My wife may have Thyroid issues.

[gonnabskinny]

My wife has been doing Atkins for about a month now, but is having difficulty losing weight. In fact, she actually gained during the first week of induction.

I just read an interview done years back with Dr. Atkins on Larry King that was posted here on another thread. One of the callers had thryroid issues. Dr. Atkins went on to explain one of the symptoms is a body temperature that consistenly runs below 98.6 degrees, which makes it difficult to lose weight. My wifes temperature has always run over a full degree below normal and now I wonder if their isn't a problem with her thyroid and that is why she is having difficulty. Sounds like something we may need to check into. Any thoughts?

[WheresMeFeet]

Hmmmm...
Certainly is a possibility.
I'd definaly go see her GP if I were her.

Take Care,
Cathy
XoXoX

[Sherri]

I have hypo-thyroid, which is underactive thyroid. Body temperature is one of the symptoms. Other symptoms of Hypo-Thyroid are, loss of energy, hair loss, and constipation. A simple blood test at your doctors will determine her thyroid levels. If thats the case your doctor will prescribe medication to boost her thyroid levels. I take synthroid for mine. Once her thyroid functions normally she'll be able to lose the weight. I lost over one hundred pounds.

[Alexa]

Hi there,

Sorry to hear that your wife may have thyroid problems. It definately sounds like a trip to the Dr would be good to check it out.

If you want some good info on symptoms this site is useful: http://thyroid.about.com/

It can take a while to treat thyroid problems and it can get mentally and physically tough at times, but once the correct meds are being taken it is possible to feel good and lose weight. This is the only diet that worked for me, however.

If your wife needs support then please encourage her to get into this forum and post if she has questions.

[SandyL2002]

Never hurts to check.. I too always have a lower body temperature..but I have had 2 Thyroid tests and they were both negative.. I am losing...but slowly...But I FEEL so much better

[DMAX2007]

yes, blood tests now!. The doctors will test for TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone). If its higher than normal, then she is hypothyroid. If its lower, than she is hyperthyroid . the healthy range of TSH is 0.4-5.0, although some endocrinologists would argue it should be 0.3-3.0. most labs are quick, you should get resuts within 24-48 hours.

The reason why body temp is low for people with hypothyroid is because the byproduct of metabolism is heat.. since people with hypothyroidism have low metabolism, their body heat is lower than normal. google search hypothyroidism and view the many symptoms of hypothyroidism.. trust me, there are many.

[designinme]

I would highly suggest seeing a physician that prescribes armour thyroid. I had many symptoms of hypothyroid, yet my blood work came back in the "Normal range". I have difficulty losing weight recenty ( 5 years ago this wasn't the case ), constipation, feeling tired, "brain fog", etc. and many others. I found a physician that prescribed me armour thyroid based of my symptoms and basal body temperature. Each month my dose was increased until my basal body temp. rose to "normal" range. I feel FANTASTIC now, and now that I must have been suffering for a very long time.

There is a BIG debate over what thyroid drug is better, but many who have used both in their life agree that armour is much more effective. Armour is Natural pig thyroid gland that is made into a pill. Its important to realize that the major hormone that is responsible for metabolism is T3. Synthroid is T4, and the idea is if enough T4 is taken, then the body will convert it to T3. Armour contains both T3 and T4.

If you would like more info regarding the research I have found regarding thryoid, please let me know. It was a battle of more than two years to figure out my body was low on thryoid, even though doctors always said "Thyroid is normal".

Dr. Atkins talks about this in his book, that blood work is NOT the way to diagnose thyroid issues, and many people could have underactive thryoid and never find out.