Can anyone steer me in the right direction

[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/20...e-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-sudd...hats-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.