Hello,

First of all, I am so glad I have found this forum last week, as the fact that I have a hyperthyroidism made me really depressed.
One of the thing that frightens me is the uncontrollable weight gain after medication.
Would a gluten-free diet to control your weight be something that would help in maintaining a healthy weight?

I'm a fitness instructor at night, and work in an office during the day.
I would hate to lose my fitness job due to a weight gain.
I also have a new job offer with a much higher salary at my previous employer to start in mid-October. (where I worked as a temporary staff 2 years ago.)

In any case, on Tuesday, I have a thryoid scan appointment.
Then on Thursday, I'll see my endocrinologist.

Thank you so much for providing this forum.
I'm really surprised to how many people out there are suffering from this illness.

Shakira

Hi, I think if you use the search engine, you will find some conversation about gluten free diets. In summary, if there is not a compelling reason to do it, like cystic fibrosis, and/or a definitive gluten allergy, I think you are only subjecting yourself to fewer selections of good and nutritious food that do not taste as good. I don't think you will find anyone who regards a gluten free diet as helpful to maintaining, not gaining or losing weight. Unless, of course, someone is eating an excess of bread and dairy anyway, and cuts them out, thus decreasing total food consumption.
I am sure some others who have had this experience will chime in to share their stories with you. One of the facilitators tried it, can't recall who, but did not continue. It is tough to really follow and be compliant, if you don't have to do it for other health reasons.

You are just beginning this whole deal of Graves'. There is a lot to learn. Having a good endo and really understand the disease takes you a long way. THere are MANY unreliable websites out there. Try to stay away from them. Most are not reliable at all, for accurate information.
Some people do have an issue with weight gain, others never do. I have no idea of the per centages. But, most of us are female, and have other issues that do contribute to our weight and distribution of weight. Estrogen is a factor,a nd when menopause happens, women have more trouble with weight, at least some of them do. And then, there are always individual eating habits, which are either healthy or not healthy. Plus activity.
I'd say that if you are fine with your weight now, begin to learn about your disease. There is a lot to learn. A lot.
Congratulations on your new job! Whee! All the more reason to get on a steep learning curve with this stuff.
Shirley

@Shakira - I was the one that went gluten-free for the better part of the year. It was a fairly high-maintenance way to eat, as there is hidden gluten in a ton of ingredients that you wouldn't expect. Although I've heard some patients say that they felt better on a GF diet, I didn't see any benefit from it in terms of either my Graves' or my weight issues.

Personally, I think that going gluten free can be extra challenging for weight issues, because a lot of the “substitute” foods that are out there have more calories and less filling fiber than their gluten-free counterparts.

@Shirley - I think you were talking about Celiac Disease, which is an autoimmune condition. Unlike other autoimmune diseases, the immune system's attack in Celiac is triggered by the consumption of specific foods (those containing gluten). In order to prevent the immune system from severely damaging the villi that line the small intestine, life-long avoidance of gluten is necessary.

A small percentage of patients with one autoimmune disease will end up with a second condition. So if a Graves' patient truly feels they are reacting to gluten, a consultation with a doctor to rule out Celiac would be a good idea. (Side note: oddly enough, if you have been avoiding gluten, the testing to identify Celiac is not as accurate).

Thank you so much both of you for such a quick response.
I am meeting with a dietician / nutritionist who has experience with thryoid patients, as soon as I meet with my endo this Thursday.
I cannot afford my life to live with extra weight, given my career is a fitness teacher.

I'm so glad to have found this forum.

Hello Shakira7,

Its me again. I left you a message at your other post (liver enzymes) earlier.

I'm allergic to gluten and therefore I have to follow a gluten free diet. Now that I have been diagnosed with GD I have done some research and have found out that since both Celiac and GD are autoimmune diseases they can happen at the same time. Some times people are diagnosed with GD and later on develop Celiac or vice versa. In my case, the gluten allergy was diagnosed first. I have also read that there are some people who feel better just from following a gluten free diet. I personally think that it is worth the try. It can't hurt. Now a days there is gluten free food everywhere. There is gluten free (GF) bread, GF pizza, GF cereal, GF pancakes, GF waffles, GF cookies, etc. Plus, rice, vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, chicken, dairy is all gluten free. I think you will find these links interesting:

http://www.celiac.org/ [celiac.org]

http://www.celiac.com/gluten-free/ [celiac.com]

http://www.celiaccentral.org/thyroid/ [celiaccentral.org]

As far as keeping a healthy weight, it is like everything else you eat. If you eat GF pizza you are still going to have to watch your calories. With GD we have a period of restriction as far as to when we can exercise (I was told not to exercise while hyper b/c I was loosing a lot of weight by just breathing) but once you are given the okay to exercise you can try keeping a healthy
weight that way as well.

I enjoy being gluten free and I'm very glad that there is so much GF food out there that I can eat anything I like. The one catch is that I have to cook a lot of it at home but when I go out I eat vegetarian or look for the GF dishes. Where I live there are gluten free pizzerias but I don't eat there b/c I'm unfortunately allergic to yeast as well. But … I make very delicious GF pizzas at home. By the way, if you decide to try the gluten free diet, soy sauce contains gluten so go with tamari sauce instead.

Wish you the best.

Caro

Thank you, Carito71. These are great information.
I am in the process of giving away anything that has gluten; pasta, flour, oats…etc…to my friends.
I live in a big city, so I'm sure I'll be able to find gluten-free food.

Take care,

Shakira 7

P.S. - This time, I'll just press the Submit button, only once.

I've only been on the meds for going on four weeks. I'm on Methimazole. My doctor started me on 20 mg, which to my understanding is a conservative dose. I don't know what will happen long term, but thus far there has been minimal weight gain.

I asked my doctor how much I would gain back once on the meds and he said I would probably gain back what I've lost. I had assumed, based on the fact that over the last 6 months I've lost over 30 lbs from Graves (and a ruptured appendix), that I would gain at least the 30 back. I had anticipated that it would be fairly immediate and went out and bought elastic clothing for just that reason.

But again, I'm almost a month in and while exceedingly careful of what I eat, I haven't “blossomed” at all as I expected. Each of us are different, I realize, but it's very possible that the weight gain, in addition to what has been lost prior, may be related to the dose of medication prescribed. Perhaps talk with your doctor and if your symptoms are not horribly severe, ask him/her whether they'd consider a conservative approach to the medication.

Also, I have Celiac and would not suggest it as a means of losing weight only for the fact as was mentioned above, you will severely limit your choices and there are many food now out there for people who can't tolerate gluten that are not weight conscious, like the pizza suggested above.

I think people confuse gluten free with carbohydrate free and that is not the case. Potatoes and rice are two food that are allowed so if you are considering a weight program, perhaps consider a low carbohydrate one, Palaeolithic diet for example.
At another support site, for a third autoimmune disease I have that's one they promote, mostly for people with food sensitivities, but it's also lower in carbs. Might be worth a look.

Sorry to be so long winded, but you've touched on so many areas that I'm currently addressing, just thought I'd put in my 2 cents.

Hi WWW12,

Nice to virtually meet you, and thank you for sharing me your experience.
Like I told Carito71, it makes a great difference to me to have found this forum where I can exchange message with others who's going through the same thing.

I am meeting with my endocrinologist tomorrow afternoon.
It seems like it's been a long wait, since I saw him 2 weeks ago, for the 1st consultation.

I'll see how things unfold tomorrow.

Take care, WWW12.

shakira7
Thank you, Carito71. These are great information.
I am in the process of giving away anything that has gluten; pasta, flour, oats…etc…to my friends.
I live in a big city, so I'm sure I'll be able to find gluten-free food.

Take care,

Shakira 7

P.S. - This time, I'll just press the Submit button, only once.

You are welcome.
The key is to eat healthy and intake the necessary nutrients. You will find that since you can almost eat anything with a GF diet, because there is a lot of GF food out there, that you will have to pick the healthy choices just like with anything else.

By the way, if you enjoy oats (healthy for cholesterol), Bob's Red Mill has it GF and is RS ELISA certified.

Wish you the best trying it out. I know it is hard to get started but as I mentioned above, there are all kinds of GF foods now a days that you can about eat anything you like. When I started there were very few options and it was very hard for me but now I'm so amazed at the options out there. It is a little bit more expensive though, so in that regard, if you don't need to follow a GF diet for health reasons you might be better off eating gluten foods. It might not be a good way to loose weight b/c of all the options out there (I think I read that you eat pretty healthy now so you will probably eat pretty healthy with or without GF) but it might be worth trying it to see if you feel better.

Lots of health to you.
Caro