Thyroid Disease & The Sleeve... anyone? I need advice, please!

[mommyducky]

Hey guys. I really need some advice. Is there anyone on the forum who has thyroid disease and was sleeved and can share their experience with me? I would be eternally grateful. My father, upon seeing the wonderful results of both my mother and my own sleeve, has his heart set on getting sleeved as well. The family doctor said with his BMI of 35 and his high blood pressure, he qualifies for the sleeve. His main concern is that he has to take medication due to the thyroid problem. I remember when he first got sick, he got so skinny. After being diagnosed and given the thyroid medication, he gained so much weight. He is afraid that he will gain all the weight back like a year or so after surgery due to the medication. Our family doctor said this shouldn't be an issue and of course we will talk to the surgeon about it. But I know it would comfort him greatly if he could hear from someone who has been through it. Even if you are just in the beginning, hearing how you are doing so far since being sleeved would be great and anything you can share with us would help. Thank you in advance, everyone!

[Grace]

Hi hon - I am going to presume ( I know, a bad thing ) that he is hyperthyroid as you said he got so thin and generally if one is hypothyroid one gains weight.
Do the meds he takes make him hungry? Or do they have a general side effect of weight gain, like a beta blocker? If they make him hungry, then perhaps this will help. If it's more a function of the meds that he has swelling, etc....then I just don't know...
it doesn't look like the diet we need to follow would be bad for him - proteins, veggies, yogurt are all good for hyper patients from what I just looked up... wanted to see if protein was a problem and it doesn't look as though it is.
I wish I knew more about hyper, hopefully someone here can help more than I am able to....
It really seems like the best first step for him would be a consult with his endocrinologist, who can talk to the bariatric surgeon and they can come to a decision together.... hope all goes well for him.

[mommyducky]

Hi hon - I am going to presume ( I know, a bad thing ) that he is hyperthyroid as you said he got so thin and generally if one is hypothyroid one gains weight.
Do the meds he takes make him hungry? Or do they have a general side effect of weight gain, like a beta blocker? If they make him hungry, then perhaps this will help. If it's more a function of the meds that he has swelling, etc....then I just don't know...
it doesn't look like the diet we need to follow would be bad for him - proteins, veggies, yogurt are all good for hyper patients from what I just looked up... wanted to see if protein was a problem and it doesn't look as though it is.
I wish I knew more about hyper, hopefully someone here can help more than I am able to....
It really seems like the best first step for him would be a consult with his endocrinologist, who can talk to the bariatric surgeon and they can come to a decision together.... hope all goes well for him.

You know, I'm actually not sure. I will ask him more when he gets home later. I don't know much about it. I should probably do research. But from what I've heard him say is that he has no problem with food and it seems that the medication making him gain weight is his biggest concern. It took a long time for him to get diagnosed. It was many, many years ago but if I remember right, during that time he was eating normally and still dropping weight like crazy and he got very pale and sickly looking. We all thought he was dying and doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong. He went to many doctors before they realized it was his thyroid. From what I understand, it's not producing enough of a certain hormone and he has to take the hormone which is making him gain weight? I could be wrong though. I will ask him and get back to you. I know that he told me he would die if he stopped taking the medication so that is scary. I will read more on the thyroid and see if I can figure it out.

[mommyducky]

I just spoke with my mom. She said they burned his thyroid and he is taking medication to produce the hormones that are normally produced by the thyroid. He says the medicine made him gain weight but not because it made him hungrier than normal. My mom says that it just makes him normal so that his weight gain isn't a direct result of the medication but more like a result of his body being stable as before his thyroid was affected. So he actually has no thyroid left. Do you think the sleeve should be affected by this? Sounds to me like he should be okay.

[Msvetrn]

I think it would be best for him to speak with his Endocrinologist about it - if he has one. If not, an Endo consult might be a good idea.

[texasdrc]

I have hypothyroidism, which is that I don't produce enough hormone. Sounds like your Dad's. I had my sleeve in July of 2011. Best thing ever!! I lost 103 pounds and made goal in 7 months without any problems and currently have no problem keeping it off. I don't thing the surgery effected my thyroid problem at all. All of my labs have been in the same area as they were before the surgery. There was never a question Of the surgery effecting the thyroid but it did fix all my other health issues! Still having to take one tiny thyroid pill is a small price to pay to get rid of all the others.

Donna

[Grace]

Ok, then in my case I can say you can definitely lose weight while taking thyroid meds. However, I couldn't lose a lb until I got on cytomel as well as synthroid. Just another reason to have him work with his endo..... but it can be done. I'm proof.

[mommyducky]

I have hypothyroidism, which is that I don't produce enough hormone. Sounds like your Dad's. I had my sleeve in July of 2011. Best thing ever!! I lost 103 pounds and made goal in 7 months without any problems and currently have no problem keeping it off. I don't thing the surgery effected my thyroid problem at all. All of my labs have been in the same area as they were before the surgery. There was never a question Of the surgery effecting the thyroid but it did fix all my other health issues! Still having to take one tiny thyroid pill is a small price to pay to get rid of all the others.

Donna

Thank you! I told him what you wrote and I'm happy to give him such a positive message! Do you mind if I friend you? I would love to hear back from you in a few months and hear how things are going for you once you are past the first year and so on. My father is excited but a little scared. He's hesitating because he is thinking about all the food he won't be able to eat. He sees me and how I struggle to get a few bites in at meal time and he doesn't realize that it's worth it. Funny thing is I am really wanting him to go ahead with it and my mom, who is two years out, is convinced he can lose weight without it. Our surgeon says she thinks he should do it as did our family doctor! I hope more positive messages will convince him it's the right choice for him! Thanks do much for sharing your success story!

[mommyducky]

Ok, then in my case I can say you can definitely lose weight while taking thyroid meds. However, I couldn't lose a lb until I got on cytomel as well as synthroid. Just another reason to have him work with his endo..... but it can be done. I'm proof.

Thank you, Grace. He doesn't have an endo right now but our family doctor told him he shouldn't have any problems. What is cytomel? What does it do? Did you start taking it before or after your surgery? I will mention it to the family doctor and see if she can tell us anything about it. And if necessary, maybe she will recommend an endo for him to consult with about it.

[texasdrc]

Lee I hope things work out well for him. Send me a friend request and I will happily accept it and answer any questions that I can.

Donna

[Grace]

Thank you, Grace. He doesn't have an endo right now but our family doctor told him he shouldn't have any problems. What is cytomel? What does it do? Did you start taking it before or after your surgery? I will mention it to the family doctor and see if she can tell us anything about it. And if necessary, maybe she will recommend an endo for him to consult with about it.

Cytomel is the rx for pure T3 here in the states. Most folks take synthroid (levothyroxine), which is T4. For some it's enough because their bodies can make enough T3 naturally by converting the T4 within their bodies to what T3 is needed. But for some, T3 needs to be taken directly as we just don't convert well. I mentioned it because I was on only T4 for 3+ years at first and only gained weight, about 40 lbs of it in 3 yrs and I couldn't get out of my own way I was still so tired, in fact I only felt good when I had just adjusted my dose upwards, which is common with this issue. I begged my endo to consider T3 therapy even though I was in the normal range, asking for optimal instead. Literally 3 days after I started taking the T3 with my T4 I felt like myself for the first time in years, and after it had a chance to heal my body a bit, about 2 months, I was able to start this journey and lose 35 lbs pre-surg.
Now, not knowing what kind of meds your Dad is taking.... he may already have some T3 if he is taking armour thyroid, as it's built in...but if he's taking straight T4, I'm just on the bandwagon of telling folks it's a really good idea to get T3 levels tested as well and getting them as good as they can be.
It can make a huge difference. And you should remember, yourself, as you go forward that thyroid issues run heavily familial and you'll have to have yours tested as you go along, even every couple of years....

[yankegal]

I was and still am on medication for my thyroid, but after loosing 50 lbs my dr lowered my dosage. I haven't had any problems, be sure that he talks to the dr. about this, the thyroid controls a lot from our body. I was also concerned about this before surgery, but have had no problems. good luck