Wednesday

Information About Hypothyroid Weight Loss

By Dr. Kevin Dobrzynski


People suffering from hypothyroidism often find losing weight a common battle. If you have been trying to lose weight but failed, your thyroid is to be blamed.

It's estimated that 27 million Americans have a thyroid condition and many more go undiagnosed. The most common form of thyroid disease is hypothyroidism, which is a low thyroid or hypothyroid. This condition is not only affecting Americans but also anyone living in an industrialized country.

When you are diagnosed with hypothyroidism, it means your metabolic system is not functioning as it should be. Losing weight will be a constant battle. To make things worse, low-calorie foods may also worsen your condition by slowing down your metabolic rate.

Here's the real problem...

People with this disorder often go undiagnosed or even misdiagnosed. You may experience all the symptoms of the disease but your physician may not recognize the problem.

In actual fact, one of the reasons why many people are misdiagnosed is because of the symptoms. This disorder affects the entire system of your body.

The other reason why this condition goes undiagnosed is that blood testing is often inconclusive. The main blood test used to diagnose hypothyroidism, called the TSH test, can miss cases of hypothyroidism up to 80% of the time.

If you believe you have a thyroid problem, you must act on it right away!

Start by monitoring your symptoms. Keep a journal and grade your symptoms on a scale of 0-3 (0 = not present or not applicable, 1 = mild, 2 = moderate, 3 = severe). Keep a journal for a minimum of a week and up to a month, dating all your entries.

Next, perform an at-home basal body temperature test. One of the telltale signs of a low metabolism is a depressed body temperature.

To do this test, you must put a thermometer by your bedside at night. First thing in the morning when you wake up, place the thermometer immediately under your armpit without moving or rising. Any movement may affect the test's accuracy.

Your body temperature should be measured for the next 3 days. Women who are menstruating can do the test on the second and third day of their period. However, if you have any infections at the moment, your test result will be inaccurate.

Normal readings should be between 97.8 to 98.2. If the reading is below this point, you have a thyroid disorder. Your weight loss battle will continue until your body temperature and metabolism rate become normal again.

Present your symptoms checklist and your basal body temperature test to your endocrinologist. Endocrinologists specialize in hormones and are much more knowledgeable about thyroid conditions than regular doctors.

Hypothyroid and weight loss struggles go hand-in-hand. If you're convinced that you have a problem, yet your doctor disagrees, or your lab tests don't support your suspicion, don't give up. Try another doctor and keep looking until you find one that will listen to you. You are your own best doctor and you know your body better than anyone.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment