You didn't understand what I said. Its not just about having a normal TSH. I too was being treated with synthroid, had a TSH of 1, was eating 1200 calories a day, biking 100 miles a week, and gaining weight.

But, it wasn't cuz I was taking synthroid as you conclude, its because my hypothyroidism wasn't being adequately treated by synthroid alone. In some cases, you will have a low free T3, which right away tells you there is a conversion problem. By that I mean that synthroid is T4, which is an inactive precurser to T3, the active form of thryoid hormone. In that case its obvious you need to be on T3 (cytomel). In my case my T3 and TSH were both normal, so at that point I was referred to an endo who put me on T4/T3 combo therapy. At the same time we discovered I was hypoinsulinemic, so I was put on a low carb diet. THEN, and only then, I finally was able to lose 35 lb and get to a healthy normal weight.

Now, I am not saying that you have exactly what I have, but it is definitely wrong to blame synthroid for your weight problem. If you are still having a weight problem on synthroid, it means something else is still not right and you and your endo. need to look for other reasons you are struggling so much with your weight.

I teach this stuff to medical students, and I am absolutely certain that having too much thyroid hormone as you suggest does not make you gain weight. THere are reasons you don't want to be overmedicated, but weight gain is not one of them (its quite the opposite, folks that are hyperthryoid will lose weight, but there are lots of good reasons not to overmedicate). You need to find the UNDERLYING REASON you struggle with your weight rather than using amphetamines as a quick fix. Here, I am speaking from a lifetime of experience that once we got to the route of my problem, a 50 year battle with weight control was stopped dead in its tracks. I felt as if my weight simply normalized, not like I was dieting anymore. I was satisified with reasonable amounts of food. If I cut back, I would lose, if I overate I would gain, but things started to work as they should, and I have maintained my loss for 2 years by simply eating healthy food in moderate portions (but low in carbs due to my impaired glucose tolerance/hypoinsulinemia) and leading a healthy lifestyle, something that never worked for me before I understood that I had a body that couldn't process carbs correctly.


Quote Originally Posted by lisathew8lifter View Post
Sorry but in my case, i totally disagree with you. My TSH is 1.05 right now and I have worked my *** off to lose 9 pounds since February. I work out sometimes 3 hours per day and my TSH has not been this low EVER. My endo tested me for anything and everything with regard to my metabolism and everything was within the normal range if not low end of normal. The appetite suppressant was to jump start the weight loss because I had been gaining not losing despite the work outs.

I believe there is a fine line when playing around with your TSH and your metabolism. If you over medicate that poses other health issues and if you under medicate that causes a different set of concerns. This is just my personal experience, for what it is worth.