I've been hypo for about ten years and diagnosed for about five. I gained all the way to 240 and couldn't figure out why. I ate low fat and low calorie and still gained.

With thyroid problems, even with low carb, it's extremely difficult to lose, but I'm losing with Atkins.

I'm also taking a few supplements that were recommended on other thyroid sites and I think they may be helping me. I take CLA, CoQ10, and L-Carnitine. I also take Atkins Basic#3 which has chromium picolinate in it, otherwise I would take that as well. I wonder if anyone has tried L-tyrosine?

Oh, and I forgot to mention, I do take Levoxyl. 150 mg or mcg or whatever. I get confused. I know one is correct and the other would be extremely excessive.

Just wondering what is CLA, I'm going to try L-Tyrosine.
I take 50 mcg of synthroid, but just started two weeks ago and having hard time with atkins , just switched to protien power. Let me know how it goes. Tryed to read your journal but you don't have one. Would love to see how you have lost your weight!

Hi,

I can't remember what specifically CLA stands for but it's purported to help reduce the fat in the abdomen area, I believe. It helps in burning fat instead of muscle and I think it has helped me. It was the first supplement I added and I did notice a difference in my belly.

I keep meaning to start a journal, but I haven't yet.

But as a fellow thyroid sufferer, I know how difficult it is to lose weight.

Really, all I've done is follow the Atkins plan religiously. But I even though I've been on it for a few months, I still try to stay close to induction carb levels. The thing I've found with thyroid and Atkins though is that if you listen to people telling you to multiple your weight times ten or twelve and eat that amount of calories, it just doesn't work. The best thing for me was looking on fitday and finding my basal metabolism or the amount of calories that my body takes just to function (for me that's theoretical) which fitday said was 1600. And then I subtracted from that. I started at 1600 and didn't gain but didn't lose. Then I subtracted a 100 calories at a time until I found where I lose, which for me right now is 1400.

If I exercise, I might be able to increase that amount. I don't know.

Also, I've been fanatical about not cheating. And I'm trying to drink more water. I'm staying at about 8 glasses a day, but I'm trying to drink more.

We'll see.

People in general who are carbohydrate intolerant or insulin resistant have a tough time losing weight. Thyroid people double or triple that difficulty.

Good luck.

Virginia

You can probably find more information on particular supplements in the "Nutrition / Supplements " forum. There is a stuck thread at the top called "Supplement Resources" which contains links to a few websites where supplements are reviewed.

There have been a few posts about CLA (Conjugated linoleic acid) and it is reviewed at both supplementwatch and wholehealthmd.

Another supplement you might want to look into that helps support thyroid function is guggulesterones.

HTH
Nat

I checked out the thread you were talking about and got a lot of useful information.

I'm just starting to really get into the nutritional/supplemental side of this in a bigger way. Trying to really understand it.

Hypo's have a lot of problems dealing with slow metabolisms and I'm hoping to get a little extra edge to push the weight loss along and to ultimately just feel better.

Do you have thyroid problems too?

Virginia

Virginia, I had a low score on my thyroid tests last year - but tests this year put me back in the 'normal' range. I attribute the change to LCing, a raised metabolism and the supplements. I never had any of the other symptoms of an under active thyroid, though - other than a low waking body temp and the elevated TSH.

Nat