# When did you start to feel better?



## Twinkle68 (Sep 15, 2011)

Hi, I have been diagnosed now with Hasimoto's and have just started 50mcg of Thyronorm, The brand available here in India. I just wondered how long it was until you started to feel better? did it take some adjustments? did the extra weight just fall off? ( wishfull thinking here ) I know it takes six weeks for the meds to be optimum, just wondering what other people's experience has been ... and has anyone ever taken thyronorm?


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## northernlite (Oct 28, 2010)

Thyronorm is a levothryoxine (T4) medication like many of us, including myself use. It is not available in many doses like most of our T4s are so you might have to do some tablet spliting or take more than one pill as you titrate up.

I was diagnosed in Nov and felt the first effects of my medication (also 50 mcg) 12 days after I started it. Then I continued to have 2-3 weeks of improvement before my next blood draw. I did require an increase then and then went up to 62.5 mcg. I have had one more increase to 75 mcg so it does take some adjustment.

I lost 20 lbs between January and June this year. But it took work, exercise and cutting calories. Before starting the medication, I would cut calories and never lose a pound. So it does improve your metabolism so you can lose weight but in my experience, I didn't take off any weight automatically, I had to work at it.

Good luck to you!


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## Twinkle68 (Sep 15, 2011)

Thanks so much for sharing. It sounds great to think that a diet will work.. they haven't worked for me in a long time. I have even tried down to 500 cals a day with little or no weightloss, so I am excited about that..

And interesting that you started to feel better after 12 days, fingers crossed I feel that too.. I am expecting a few adjustments too .. so I guess I will just wait and see for now..


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## HeidiBR (Apr 4, 2010)

Twinkle,

Northern Lite is right on. The meds will not make you lose weight, but they will level the playing field so to speak so that weight loss becomes possible. Other factors include your age, and how much weight you actually have to lose.

My experience was that I started to feel better months after starting T4 medication. Also, for me after each dose change I would feel great for 2-3 weeks, and then my body would just crash and want more medication. 50 mcg is a low dose. I started on that dose, too. And what happened to me was that my thyroid just stopped working. It was like it was saying, "Oh, thanks for the supplementation, I'll just quit working now." It quit working and got lazy, and the 50 mcg was not enough T4. I actually felt worse for a while until the dose was increased. After about a week after starting the 50 mcg I lost about 10 lbs of water weight. After that - I didn't lose anything more until I started supplemental T3 medication.

Now on Weight Watchers I am slowly taking off the weight. I used to have the metabolism of a race horse - eat anything and not gain, and if I wanted to lose, I'd do it very quickly. I used to be very slim.

I don't have a lot of weight to lose - maybe 20 lbs - which is harder.

As for the 500 calories a day diet that you tried? This will not cause weight loss as your body goes into conservation mode because it thinks you are starving. It then holds onto every calories it can - and the fat, too.

Good luck, and be patient. A wise person told me that at the beginning of my Hashimoto's journey and she was correct


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Twinkle68 said:


> Hi, I have been diagnosed now with Hasimoto's and have just started 50mcg of Thyronorm, The brand available here in India. I just wondered how long it was until you started to feel better? did it take some adjustments? did the extra weight just fall off? ( wishfull thinking here ) I know it takes six weeks for the meds to be optimum, just wondering what other people's experience has been ... and has anyone ever taken thyronorm?


No doubt your Thyronorm will have to be titrated either up or down for a while until you stabilize. Here in U.S., the protocul is to get labs every 8 weeks, see your doctor and then they make adjustment accordingly.

Sadly, the extra weight just does not fall off. A sensible diet and moderate exercise is a most sensible approach.

I have never taken Thyronorm but is it made by Abbot, the same makers of Synthroid here in the U.S..


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## northernlite (Oct 28, 2010)

Heidi is right about how far to cut your calories. There are many good calculators online that give you an idea of how many calories you need to consume to maintain your current weight and how many you need to eat to lose weight at a sensible rate.

Alot of it is age dependent, my daughter and I are about the same size and when I put in her info she can eat 500 more calories a day due to her age and the faster metabolism in a young person!!

I only had the 20 lbs to lose and had the extra incentive of two of my children getting married during the summer but my goal was 1200 calories a day. With cheating, I would bet I averaged about 1400 calories per day and the weight came off steadily. I was very active in that time period too, renovating my kitchen and bathroom so I got a lot of exercise too.

You are going to have to wait a couple month to get enough T4 in your body and your metabolism moving again before you will see results with the weight. Like I mentioned, I started medication in Nov and didn't start trying to lose weight until mid to late January.


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