BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Thyroid Health Could this be thyroid? Would love your input.

ok....so my daughter is 21. I have 3daughters and this is the only one of the three that have these problems. She was always the chubby kid. Eventhough she was in year round sports and when from volleyball conditioning right into basketball conditioning the to softball....you get the idea...she has always been big. I wont go into the the self esteem issues I feel this caused and what all that lead to in high school. She was diagnosed with ADD, depression, anxiety disorder, and one psychiatrist even treated her for hypothyroid eventhough her blood levels were "normal". Things just never seemed right with her. So after high school...no sports the weight then took a jump up even more. She then resorted to lap band surgery, no improvement... now after a baby she is not losing she is gaining...any suggestions

The only thing I can suggest if you think it is her thyroid is to have a full panel thyroid test done. TSH Free T3 free T4, antibodies and there are more

Perhaps a food diary would help? Not only to see her eating pattern but then you could check for foods with hidden sugar, carbs and fat. I just spent 2 weeks in LA and found all sorts of hidden bad stuff - even corn syrup in most of the breads!!

I agree with Teresamang.... most docs only check TSH and Free T4 or TSH and T4. This is not enough to comprehensively evaluate thyroid function or thyroid hormones. TSH: You have to have enough the TSH hormone to stimulate thyroid cells to make their hormones. Ideal is around 2.0 T4 (Total T4) is the combination of protein bound and free T4. This tells us whether the thyroid is able to made optimal amounts of this primary thyroid hormone. Ideal is around 8.5 Free T4: This is what's not bound to protein and shows what is available to make T3. Free T3: This is the thyroid hormone that activates metabolism and is infrequently tested by docs. This is most important to check. The 3 and the 4 on these hormones is the number of atoms of iodine that's attached. T3 is also made from T4 so your daughter may have plenty of T4 but if she's not converting well to T3 she will have low thyroid hormone symptoms or problems. The thyroid antibodies are very important to check as well. The two tests are TPO antibodies and TGA or Anti-thyroglobulin antibodies. These are the two most common problems or underlying causes of Hypothyroidism in the U.S. I've got one chubby one as well and I love her sooo much... just wish she could love herself as much as I do. All the best, Dr. Alexander Haskell

It could be adrenal fatigue which is a precursor to thyroid issues. Adrenal fatigue is way more common in women (young women too) and is caused by improper diet, stress, stimulants, and insufficient sleep. So no matter how "healthy" a person is trying to be or how hard they try they can't lose weight (some even gain as you mentioned) and they get frustrated and then resort to extreme diets, surgical procedures, or medications which still only addresses the symptoms and not the real issue.

BTW, by improper diet I mean that a person could be eating healthy foods and exercising but those foods and the type of exercise they do is not a good match for their metabolic type. This happened to me after I had my son 10 years ago. No matter how hard I exercised (1-2 hours a day) and how much I cut calories (1200-1300) I was struggling to lose weight and it was so frustrating that I almost went to see a doc for thyroid but then I got smart and finally realized that the diet and exercise plan I was on was actually harming me so I made radical changes and the results were amazing.

Adrenal Fatigue is soooo common these days but most doctors are still not talking about it. It's actually very easy to fix with proper diet and exercise and better sleep habits. Usually when women are willing to address this there is no need for dangerous thyroid meds that will ruin your body for life. Dr. Schwarzbein has an entire series of videos on this or you can buy the Adrenal Fatigue book and take the test in there to find out.

That book as well as The Metabolic Typing Diet is what finally turned everything around for me. I hope this information helps you find the right answers. Too many people out there are pushing an agenda just to sell their products. These books are about losing weight by getting healthy and doing what is right for your unique body type.

Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome

Diana Schwarzbein, M.D. - Adrenal Gland Burnout

Diana Schwarzbein, M.D. Healthy Weightloss

Wow Monica I had never heard of Adrenal Fatigue before but when I look at the symptoms:

Tired for no reason?
Having trouble getting up in the morning?
Need coffee, colas, salty or sweet snacks to keep going?
Feeling run down and stressed?
Crave salty or sweet snacks?
Struggling to keep up with life�s daily demands?
Can�t bounce back from stress or illness?
Not having fun anymore?
Decreased sex drive?

I can honestly say that I can tick yes to all of these!

I will look into it because I do not want to feel like this! Where has my joie de vivre gone???

Thanks

Yeah it was pretty amazing for me too. When I took the full test in the book I was shocked to see how many yes answers I had. I knew at that point that something had to change.

I was constantly on a low fat or low carb diet since I was in my early 20's (neither of those ever worked for me), I was also over training myself to death with bodybuilder style workouts and way too much aerobic exercise and still I had trouble maintaining my weight (always struggled with 10 extra pounds and in times of stress 15-20).

I worked nights for nearly 10 years in my 20's so I got used to never getting enough sleep and then I shifted into personal training and having to get up at 4 a.m. for clients so that made it worst. I was on stimulants all the time; tons of coffee or energy drinks hourly then at night alcohol to unwind. It was a vicious cycle of ups and downs. My sex drive was non-existent and I was in my early 30's so this was totally not cool. I also felt so blah all the time! No drive, motivation, energy. I was so tired of being tired and knew something had to change!

So the first thing I did was stop working out so hard. I backed way down on my workouts and just started doing what you do. Going on moderate walks, doing a little bit of bodyweight exercises and tried to do yoga or easy stretching daily. These days I do a mix of both easy and hard.

I switched from low carb to moderate carb, moderate fat, moderate protein (each person has to find the right combination for them but balanced is a good place to start for most) and I cut out ALL processed food from my diet (even the healthy ones which aren't really that healthy).

I also started going to sleep at 9:30 every night and did a media fast which resulted in us not turning the t.v. back on or reading newspapers ever again which has been one of the biggest stress relievers for us. I don't know what the heck goes on in the world unless I hear it from my favorite sites (bellaonline, Mercola, Paul Chek, and certain youtube health gurus).

I still have moments of weakness and I do eat junk food and overindulge in stimulants from time to time (nobody's perfect) but I never let it get so bad now and I try my hardest to just be good to my body whether that means getting more sleep, fresh air, sunlight and definitely having more fun.

The good news about adrenal fatigue is there is tons you can do to fix it fast! Sorry this is so long but I'm hoping it helps others dealing with stubborn fat, fatigue, and depression : )

Hi! I agree that Adrenal Fatigue is a big issue. I take adrenal drops with every meal. I do think it could also have something to do with diet and food intolerance. Often the foods we crave the most are the worst for us and cause a lot of issues with weight, bloating, inflammation, joint pain and just not feeling well. I would suggest getting off of soda, sugar, wheat, processed foods and meat. I know that may sound difficult, but if you can do it for even a few weeks I think you could see amazing improvements in overall health. After not eating these things for a few weeks the cravings well subside. Also, if you do have some of these items on occasion, monitor what happens in your body as a result. When you realize that some of these foods make you feel bad, you want them all the less. Well wishes!!