underactive thyroid diet advice

lovelystuff

Hello everyone,I'm new to this forum but have gotten a lot of advice and support over on the long term illness forum. Basically I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid last year,and am under the care of a consultant now and take medication every day (and will for life).

I had been feeling great but recently feeling worse again.I suppose I'm realising now that's its not just a case of take a tablet and you will be grand,its more than that and I want to change my lifestyle to make myself as healthy as I can be.

So I'm 26,female,5foot3 8.5 stone. I don't need to lose weight,I just want to eat as well as possible to try manage this illness better. I don't eat gluten (ibs) and rarely have gluten free fake bread. Also try and limit soya but its in quite a lot of things. Finally,I can't exercise much atm with the exhaustion. I know people always say you should exercise for energy but when my thyroid is bad it does more harm than good and exhausts me for days. I read the stickies also was looking for any help or guidance,or if anyone could recommend a decent dietition in Dublin?

Thank you

alphabeat

give up sugar ,
no biscuits , cakes , sweets , chocolate unless it is 80 % plus cocoa , crisps , in coffee or tea , in ketchup , etc

also cut your alcohol by half at least if you drink .

try it for 3 days , if you dont feel better go back to it

within a month you should be feeling like a new person .

repalce your sugar with fruit , = natural sugars , and after 3 days off sugar

fruit etc will taste fantastic .

lovelystuff

Thanks for this :)I'm going to post up my typical diet for critique and feedback if anyone can help me out?

Breakfast -scrambled eggs (sometimes with smoked salmon,sometimes alone) or porridge (made with water and a drop of milk)

Snack-smoothie (innocent smoothie,shop bought)

Lunch-tuna salad with lettuce,carrot,sweetcorn,chickpeas and maybe one baby potato chopped up

Snack-Brazil nuts,good for thyroid apparently

Dinner-varies,sometimes salad with chicken and potatos sometimes meat and veg,never eat pasta etc but eat rice maybe twice a week with stir frys

If hungry later I have a few gluten free oatcakes

So my goal is really to try and feel less terrible,and get more energy,not looking to lose weight.

Thanks

Orla K

Do you know if its hashimotos thyroiditis or not?

lovelystuff

Orla K wrote: »

Do you know if its hashimotos thyroiditis or not?

It's not hashimotos, I'm not hugely informed about what it is tbh but they said its lifelong anyway

lovelystuff

lovelystuff wrote: »

It's not hashimotos, I'm not hugely informed about what it is tbh but they said its lifelong anyway

Actually I could be wrong on this,they said I don't have antibodies if that's the same? Still trying to figure all this out,there is a strong family history anyway

Orla K

Protein keeps keeps hunger off, I know you don't need to lose weight but it's useful to know if the weight does start piling on.

Go for nutrient dense food, since the stomach acid can be low and in turn causing low nutrient absorption.
Liver is one of the best things you can eat, full of iron, something that can be low in hypothyroid women, more so when there's the heavy periods caused by the lack of thyroid hormone. It also loads of other stuff. Bone broths are good too for minerals.

The adrenals can take a bit of hammering with alot of people with thyroid problems. Keep stress to a minimum, that go's for emotional, chemical and physical. The chemical can be from loads of stuff like chemicals leaching into your water bottle, processed food to skin care products, I'm not saying never use these but use them wisely and if you can get a better alternative then do. Physical can be things like getting a cold/flu to chronic cardio as in 30-60min steady state jogging. If you get lightheaded or low blood sugar(I use to go blind when I stood up!) glycerine can help. There's loads of symptoms for low cortisol (adrenal hormone) have a look at them and keep an eye out, alot of them are like hypothyroidism and alot of the time hypothyroidism can make the symptoms.

Avoid gluten, soy, and excess goitrogenic food. Never have any that's fermented.

B12 can be low in alot of people again the low stomach acid thing is to blame.

Avoid caffeine, alcohol, refined/processed food, sweetners.

The brazil nut thing is for selenium, about 2 brazil nuts should be alright.

I was going to say that if your having trouble with going to the toilet that probiotics and digestive enzymes help but I've just remembered the IBS I don't know how they would react.

There's contraversity over iodine, people with hashimotos don't seem to do well on it but then alot of people doing iodine loading (I think that's what it's called) it seems to help.

Taking high dose B&C vits help with the adrenals too. High dose vit C seems to help with keeping the adrenals healthy and keep away problems with cortisol.

Base your meals around a protein source, then add in veg, and most importantly don't forget the fat, keep things real, as in real food, if your going to have butter keep it real butter, not the spreads(I call them chemical spreads) if you want to fry something use coconut/palm oil or some rendered animal fat, no veg oil again it's loads of chemicals in the processing and is fairly unstable, unlike coconut,palm or animal fats.

Another symptom of being hypo is high cholesterol, and saturated fat does not cause it and no amount of cutting it out will make it go down.

Eat lots of fish too, preferably oily fish.

Another thing is I don't think that the T4 only meds are any good and I'm not alone in thinking this. Alot of people have problems converting T4(inactive) to T3(active) For instance if there's problems with iron or adrenals then the T4 tends to get converted to reverseT3 and the cells in your body can't get it. Your TSH will go down and be in range and your T4 will look good, even your T3 will look good but you need to look at reverse T3(rT3) and FreeT3(FT3)

Have a look at 'stop the thyroid madness' loads of info about tests.
Next time your at the endo ask for
TSH
FT4
FT3
rT3
full iron(inc ferritin, may be spelt wrong)
Cortisol, if this one is a 8am blood test look for a number in the top part of the range.

Have a look at Chris Kressers website, he has alot of info on thyroid stuff.

That's all I can think of for now the only thing I can think of about the diet you posted is drop the smoothie, or change for real whole food and switch up the tuna in the lunch, it's not a good idea to have canned tuna everyday, there's a really nice smoked mackerel in lidl or go for marinated chicken, even sliced up steak(really nice in a salad with a balsamic dressing)

It's a bit of a pain but limit the amount of food you eat that you haven't made from scratch, that includes things like balsamic dressing. You really have to be ontop of it all with hypothyroidism.

There's loads of groups on facebook giving advice about thyroidism and there's some really good yahoo groups they've been around for ages and you can learn loads in them.

Buy a few books about it too money well spent.

Orla K

lovelystuff wrote: »

Actually I could be wrong on this,they said I don't have antibodies if that's the same? Still trying to figure all this out,there is a strong family history anyway

antibodies mean and autoimmune attack which means that the bodies immune system attacks the body thyroid in this case. It's called hashimotos.

If you have no antibodies then you don't have it but it's caused by gluten so if your already gluten free then it could be a false negative.

lovelystuff

Thank you so much,I really appreciate it :)I'm having a bad few weeks which is spurring me into action. IS there any particular books you would recommend? Thank you again

Orla K

lovelystuff wrote: »

Thank you so much,I really appreciate it :)I'm having a bad few weeks which is spurring me into action. IS there any particular books you would recommend? Thank you again

The only one I've read is 'Stop the thyroid madness' I got that one because it has info on how to take NDT, Natural Desicated Thyroid and loads of other stuff like info on adrenals.
I also bought 'Your Thyroid and How to Keep it Healthy: The Great Thyroid Scandal and How to Survive it' but I gave that to someone before I read it.

Other ones that I hear are good
'Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms? When My Lab Tests Are Normal'
'Recovering With T3: My Journey from Hypothyroidism to Good Health Using the T3 Thyroid Hormone'
There's a few by Mary Shomon but I'm not gone on the way she writes, too much story not enough info.

lovelystuff

That's great thanks :)I do have high cholesterol which is a mighty pain,especially when people tell me to stop eating eggs! Going to try and start back slowly with exercise too,great to get such practical info

Orla K

lovelystuff wrote: »

That's great thanks :)I do have high cholesterol which is a mighty pain,especially when people tell me to stop eating eggs! Going to try and start back slowly with exercise too,great to get such practical info

With exercise I find weights better than anything, go heavy 6-10 reps don't go max out with the weights but save that last bit, be able to do 12 reps but don't. Also take breaks between sets. Cardio just seems to kill me, in bed for a few days after if I do an hour.

I can't stress enough to stay away from soy too, I love soy sauce and I had some, about 3 table spoons and I could feel it the next day.

lovelystuff

Orla K wrote: »

With exercise I find weights better than anything, go heavy 6-10 reps don't go max out with the weights but save that last bit, be able to do 12 reps but don't. Also take breaks between sets. Cardio just seems to kill me, in bed for a few days after if I do an hour.

I can't stress enough to stay away from soy too, I love soy sauce and I had some, about 3 table spoons and I could feel it the next day.

I have only ever done 'girly weights' but I would love to start lifting properly especially if it means I don't have to run,I worked my way up to a half marathon before and it nearly killed me to be honest! I also feel really sick and light headed if I over do cardio at all,and I do get the blindness when I stand up too,its crazy!

dlofnep

+1 on Stop the Thyroid Madness. Great book. I'm on adrenal cortex at the moment, and it's helped me a bit. Not sure what the rest of the guys here think - but perhaps use Betaine HCI for a digestive aid?

crollydoll

Hi
Have been in the same position for the last 16yrs and was around the same age when discovered with underactive thyroid.
Only thing I will say to you is get ur bloods checked again. Within the 1st yr-2yr Went from 25mg medication to 200mg daily!!!!
Leveled out now at 150mg daily, also did they tell you to take it at the same time every day and also an hour before eating.
My sister is the same and her doc in the US recommeded that she take it an hour before eating, so i started this and i think it has helped.
Best of luck

Orla K

lovelystuff wrote: »

I have only ever done 'girly weights' but I would love to start lifting properly especially if it means I don't have to run,I worked my way up to a half marathon before and it nearly killed me to be honest! I also feel really sick and light headed if I over do cardio at all,and I do get the blindness when I stand up too,its crazy!

Don't do 'girly' weights it's awesome doing a deadlift with a few plates on the bar while some other one does bicep curls with 1kg dumbbells (seriously a kitten weighs more that that!) and don't do too much cardio until you feel up to it, it will take a while to figure out how much you can push yourself.
It does sound like your adrenals could be suffering, you could ask the endo for a cortisol test (perferably 24hr saliva test) To see where it's at, with me I know it's a little low in the morning and I think it's high at night. I'm going to start on a thing called isocort which should help for the morning lows.

Orla K

dlofnep wrote: »

+1 on Stop the Thyroid Madness. Great book. I'm on adrenal cortex at the moment, and it's helped me a bit. Not sure what the rest of the guys here think - but perhaps use Betaine HCI for a digestive aid?

That's good for low stomach acid, there's a way to test for low stomach acid using baking soda. I must try it one of these days.
Info found herehttp://scdlifestyle.com/2012/03/3-tests-for-low-stomach-acid/
That website seems to have good info for digestion problems.

lovelystuff

I am learning a huge amount thanks everyone,I asked the endocrinologist questions like these and was just told i would be perfect when I started tablets! They checked my cortisol before but using a blood test,I have always been a dizzy fainter and my blood pressure is very low,again I was always told its just one of those things! I must find a weights program for beginner's to do at home too!

Orla K

lovelystuff wrote: »

I am learning a huge amount thanks everyone,I asked the endocrinologist questions like these and was just told i would be perfect when I started tablets! They checked my cortisol before but using a blood test,I have always been a dizzy fainter and my blood pressure is very low,again I was always told its just one of those things! I must find a weights program for beginner's to do at home too!

For most people it seems that it's not as easy as taking a tablet and sadly doctors just think it's all in our heads, an english doctor got an award for saying just about as much.

Then there's this, taken from thyroid change facebook page

Lorraine Cleaver (one of those amazing Scottish activists) just got the answer back from her Freedom of Information Act request from the MHRA (Medicines and Health Regulatory Agency of the U.K.) regarding the safety trials of Levothyroxine. The answer? THERE WERE NO TRIALS DONE!

I would get dizzy too never really fainted, always sat down when I felt close to it but I've slightly low blood pressure too, while the rest of the family has high.

For a weights program there's a few people that have gotten the book 'new rules of lifting for women' there's a program in that. If your doing it at home you could do alot of bodyweight stuff and get yourself a kettlebell.

lovelystuff

I never thought of kettlebells actually,but that's a great idea! I read a lot online about new rules,i think you need a gym for that unfortunately,but a home weights program sounds perfect!

Orla K

I should also add that pregnant women need a bit more thyroid hormone. So if there's any pregnant women out there reading this get regular blood tests(including FT3 & rT3) the TSH should be about the lower end of the scale. It's common to miscarry if the thyroid isn't healthy. There was a pregnant 26 year old woman who died of heart failure the coroner put it down to undertreated hypothyroidism.

lovelystuff

Orla K wrote: »

I should also add that pregnant women need a bit more thyroid hormone. So if there's any pregnant women out there reading this get regular blood tests(including FT3 & rT3) the TSH should be about the lower end of the scale. It's common to miscarry if the thyroid isn't healthy. There was a pregnant 26 year old woman who died of heart failure the coroner put it down to undertreated hypothyroidism.

That's so scary,I was told by the consultant not to get pregnant without planning it! I always notice heart palpitations when I'm tired too so its something to be aware of!

LaineyDeutsch

Hi I'm new to this forum and have been learning so much about hypothyroidism. I was only diagnosed about 10 months ago but my doctor dismisses me if I try and attribute any of my weight gain or high cholesterol to the thyroid problem. She just tells me I'm obese and 'clearly comfort eating'. I'm 26 years old, 5 ft 4 inches and I weigh about 12 and a half stone. I know it's too heavy but I eat well and exercise as much as possible. I'm just wondering if anyone here knows anything about Eltroxin, if it has a good reputation? And if there's any link between iron levels being all over the place and the thyroid. My iron levels just won't settle and they've always been perfect. Thanks in anticipation...