Active Low-Carber Forums
Atkins diet and low carb discussion provided free for information only, not as medical advice.
Home Plans Tips Recipes Tools Stories Studies Products
Active Low-Carber Forums
A sugar-free zone


Welcome to the Active Low-Carber Forums.
Support for Atkins diet, Protein Power, Neanderthin (Paleo Diet), CAD/CALP, Dr. Bernstein Diabetes Solution and any other healthy low-carb diet or plan, all are welcome in our lowcarb community. Forget starvation and fad diets -- join the healthy eating crowd! You may register by clicking here, it's free!

Go Back   Active Low-Carber Forums > Main Low-Carb Diets Forums & Support > Low Carb Health & Technical Forums > Thyroid Disease
User Name
Password
FAQ Members Calendar Mark Forums Read Search Gallery My P.L.A.N. Survey


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1   ^
Old Thu, Feb-13-14, 16:11
lindsey197 lindsey197 is offline
New Member
Posts: 1
 
Plan: Paleo
Stats: 195/191/165 Female 5'9"
BF:
Progress:
Default Hypothyroid, Insulin Resistance and Metaformin -- Success Stories?

Hi Everyone,

Newbie here and I wanted to know if anyone has had an experience like mine and could share some insight on their results or what worked for them.

I've suspected I was hypothyroid for years for various reasons (family history, cold all the time, weight gain, fatigue, etc.), but my TSH levels usually came back in the "normal" range and so told to go back and eat better and exercise more. The first thing that really seemed to help was when I found the Paleo/Primal lifestyle by pure coincidence in 2013 -- it was the first thing that seemed to really help with the fatigue and at least stop my weigh gain, even though I still couldn't lose weight despite considerable calorie deficit (700+/day in deficit).

I finally found a doctor that could look beyond the TSH level, and no surprise -- I am actually hypothyroid, but Hashimotos (so infuriating that no one checked antibodies before or the t3/t4 levels!). We also discovered that I'm insulin resistant, which he says is fairly common for those with auto-immune related thyroid disease (like Hashimotos) that have gone untreated for a long time. So, he started me on Nature-throid for the thyroid (my adrenal levels were good) and metformin to help with the insulin resistance.

I'm still dosing up in the Nature-throid, though I am already starting to feel better -- not cold all the time and far less bouts of random fatigue. I just started on the metformin last week.

I already eat fairly low carb on the paleo/primal diet -- I keep my total carbs between 40-80 per day (and that's total carbs, not net, so net is probably considerably lower). Before the medications, I had to keep carbs that low just to maintain weight and my calories between 1500-1750 (I'm 5'9" and 191 lbs), even though that ended up being about an average deficit of over 700+/day. I also exercise several times per week, including high volume but low intensity power walking/hiking, twice weekly power lifting sessions (squats, presses, dead lifts, etc.), a weekly interval of sprints or boxing bag work, and 2-3 sessions of hot yoga.

So, I'm wondering if anyone else has had this combination of hypothyroid and insulin resistance, and whether they tried metformin (or something else) and what were your results?
Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
  #2   ^
Old Fri, Feb-14-14, 11:00
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
Experimenter
Posts: 25,830
 
Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 72%
Location: San Diego, CA
Default

A large swath of our population is insulin resistant nowadays, probably more due to diet than anything.

I'm menopausal in addition to treated hypothyroid. I just can't lose weight. I've been following paleo for quite some time and keep my carbs fairly low. Higher carbs just leads to weight gain for me.

Are you familiar with Primal Blueprint (Mark's Daily Apple)? If so, make sure you're not getting into "chronic cardio" by over doing the exercise. You do need ample recovery time.

I would suspect from the exercise and such that your body is probably adding muscle and losing fat. It might not show up in lots of pounds lost, but probably much better fitting clothes.

Anyway, no matter what happens with the weight, I bet you're a ton healthier, right?
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:02.


Copyright © 2000-2024 Active Low-Carber Forums @ forum.lowcarber.org
Powered by: vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.