Carbimazole - weight gain

Hi Everyone, I am so relieved that i am not suffering alone. I was diagnosed with an overactive thyroid owing to multi nodular goitre in October 2012. My diagnosis and testing was done fairly quickly. Owing to chnage of Doctor I went to carbomazole 60 mg and porpoanalol around early December 2012 .At the time I weighed in at 65kg which was a reduction of about 3 kg since te symptoms of the overactive thyriod showed up i.e. heart palpitations and so on. In mid Jan 2013 I weighed in at 68kg (back to my orginal weight). What is scaring me is I was at the doctor last week 1st Feb and now weigh 70kg, This means I am gaining about 1 kg a week! I am soo depressed as I had spent the whole of 2012 working out and getting fit and managed to maintin my weight at 68kg whch was fair for my 5ft7 inches height. The Docor doesnt seem worried. he has reduced my dosage of carbimazole to 30 mg a day as my test show i am now borderline hypo though my TSH is still low.I am just wondering how I can control the wieght gain while still taking the carbimazole. And also if I am now hypo should I be taking the carbimazole at all? Help!!

Hi all. It is good to read that others have gained weight on Carbimazole, however, it really is getting me down. I have gained almost 2 1/2 stones and apparently my thyroid levels are still not right. I am so tempted to just stop taking the stuff as am so sick of being fat, unable to wear anything other than a tent etc. etc. Has anyone else just stopped taking it? If so, what happened?

Also has anyone else tried herbal remedies such as Gypsywort? If so was here any weight problems with it?

Please help as this is just too much

i to am desprate to come off this horrible tablet, i have hospital appointment on wednesday and i am telling them i'm coming off it wether they agree or not. i have been taking it for 18 months and thats long enough for me.. i need to get my life back..i will keep you posted as to the consiquences to my actions.. but anything is better than sleeping 14hrs a day and having no energy.

hi sallych and toofattotango, I really sympathise with you both as Ive been there, I stopped weighing myself after I'd put on 2.5 stone so not sure as to what the final score was. I finally had the RIA treatment inJuly last year and an now off all meds. My blood readings have settled within normal range now for 3 months so Im hoping thats the end of it.

The good news is that I have managed to loose 1.5 stone so far and Im determined to loose the rest before my hols this year. While my weight was on the up the consultant wont listen to me and basically told me I was probably eating too much so finding this forum was a life saver. In one of the threads someone mention a site called myfitnesspal on there you can keep track of what you eat daily and can print off a report to show the consultant if you need to. I have continued to use it in my weigh loss programme and find it very good.

Hang in there, there is light at the end of the tunnel .....

Toofattotango - good luck and let me know how you get on when you give it up. I will be watching with interest. Sadly I do not have either the energy or the muscle to exercise yet - I was a fitness fiend prior to this horrible illness. I am going to pay to see a nutritionist and see if they can offer me an alternative, homoeopathic solution to avoid the tablets. I'll keep you posted.

Irishwales - thanks for giving us hope and good luck in reaching your goal.

ok so its now 12 days since i came off the tablets, to be honest there is not much change but have been told the tablets will take 6-12 weeks to come ot my system.. i feel better not taking them though.. :-) i shall keep you posted..

You did it then!! Good for you! I saw the nutritionist and have got load of information but, what was interestingwas that she said that brassicas (i.e. cabbage, sprouts, broccoli etc.) have a similar effect to the tablets. I m eating some every day and have cut down on the tablets but will not give them up completely until I see the consultant again. Keep me posted. I'll be thinking of you

was back at the hospital yesterday, i am feeling better every day on No carbonmazole, but they want me to start back on them asap.. to be honest i dont want to. so i am going to see how i go for another few weeks without them, (if i can only be on these horrid tablets for 18 months max then i feel i've done my time. ie 18 months) i've looked at other forums and there are people out there awho have stopped taking their meds and by some miricle there thyroid has stabalized and returned to normal, i know the scare mongers will shout about the risk of heart attact/stroke etc.. but i feel i know my own body better than anyone else and unless i start to feel ill again, i will continue on nothing and see how i get on.. in the past 6 weeks i have felt better than i have in the past 2 years.. i shall as ever keep you posted. :-)

So pleased to hear you are feeling better. I cannot understand why, if you are feeling good, that your consultant doesn't listen to you. I have read some other sites that talk about this. Too much notice is taken of test results and consultants are not listening to how we feel.

I have been reducing mine and am down to 10mg a day and beginning to feel a bit better although my weight is still bothering me. Have you lost any since stopping?

Take care and I have my fingers crossed for you

ok so now been off carbonmazole for 9 weeks :-) i feel so much better and i think i may be a bit lighter. i have been told that vitamin B12 is very helpful in a whole variety of Autoimmune disease's and to be honest, having taken it for the past 10 days i think it is helping a lot, i have a lot more energy and feel fabulous.. not back at the hospital till the 5th but as ever i shall keep you posted.

Wow!! That is fab news. Really happy for you.

Sadly I have been back to the consultant today and been told my bloods have got worse. She has changed my tablets completely. Now on 300mg Propylthiouracil. I am pretty fed up to be honest as was really feeling confident that I was feeling much better. Not sure where I go from here TBH.

I will try the B12 though. You take care and hope things keep positive for you x

ok hospital yesterday.. thyroid is top end of normal. :-) no need to restart tablets. endo agreed i know my body better than anyone else.. also lost 12lbs in the 6 weeks since i was last there.. happy days..i've to keep doing what im doing..ie; not talking carbonmazole and return on the september 11th ( 3 months).. hopefully by then i will have lost the rest of this weight and have my life back.. really believe the B12 is helping too.. jsut keeping you posted.. keep the faith.. there is light at the end of the tunnel.. i can see it..

:-)

That's great news. Well happy for you. I am plodding along trying to keep positive. One day I will join you out of the other end of that tunnel :-)

Hi I went to the doctors last week as I have been feeling unwell for a while and I asked for a thyroid function test as my mother had severe hyperthyroidism. Yup..... blood tests came back with the diagnosis of hyperthyroidism. Only found out today.. and so it starts. For now 20 mg of Carbimazole a day with a follow up test in a month and possibly a visit to the specialist for an x ray of my thyroid. Lets see how we go any information of maintaining a healthy lifestyle would be greatly appreciated ... lets see how ths all goes.

So day one ...feeling worried but also happy I found out why I have been feeling so bad.

Hi I went to the doctors last week as I have been feeling unwell for a while and I asked for a thyroid function test as my mother had severe hyperthyroidism. Yup..... blood tests came back with the diagnosis of hyperthyroidism. Only found out today.. and so it starts. For now 20 mg of Carbimazole a day with a follow up test in a month and possibly a visit to the specialist for an x ray of my thyroid. Lets see how we go any information of maintaining a healthy lifestyle would be greatly appreciated ... lets see how ths all goes.

So day one ...feeling worried but also happy I found out why I have been feeling so bad.