sooooo sad

[mick]

I have been on phen since June 4th, and have only lost 5lbs. I'm really surprised its not working because I have no appetite. I also take synthroid for "Hypothrodism". I hope something happens soon.

Has anyone had a rough start...........

[Jenerizer]

Are you taking the actual synthroid? I thought it's been through the courts for not being effective medicine. You might want to ask your doctor to switch to Levoxyl or some other type of thyroid medication other than synthroid. I also have hypothyroidism so I know how it is. It really seems impossible to lose weight, but the phen does help. I took it a few years ago & lost 30 lbs in 2 months & I didn't even work out. Then I had gallbladder surgery & stayed away from phen for awhile & went back to my junk food eating habits & gained it all back.

I'm determined not to let that happen again. I've been on phen for about a week & a half now & have lost 6 lbs. I've changed my eating habits & work out everyday. Drink lots of water........you need it when taking phen.

Are you eating healthy & exercising?

Jen

[barb]

Im also on Synthroid 75 and started the phen 2 weeks ago and the weight loss is minimal. Also very tired

[Jenerizer]

Question your doctors on the synthroid...there are better thyroid medicines out there.

[AG]

Mick and Barb,

I am sad for you. I don't know anything about the medication that you are taking so I am sorry not to be able to offer any informaed help.

I think Jenerizer has given you a good suggestion - to talk with your doctor about your experience. I would suggest asking about your dosages of the two medications, and if the combination could be slowing the effects of the phentermine.

If you have a positive report from your doctor then I would think lots of water, exercise (if your health permits), close monitoring of calories (make sure you are eating enough), and lots of patience. Even with a slow loss, every pound you lose is a pound you did not GAIN!!!

Let us know how you are doing, we are all on the same journey - and the road is not always easy.

My best to you,

Abbi

[NettaV]

Don't feel to sad Mick losing weight is hard, too bad it's not as hard to gain it. My first six weeks of phen I had great results and lost twenty pounds but now I am not taking phen or anything else and I am gaining it all back one pound at a time. But I completely lost my motivation too, I can't seem to wake up enough to exercise. Hang in there it'll get better.

[Peejer]

Mick,


I too had a slow start with Phen. It takes a while to get into the flow of the diet and exercise program but you have to let the phen work 'for' you. You have to put your efforts into it as well! Regular exercise and good eating habits are essential to making the phen work.

Hang in there and give it a chance. I lost only 5 lbs the first 6 wks but continued and have lost 40lbs and toned as well.

PJ

[Elisa]

Hi Mick

What is your TSH level?

I'm Hashimoto's Hypothyroiditis, originally diagnosed in 1985. I've taken Synthroid for years but it never got my TSH below 14. My doc here in England switched me to a generic synthetic thyroxine sodium and I was down to 1.0 in a year.

I've lost weight and kept it off but followed a rather strict diet, parts of which I still follow as a general rule. I'm new to phentermine but I've had a start/stop sort of experience so far. I lost a pound a day for the first week and a bit but then it stopped completely. I'm going to post looking for some advice on how to get things going again.

Hang in there - we Hypos have to work twice as hard to lose a pound so 5 pounds is a great start!

Good luck!

Elisa

[Jenerizer]

The phen is the only thing that really helps me to lose the weight. Being "hypo" is no fun & it does take a lot of work to lose the weight, but the phen does help. Really though, get your blood checked to see where your thyroid levels are at & if you are on the correct dosage of thyroid medication like the others have said. It makes a huge difference when it comes to losing weight!!!!!

[BROWNSUGAR]

HELLO EVERYONE,
ISN'T IT TRUE THAT YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSE TO TAKE PHENTERMINE IF YOU HAVE THYROIDS. THE REASON IM ASKING IS I TOO HAD A SCARE WITH THYROIDS AND I STARTED READING ABOUT IT AND I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND MUCH ABOUT IT.COULD SOMEONE EXPLAIN THIS TO ME?

[ladygator]

You may want to ask your dr. to consider adding some type of T3 to your routine instead of just T4. Some people, even though they have plenty of T4 cannot convert it to the more potent T3. Cytomel is a synthetic brand and can be combined with Synthroid, Unithroid, etc. Alternatively, there is Armour which is what my mother has taken since 1959 and feels great on it. She tried Synthroid for a short time, but felt like crap, so she went back to Armour. Also, it's been found that if you can take your thyroid hormone on an empty stomach and try to wait an hour before you eat, you get a little more hormonal "bang for your buck."

I myself and undergoing some thyroid testing now in light of my family history of it on both sides. Should we discover something, I am going to request combined therapy. Good luck and keep on keepin' on.

[Elisa]

Brownsugar

I do new patient education for thyroid so this may get a bit detailed but I'll try to keep it simple.

First off, 'a scare' with thyroid I take to mean your doctor saw some symptoms they thought it worth checking via bloodwork. Doctors generally don't explain bloodwork beyond 'it's normal' or 'it's high/low' so I will. A full thyroid panel checks the levels of T3 and T4 and Thyroid Stimulating Hormone or TSH. A quick and simple test that's generally used to diagnose is the TSH. TSH 'normal range' is 0-5 or 0.5-5.5 depending on the lab. If your test result was above 5.0/5.5 then you'd be HYPOthyroid, that is, your thyroid is not producing enough hormone. If your test result was below 0/0.5 you'd be HYPERthyroid as your thyroid would be producing too much hormone.

So what's that matter? The thyroid regulates the speed of almost every system in your body. HYPO slows everything down - bowel (constipation), heartrate (slow pulse, cholesterol), metabolism (weight gain), nervous system (foggy brain, slow reflexes). Synthroid et al replace the hormone your body isn't producing to bring you back to normal TSH levels. Phentermine can be taken by HYPO's - it actually helps a bit because in addition to it's anorectic action in reducing appetite, it has a slight effect of increasing metabolic rate.

HYPER has the opposite effect - your body speeds everything up so you develop loose bowels, edginess/irritability, weight loss, rapid heartrate, etc. Cardiac problems - rapid and/or irregular heartrate are dangers of HYPER and this is why phentermine cannot by taken by those with Hyperthyroid. That slight element of increasing the metabolism I mentioned above? It could be fatal to a Hyper with tachycardia.

Thyroid problems can be chronic (Hashimoto's Hypo, Graves Disease) or they can be temporary. It's rather common for women to go Hypo and Hyper in the 3 months after childbirth. There's a set pattern to this type of thyroidism and it's generally just monitered through bloodwork and only medicated if it lasts longer than 13 weeks.

Ask your doctor for your TSH results and keep your own records if the disease is a concern for you. But if your doctor diagnosed you euthyroid (normal) or you were a bit Hypo then phentermine is safe for you (assuming no other medical concerns!)

Hope this explains a bit! Sorry so long but it does take that many words really LOL

cheers

Elisa