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Suggest Treatment For Postpartum Weight Gain
Question: I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Disease at 8 months postpartum. I have not been able to lose any of my pregnancy weight and actually weigh more now than I did the day I gave birth.
I started taking 25mg of levothyroxine and was instructed after 4 days to increase by 1/2 of an additional pill. This increase gave me terrible bowel issues. I reduced the dosage back to the original 25 mg, but the problems continued. Now I've quit taking them all together. Since the hormone is a synthetic version of a hormone that already is supposed to exist in the body how could I have had such a reaction? Also what's the likelihood of hormone therapy actually helping me lose the post-baby weight?
I started taking 25mg of levothyroxine and was instructed after 4 days to increase by 1/2 of an additional pill. This increase gave me terrible bowel issues. I reduced the dosage back to the original 25 mg, but the problems continued. Now I've quit taking them all together. Since the hormone is a synthetic version of a hormone that already is supposed to exist in the body how could I have had such a reaction? Also what's the likelihood of hormone therapy actually helping me lose the post-baby weight?
Brief Answer:
Thyroid
Detailed Answer:
I follow what you are saying here. However, if your TSH and free T4 are in the target range then it is unlikely that any of your symptoms are due to the thyroid medication. Furthermore, once the thyroid labs are in normal range , one cannot attribute excess body weight to a thyroid related condition. I generally aim for a TSH of 0.4 to 2 and try to keep the free T4 closer to the upper limit of normal on the laboratory range
Thyroid
Detailed Answer:
I follow what you are saying here. However, if your TSH and free T4 are in the target range then it is unlikely that any of your symptoms are due to the thyroid medication. Furthermore, once the thyroid labs are in normal range , one cannot attribute excess body weight to a thyroid related condition. I generally aim for a TSH of 0.4 to 2 and try to keep the free T4 closer to the upper limit of normal on the laboratory range
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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