Re: Re:A Weighty Question

[Guest guest]

If thyroid testing is coming back normal it might be good to check reverse

T3 (rT3)

as well. One can have normal TSH, T3, T4 numbers but have a very high rT3,

and

rT3 tells the body to slow down the metabolism. Normally T4 is converted

into T3,

but when high levels of cortisol are present T4 will be converted into rT3

instead,

causing the body to slow things down, including the metabolism. High levels

of

rT3 can be present with low cortisol as well, in the case of adrenal

fatigue. Initially

cortisol is high during stress (from infection, etc), causing the high rT3,

then the

adrenals become exhausted over time and cortisol drops, but the body gets

stuck

at creating high rT3 (for some reason the reset switch isn't pushed, so to

speak).

Amy

On Sun, Nov 30, 2008 at 12:27 PM, <artiques@...> wrote:

> Hi Sara:

>

> I, too, gained soooo much weight. I had been thin all of my life - I would

> hover between too thin and sometimes slightly " puffy " (which I now think was

> also Lyme related as I was first bit when I was about 7, 8 or 9 years old).

> Altho' I have always had a poor appetite (which started around the time of

> the first bite), when I got really, really sick, I lost lots of weight in a

> short period of time and then begain gaining weight, and gaining, and

> gaining. I had chronic pain so some of it was due to inactivity, but I later

> discovered that my thyroid completely " pooped out " and that was the main

> reason for the weight gain. I gained almost 100 pounds before I found a dr.

> to run " alternative " thyroid testing: temperature, heart rate & blood

> pressure charted for a month (every hour these systems were " taken " and

> charted). All of these systems were slow or low (average temp. ran 96.8)

> heartrate was slow and blood pressure was low. My hair fell out by the

> handsful, as well. She put me on Armour thyroid (not synthroid or any other

> synthetic thyroid). This was before my Lyme dx, so I was lucky to find a doc

> who used the proper type of medication for a Lymie. Anyway, my weight gain

> pretty much stopped increasing. I never lost much (I still go up & down),

> but at least I didn't continue to put on more and more weight.

>

> I am still waaaaayyyyy overweight, but the thyroid has helped w/the hair

> loss, too. I know that my inactivity still causes me to not lose weight, but

> if I ever get the chronic pain and breathing problems under control, I hope

> to be able to excise again.

>

> good luck, hope this helps a bit.

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I'm new to the group today and am fascinated by this topic. I have had lyme

since

1993 and was doing pretty well most of the time until I was reinfected 2 years

ago.

Growing up I was always too thin (think Twiggy for those who are old enough to

remember her). When I had my kids I put on about 20 pounds and kept most of that

and didn't look malnourished for the first time in my life. I maintained that

weight

within about 5 pounds for close to 25 years. Then I had a car accident and was

on prozac and put on 30 pounds. I had finally lost most of that when the lyme

surfaced again - and in the last two years I have gained 30 pounds - and it

is all around my belly where I never had it before. I couldn't figure out why

since i'm eating less because I'm not hungry and food doesn't taste good.

I'm also not very active since because of the pain. I work in front of a

computer all day and that takes most of my energy too. I just had a thyroid

test a couple of weeks ago and it is almost non-functioning, so it was

interesting

to hear you had the same problem. It is really encouraging to hear that you

have stopped gaining. I'm on Armour thyroid now so hopefully that will

help me too. Thanks so much for all the info!

Carol