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Does Synthroid Over A Long Period Of Time Cause Weight Loss?
My 80 year old fairly active mother is currently taking Synthroid 75mcg and Zetia 10 mg. I know what both of these medicines are but i have noticed she is losing weight. She is currently 5 6.5 and weighs 138.2 lbs. But she looks like she is losing fatty tissue in her face and upper torso. She had Paiget s disease of the vulva a couple of years ago, and watches her melanoma very closely. Does synthroid over a long period of time, does it cause weight loss?
Thu, 24 Sep 2015
Good Morning! Your mom has a BMI of 23 which is within normal. What you do want to watch for is percent body weight loss. I suggest you check her TSH and free T4 if it hasn't been done within the last year. Too low of a TSH can indicate a cause for her weight loss..
Assure she is eating adequate meals and supplement if necessary. There are many good tasting nutritional products out there to boost mom's calories and protein.
As a normal part of aging our muscle mass is replaced by fat mass. What you are seeing is a normal part of our aging process, much of which is environmentally, genetically and nutritionally determined by.
Now, with her Paget's disease, nutritional medicine in my clinic follows these areas: 1. Assure adequate protein (approx. .8 g - 1.1 g/kg body weight per day)approximately or a minimum of 50 g - 70 g per day; 2.Assure adequate vitamin C and D, defer to doctor; 3. Check anemia status and iron deficiency (may have low iron without anemia), so ck. ferritin, cbc, B12, folate; 4.Avoid bisphosphanates,defer to doctor; 5. Avoid herbs and botanicals 6. Calories to maintain weight, weigh weekly; 7. Anticipate caloric need to be approximately 1900 cal/day but can only approximate without height.
I hope I have given you some positive direction. Feel free to write back if you have further queries. Kathryn Shattler, MS,RDN
Assure she is eating adequate meals and supplement if necessary. There are many good tasting nutritional products out there to boost mom's calories and protein.
As a normal part of aging our muscle mass is replaced by fat mass. What you are seeing is a normal part of our aging process, much of which is environmentally, genetically and nutritionally determined by.
Now, with her Paget's disease, nutritional medicine in my clinic follows these areas: 1. Assure adequate protein (approx. .8 g - 1.1 g/kg body weight per day)approximately or a minimum of 50 g - 70 g per day; 2.Assure adequate vitamin C and D, defer to doctor; 3. Check anemia status and iron deficiency (may have low iron without anemia), so ck. ferritin, cbc, B12, folate; 4.Avoid bisphosphanates,defer to doctor; 5. Avoid herbs and botanicals 6. Calories to maintain weight, weigh weekly; 7. Anticipate caloric need to be approximately 1900 cal/day but can only approximate without height.
I hope I have given you some positive direction. Feel free to write back if you have further queries. Kathryn Shattler, MS,RDN
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