.
Sometimes I feel like I am going nuts and just not taking responsibility for my weight, but then I look at what I'm eating and don't feel like I should weigh this much or be gaining weight in rapid amounts like I am.
If it keeps going like it is I will be 300 lbs before the summer is over for gosh sakes.

[maillotpois]

Keep a food diary. Log every bite that goes into your mouth. Sometimes I find I am eating more than I think I am. Do this for a week, then take it to your doctor and ask for his/her input.

[Tuckervill]

I second the food diary idea. Don't skip it or doubt it's effectiveness. Wouldn't it be wonderful if it was actually JUST a behavior issue and not something like a disease that you would be saddled with for the rest of your life?

I'm sorry you're having a hard time of it. The most important thing is to keep going, one foot in front of the other, and there's never a good time to quit.

Karen

[DDH]

Karen you are absolutely right. I don't need anymore health problems. They have seemed never ending this past year.
I did a food diary for a month once and when I went in to see the dietician she told me I wasn't eating enough. I was so frustrated I didn't know what to do and I haven't kept another one since.
Regardless of the past though, you girls are right, I should start another one, because it does help to see what you are eating and where you can cut out, and see where you are stress eating or what have you.

I will start one Sunday. I would rather start at the beginning of a week. I am rather anal that way. LOL

Maybe I can copy it and let someone that is more nutrition savy on here see it and help me where I am messing up.

I'm sure it has to be something I am doing, but 16 lbs in less than a month is crazy. I still can't get over that one.

Thanks girls for you help and advice. Level heads shall prevail. LOL

[Tuckervill]

Oh honey, don't wait until Sunday. Pick out that torn envelope out of the mail pile and write down what you ate today. Use your motivation when it's ripe--right now! There is no need...NO need to make it harder or less convenient to do it, by purchasing a fancy notebook or buying software. What do you have in your hand? Use it to make your life better. Now.

I haven't looked at this website in a long time so I don't know if it still has the same power it used to have over me...littlechanges.org. But the idea is great. Make the next choice you have before you better than the choice you made before. You have an opportunity every moment to make a good choice. Choose the best thing. Those tiny little choices add up to little changes which add up to transformation.

Don't think like a fat person. ;)

With all the best encouragement and respect for your struggle,
Karen

[nscrbug]

I concur with the other posters that suggested having a complete thyroid panel done. There is a LOT more to getting thyroid issues under control than just testing for TSH. You definitely need to have T3, T4, AND the antibodies tests done. Something just doesn't sound right and I would definitely head straight to the endo's office and demand further testing.

[maillotpois]

And I agree with Karen that you should start the food journal NOW. It's so easy to let yourself get sidetracked. Capitalize on the motivation you have NOW.

[ccnyc]

Donna,

I sent you a PM.

Carol

[Triskeliongirl]

I think your dosage of thyroid hormone is too low for your body weight. For comparison, I take 150 ug of T4 and 5 ug of T3 (5 ug of T3 is equivalent to 20 ug of T4, so I take the equivalent of 170 ug of T4, and I weigh less than you (140lb)). Also, there is a wide range of TSH levels that are considered 'normal', some of us do better in the lower end of that range, i.e. is he correcting you to a TSH of 4 or 1, both are 'normal' but I feel much better at 1 than 4! I also do much better on the T4/T3 combo therapy than straight T4. I think you need to find a better endocrinologist.

I would also ask for a glucose tolerance test. I too was gaining weight, while biking 100 miles a week and eating 1200 cal a day. It wasn't until I got BOTH my thryoid replacement hormones optimized AND was diagnosed with impaired glucose tolerance (I undersecrete insulin) and started eating a low carb diet that normalized my blood sugars, that I slimmed down from 175 to 140 almost effortlessly, on ~1400 cal a day plus regular exercise.

[salsabike]

The other thing you might want to do is ask your pharmacist whether any of your medications may have weight gain as a side effect. When I was first diagnosed with fibromyalgia, I was put on a medication that made me gain vast amounts of weight very, very quickly. When I went off, the weight went off. When I went back on, the weight went back on. It was not a well recognized side effect at that time, but it is now.

[tctrek]

You have to eat an awful lot of calories to gain 16 pounds in a month!! Unless you are really fooling yourself about how much you are eating, this really sounds like something medical. If your endo isn't listening, you may need to find another. You should also ask about having cortisol levels checked... I've hear about cortisol issues causing extreme rapid weight gain.

Also, I would recommend that you not take the generic thyroid medication. Ask your doctor for Synthroid or one of the natural thyroid replacements. I don't think those generics work right.

I have hypothyroidism and although my levels are stable due to constant monitoring and medication corrections, I gain weight very easily and have to diligently watch my diet. If I don't eat enough, I will sometimes gain weight. If I exercise too hard and don't properly fuel myself I will gain weight. So, I have to balance the exercise with a healthy 1500-1600 calories a day. If I go too much below or too much above that, I gain weight.

Also, not sure of your age -- but weight gain gets worse during peri-menopause and beyond. I found it was much worse during peri-menopause than it is now that I am post-menopause.

[KnottedYet]

Definitely talk to the endocrinologist about the thyroid replacement therapy. If you are only getting ONE kind of thyroid and actually need both (like Trisk talks about) it can make you gain bodacious amounts of weight.

My aunt has Hashimoto's, and had a terrible time on just T4. Adding in some T3 let her lose weight and feel much better.

[beccaB]

Have you seen a dietician? You might not be eating enough and developing a set-point metabolism. When I tried to lose a few pounds(I weighed my full term pregnancy weight, while not pregnant), I found that I had to have a book tell me exactly what TO eat, not-what not to eat. It was the Curves diet book if that helps. I did lose the weight, but I had to learn to incorporate more lean protein into my diet than what I was getting.

[redrhodie]

I think you might find the videos at this link: http://darwinstable.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/why-thin-people-are-not-fat/
interesting.

[DDH]

That was quite depressing actually. Basically they are saying that once you are fat, you will constantly fight it, and one doctor even said that if you really want to lose weight you have to get the mindset that you will always feel hungry.

[KnottedYet]

That was quite depressing actually.

Please, please, please ask your endocrinologist to test your T4 and T3 levels, and ask him/her if you would do better on a combo of synthroid/cytomel or some other t4/t3 combo.

You are NOT the only one to have weight gain on T4-only replacement!

[redrhodie]

Basically they are saying that once you are fat, you will constantly fight it, and one doctor even said that if you really want to lose weight you have to get the mindset that you will always feel hungry.

But that was in regard to your body's natural weight. You've had a drastic and sudden weight gain, 16 lbs in a month. I don't think that is your body trying to protect itself. I agree with the others who say to get your hormone levels checked (rather than trying to diet this weight off). I don't think it's hopeless for you at all! I think there may be a medical solution.

[DDH]

I agree it could be medical. Although I don't want any more medical issues at least that would explain something.
I have a problem of being on an HMO and so getting another endo is a bit hard. I think I will go through my general practitioner and see if I can get him to give it a try. The endo has released me to him anyway, and I would have to go through him to see her again.

So I will make an appt and see if I can get him to listen to me and try it at least.
I think that part of my weight problem is my eating habits also. Although I am constantly trying to lose weight, I am terrible about skipping breakfast, and then if I am up late, I will snack without even realizing it. I don't think however I have snacked enough to have gained 16 lbs in a month, besides this past month is when I started getting back to exercising and getting myself in gear again.
I won't give up, but it sure does get frustrating. I fell bad in my own skin right now. My skin constantly feels tight like it's just stretching and stretching and I feel bloated a lot especially in the evenings.

[owlice]

DDH, you might like http://caloriecount.about.com/. I've used that site to lose weight, and now I'm using it to track my biking (not that I couldn't still lose weight, mind you!).

The tools on that site can be used to figure out approximately how many calories you burn per day (by inputting your weight, height, and activity level), log your food, track your biking, and see how much your daily deficit is -- the difference between what you burn and what you eat. A deficit of 500-750 calories a day is most effective for weight loss. (A lot of people think the bigger the deficit, the better! But that isn't so, and too large a deficit is counter productive.)

Concur with all others re: recent weight gain. You'd have to eat 56,000 EXTRA calories to gain that much weight, an extra 1,800+ per DAY, every day!

Please talk to your GP about this. You might want to have a friend go with you to help you advocate for the testing that you need.

Good luck!

[emily_in_nc]

Hi Donna,

Here's a link with several causes of sudden weight gain. Definitely rule out medical reasons first, and best of luck getting to the bottom of this.

http://www.healthline.com/sw/wl-sudden-weight-gain-whats-the-cause

[Grog]

I've been thinking about this thread and wondered: how could one gain 16 pounds in so few weeks?

And one thing I could think of, in combination with other causes, would be: pregnancy.

ER doctors and others are trained to remember that every woman between 10 and 65 is pregnant until proven otherwise. (The reason for this being, among others, that the consequences of an undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy are dire.) Have you had a pregnancy test done yet? Is there any chance, even the MOST REMOTE, that you could be pregnant? It might seem silly to you, but I would definitely suggest ruling it out. Even if you are using contraceptive right now.

I hope you find a resolution to this... Good luck!

[shootingstar]

DDH, hope a more pinpoint diagnosis will help you find ways to figure out the mysterious rapid weight gain. I've known 2 women who have Grave's disease (both in their 50's), ...they each did gain weight but not so rapidly as your situation.

However who knows...but only the experts.

[tulip]

Concur with all others re: recent weight gain. You'd have to eat 56,000 EXTRA calories to gain that much weight, an extra 1,800+ per DAY, every day!

That's easily done, unfortunately. When I used to go to Starbucks for my triple grande latte and coffee cake, that was 1000 calories, even before I got to work. If I had not been commuting by bike 28 miles a day, I would have gained alot of weight. When I stopped my morning Starbucks routine, I lost 20 lbs in two months without doing anything else differently.

I'm not a Fast Food person, but those combo meals easily add up to 1800 calories. Easily.

Donna, INSIST on the other thyroid tests. FIGHT for your RIGHT to have proper medical care and information. Don't give up on this.

And BE COMPLETELY HONEST with yourself about what and how much you are eating.