How much weight did you gain with hypothyroidism?

[Red_Star]

Medical websites state hypothyroidism may cause a modest weight gain of 5 - 10 lbs (2.2 - 4.5 kg). How much weight did you gain?

[Red_Star]

Yes, the weight gain listed seemed too low to me. I'm not sure how much weight I gained overall with Hashi's but I did check my weight tracker and from Oct 22 2011 to just after I started thyroid mediction Feb 28 2012 (four months) and I gained 5.7 kg (12.5 lbs) without changing my diet.  I didn't gain weight due to cellular thyroid issues since thyroid hormone blood levels were normal so my liver was functionally normally.

[gimel]

I agree with Barb.  The medical community seems to be clueless about many things related to hypothyroidism.   About 2 years ago when Armour was not available for  while I had to go back to a T4 med for nearly 7 months I think it was.  Over that time I gained 18 pounds, without changing anything else.   As soon as Armour was again available, I switched back to it and over the next 6 -7 months I lost all the 18 pounds, again without changing anything.  

Formulas for estimating basal metabolic rate (BMR) in calories per day, for women and men are as follows.

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )
Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )

So, a female weighing 130 lbs., 5 ft 4 inches, and 50 years old would have a BMR of about 1295, without any estimate of calories for physical activity.  If that same lady was a hypo patient and about 10 - 15 % below where they would normally be, due to being hypothyroidism, then for a woman that would be approx.  195 calories less per day that they could consume without gaining weight.  

Assuming all else remains the same, by my estimation, with 195 calories per day less that would mean the lady would gain weight until she gained about 44 pounds (195 divided by 4.35 cal/pound which equals 44 pounds).  Most of this would occur at the beginning and the gain would slow as the BMR goes up.  In addition, as a person gains weight, it is harder to move around and be active, which further aggravates the problem.  

I know this is a simplistic approach to estimating the effect, but I think that this example and our experience clearly shows that the doctor's estimate of 5 -10 pounds is misinformed.

[Barb135]

Medical websites are full of malarky!!   I, initially, gained 30 lbs in about 3 months when my thyroid began to fail, in spite of a physically demanding job, extra daily exercise and very healthy low calorie diet.  I held at that - give or take a few lbs for several years.  

Last year, my neurologist put me on gabapentin for my peripheral neuropathy pain and within a week I gained another 10 lbs!!

Because of the weight gain side effect, my pcp took me off the gaba and put me on topiramate and within a month, I'd dropped most of that 10 lbs and with a recent increase in the topiramate, I've dropped the rest.

Since August, a switch to Levoxyl from Tirosint with an increase from 88 mcg to 100 mcg has netted another couple lbs lost.  There seems to be hope after all.