Carbimazole - weight gain

Thanks for your reply and I do feel sorry for you as I also feel miserable cos of my weight gain.I understand that once I have the radio-active iodine treatment that they then can control my thyroid with thyroxine and I will not be taking carbimazole .I am hoping that this will be the answer and I will be feeling a lot better than I have been for a year now.I would love to hear from anyone who has had this procedure.Good luck

Hi everyone

Well I have had some developments since I made my original posts. Thankfully I had responded really well tto my treatment and I am now down to one tablet. I have had my blood test today and hopefully if my

levels are the same as they have been now for about 5 months that will be the end of my treatment next

week once I see the consultant. But this story did not go without heartache. 18 months into my treatment my levels were increasing. I was told that now the 18 months were up my options were either radio active treatment or surgery. My family agonized about both and surgery seemed to definately be out of the

equation. Then my partner said he had seen a film on tv about a similar case and that the person opted for herbal medicines.

I was all for trying anything, and it did not go without the cost. It was very expensive and at the time I was

fortunate enough to be able to afford the treatment. I went through a course of 6 weeks of all sorts of

potions and when I then went for my next blood test I was over the moon when I was told that my levels

were improving and that the reduced my tablets by one, so I was on three a day. I continued on my

herbals believing they were working for me. But then I hit a few financial difficulties and couldn't afford to

continue buying the herbals. I began at the gym and was working out regularly. On my next appointment my levels had improved again and I was taken down to 2 tablets a day and I have been regularly training and my levels have got better to the point of where I am of 1 tablet. My weight really got me down and only when I started taking the herbals I started to notice a slight change. I am now still training regular and my dosage has been reduced and I am now down to a size 8 from the size 12 where I was when I started

the course of Carbimazole 2 years ago. I really do know how down the weight gain makes us feel as I

really have been there. I know its a long hard slog people but I have experienced all you have and now I my tablets had been reduced and I am taking regular exercise, fingers crossed I will be off the

medication next week. Wish me luck and good luck to you guys too.x

Well done Naz I hope you have reached the end of your problems.I was very interested in your story re iodine treatment or surgery.I dont want surgery but my consultant has assured me that the iodine treatment is usually very sucessful so I am giving it a go.After it I will only have to take thyroxine to keep my thyroid levels ok so with any luck without the carbimazole I should start losing weight and go back to normal . Good luck next week I will be interested in how you get on.By the way I am going to look into the herbal treatment you talked about.

Alice in Wonderland......please please do your research on surgery and Rai, google both those methods, you dont have to go there. Weight gain on Carbizamol is nothing compared to post RAI.

Please google RAI and weight gain read the forums they are scary, you stand a really good chance of reaching remission on Carbizamol, the weight gain is not the drug it is your thyroid levels normalising. You will have a constant battle

I have looked into quite a few sites re RAI treatment and all seems positive.I hope I am going in the right direction with this. Any one else out there with an opinion or experience of it regarding weight lose ETC!

Hey Alice in Wonderland. I finally done it. I got the ' All Clear' today and I am so happy. I wish you all the success in the RAI, if that's the route you have chosen to take. I genuinely hope all goes well for you. Best

Wishes. And for anyone else out there who may just be diagnosed with the overactive thyroid I managed to

beat the surgeons who wanted to do the RAI and surgery to remove the thyroid so heart of heart I do believe

it can be done, but I did have the herbals which started to reduce my levels and then going to the gym

regular really showed an improvement, if you can try other methods before opting for RAI or surgery. Good

Luck.x

Well done Naz and congrats for reaching "normal" I am still waiting on my appointment for RAI I am still a bit nervous about it but I am running out of patience. I have read so many conflicting reports about it but I have to trust somebody. Put on another 2lbs last week and I cant bear to get on the scales.Surely there is an answer out there !!!!

Hey Alice in Wonderland. I so understand what you are going through with the weight gain, and I know

exactly how miserable it made me feel. Do what your heart tells you to do. I didn't really do much

research on RAI and would have opted for it as a choice if my levels stayed as they were.

The only reason I put off at that moment is that I have children in close proximity to me in what

I do, so I had to put that option on hold for a while. There are always going to be positives and

negatives in anything we do so follow your heart. You know I used to be so upset about gaining the

weight but I just started wearing more baggier clothes rather then trying to fit into my normal stuff and I

felt better by doing this. And the biggest thing for me not worrying about my weight later on was that I

realised that no matter what I couldn't change putting on the weight, it wasn't due to me over eating so

if I was to carry on worrying I would still put it on. I knew it was the medication and eventually there would

be end to it. Keep us posted. But in the meantime if you can try and even get something that will keep

your cardio going, like the wil, if you have it or even a cheap exercise dvd. I am not saying this is

guaranteed to work, but I so believe it helped me and whilst you are waiting for the RAI it may make a

difference. Good Luck.xxxx

Thanks for your answer Naz.Like you say nothing makes a difference to my weight gain And I will have to put up with it until I stop the medication.Regarding RAI I think it would suit me ok as I am a pensioner and live alone so no danger to children.I am very active and do a lot of walking as I live on the beach with lovely walks but I find I have to push myself some days as I dont always have the energy.Hopefully I wil get it sorted eventually.

Hey Alice in Wonderland. Wow living by the beach sounds like bliss. Just to let you know that I used to go for 5 mile walks everyday with my partner. Unfortunately it did not benefit me at all and my levels were still very

high. This is why I say try something for Cardio. I did normal walking but I so believe that the cardio work

helped me. I am not superfit, and I do struggle but even though I was normal walking each day it had

no real effect on my levels. I know everyone is different but I know what a battle it is when we are diagnosed

out of nowhere with having an overactive thyroid. It is a pain and I know it is a waiting game for the RAI but I wish there was more evidence to show that ways of working your levels down without the therapy. I really do appreciate how costly herbals are too but seriously if you can afford it you could try giving it a go. Let us know how you get on if you go through with the RAI. Best wishes.xx