Okay, this is vain and this is probably lame sounding but... I have never had cellulite before. I am 40 years old and I am an athlete. I run 25 - 30 miles a week, bike another 160 - 200 minutes, lift weights, do yoga. I some how managed to keep up this schedule, though losing performance value, while going slowly hypo. I'm in the midst of being treated, 50 mcg Synthroid. (That dose will probably have to go up after my next labs). Well, in spite of my very firm, hard muscles, I noticed that I have developed cellulite on my thighs above my knees (not in the back or on the sides). (And yes, I gained a good 15 - 20 lbs due to the hypothyroidism, 5 of that is off now). Is this due to water retention from the hypothyroidism or something else related to hypothyroidism? Or should I just chalk it up to age? Has anyone else developed this only after going hypo? And how do you get rid of it if you're already exercising far more than the average person?
The thyroid doesn't really 'cause' cellulite, it's the weight gain and lower energy levels that allow it. Cellulite is just visible body fat. I own a perfomance lab and use high tech tools to measure metabolism, VO2 and body fat. My body has done the same thing. Gradually increasing body fat while maintaining heavy training and dieting. I believe where age comes in, is in where you hold body fat. For me it's on my upper abs, a place I've never had any visible fat before. It's extremely frustrating when you work as hard as you do and not get the results equal to the effort. I'm curious, is your heart rate extremely low, even for someone with your conditioning? Hopefully, you will get your optimal dosage going soon and keep trying till they get it right. I can't believe the difference in how I feel (I'm on Armour 120mg). I actually sweat now when I train, something that hasn't happened in three years and body fat is slowly returning to my normal levels.
Thanks for your reply. Even though I wouldn't wish this on anyone, it does help to know someone else is dealing or has dealt with the same problem.
Sweat: Actually, I sweat a ton. Ever since I became sick with Graves' Disease (1996), I've had what they call hyperhyrdosis. I used ATDs and went into remission, now my thyroid has conked out by itself -- and even though I'm hypo, the profuse sweating remains. It's horrible, too.
My heart rate *was* seeming low even when I was expending tremendous amounts of effort. That has begun to change and I'm back toward the upper end of my target zone when I push hard. Before I was Xd, I would be running for an hour and my heart rate wouldn't get up where it should.
My quadriceps are really developed and *that* is where the cellulite has shown up, on the fat lying over the muscles. Ewwwwwww.
I'm doing this "Penguin Athlete Summer Challenge" and I hope by the end of August that my thyroid meds are adjusted properly and this icky stuff gets off my body.
Glynis, I was doing a google search on cellulite and found the message you had posted regarding cellulite. I started taking Synthroid about 3 years ago...though I had very little cellulite...since I began taking synthroid I now have it all over. I am small framed I only weigh 120, I have never been no more than 20 lbs overweight. Also, I have actually thought about getting off synthroid and trying some natural remedies for hypothyroidism.
I also have noticed this on my thighs. The majority of my weight gain is in the stomach and obliques. Never overweight = now 25lbs overweight. I actually weigh more now than when I was 9 months pregnant with my kids. I did notice the back of my knees are horrible. They always look swollen although no pain, I am still jogging and attending my gym. I'm assuming this is thyroid (hopefully) and that it will resolve itself when meds are adjusted.
Glynis, I was so glad to see your post. I'm 44, still trying to get diagnosed, I am SICK of doctors right now. I work out 7 days a week. I run for an hour every other day and hit the gym on the alternate days with an hour on the EFX and about 40 minutes with weights. My heart rate running (outdoors) is roughly 140, but that depends on the weather. I live in Texas and when it is hot, my heart rate is higher. During my hyper phase, I could be less than a mile into a run and have a heart rate of around 200, I would just stop and walk then (and cry). I have noticed my thighs are "softer", I am not sure where all that firmness has gone. Also during my hyper phase, I had an episode on the EFX of extreme leg discomfort and weakness that I had to stop within 30 minutes. I feel my performance is probably slipping too, but I am just thankful I can still perform at all and I will continue to do so. I think it helps tremendously with regard to thyroid issues. Do you get muscle weakness in strange places? I lift weights and those areas seem to do okay, but doing something as simple as carrying a load of laundry can cause my forearms to ache. I am still waiting to find out if I just had a silent thyroiditis or Hashimotos...wait, wait, wait. I am curious about others who are avid exercisers and have thyroid issues about their weight. I have fared fairly well. Although for my effort I put in and how I watch my diet, I should be like a rail, but I am not. I'm 5'2" and roughly 115, but that varies too.
Ladies, I used to be a ballet dancer, slim, trim, and very athletic. When I turned 21, I started gaining weight and stopped dancing because I looked terrible! However, I had no clue about my thyroid because my doc said it was "normal". I am now 56 years old and was 55 lbs heavier, and just learned everything on this website 3 years ago. I found a doctor who gave me, not Synthroid (tried that but didn't work), but Armour thyroid. I now feel human, but also found that carbs are NOT my friend. I have slowly lost 15 lbs. through eating low glycemic index and low glycemic load foods, in strict moderation, along with lower-fat-levels-than-normal-people but not low as dieting crazes. It has been strict trial and error, lots of writing food journals and weighing myself till I'm crazy.
Strangely enough, hypothyroid folk also have non-pitting edema (often in lower legs and upper eyelids) which fluid pills will not touch (been there and done that too). It is actually your cells with the surrounding areas filled with mucus. They have lost the efficiency to rid themselves of it. In turn, you still have to drink plenty of fluids, at least 64 oz a day. Short of wearing tight stockings, I can't imagine how to rid myself of it. Any suggestions?
As for my heart rate, it doesn't seem to matter how far I walk, my heart rate never increases (that's the best exercise I can do at this weight, as I'm only 5'2", and still too heavy to jog...I don't own a bike). The more I walk daily, the lower my heart rate goes. I'm beginning to suspect a little adrenal failure here, but that's another fight with my doc!
Good luck!!
Judy
...I was browsing the internet...re cellulite and armour thyroid tablets for hypo...and noticed also for the first time in my life that i started developing cellulite all over...front of thighs upper abdomen...arms ect...I'm a small build...eat very well and do regular excercise and have never had any celleulite and none in the family...I was a little annoyed that my doctor had omitted that this may be one of the effects...however, does anyone know if I stop the armour thyroid pills...whether the cellulite will reduce. Thank you so much for any feedback.
Hi, it's not the Armour that's causing it, but your general physical condition caused by your underperforming thyroid (although years ago when I tried Synthroid, I gained even more weight). Also, like I stated in my last posting, adrenal fatigue has something to do with it too. I'm learning that once I handle my adrenal fatigue, I might also be able to lower my Armour thyroid a little since it affects everything including my thyroid function. My main concern now is not my weight (although that never leaves the back of my head) but my overall health, including waking up on my own in the morning (as opposed to waking with an alarm) and not falling asleep in the afternoon. My endo said that I have a "touch" of narcolepsy! NOT!! He wouldn't recognize adrenal failure because I don't have outright Addison's.
Judy
I had extreme fatigue for years...thinning hair...lack of sleep...what they defined as 'irratible bowel syndrome'...candida...ect...though I was always convinced that it had something to do with hormones...nothing came up in any tests, of the hormones that the doctors tested anyhow...until I finally went for saliva tests and discovered that my adrenals were functioning so badly that i was running on empty and had been for years...relative to my cortisol levels and dhea...so I eventually started to take dhea sublingual pills, keeping it always down to a minimal level 10-15mgs on average per day which started to make a great deal of difference in my energies (and I still never had any cellulite problems, water retention...despite all my symptoms)...then someone suggested that I go for thyroid tests which of course I had already been for...but as you know, the thyroid is rarely measured in the right way...and it was discovered that i was hypo and not hyper...so I started to take armour thryroid which has been working well (though my sleep has never properly been resolved for as long as I can remember)...from one a day to one every two days...and I have noticed this development of water retention all over...so I really feel that I should take the armour on the one hand..but I do not want my body to have to change for the worst due to that. However in the interim I was advised to stop the dhea if I wanted to get pregnant so I did...and maybe that is more the reason for cellulite than the armour...What do you think?
...I was browsing the internet...re cellulite and armour thyroid tablets for hypo...and noticed also for the first time in my life that i started developing cellulite all over...front of thighs upper abdomen...arms ect...I'm a small build...eat very well and do regular excercise and have never had any celleulite and none in the family...I was a little annoyed that my doctor had omitted that this may be one of the effects...however, does anyone know if I stop the armour thyroid pills...whether the cellulite will reduce. Thank you so much for any feedback.
I actually stopped taking my synthroid for about a month to see if my cellulite would reduce, however I started experiencing alot of joint pain and decided I better start back on the synthroid. I would like to have tried for a longer length of time to stay off of the meds. If you decide to experiment let me know if it is successful.
Okay, it has been ages since I first posted the question about cellulite. Since then I've been through many dosage changes with Synthroid, kept working out. When my TSH finally got down under 2.0, the weight AND cellulite began to come off...but then my TSH went up again. Synthroid could not keep my TSH at my goal of 1.0 to 1.5 - even increasing the dosage didn't help. My doctor allowed me to switch to Armour Thyroid 2 months ago... my TSH showed a dramatic change (my body really needed that T3)...and best of all, the cellulite is gone and the rest of the fat gained is finally going away.
Right now I do at least 1 hour of serious cardio 5X a week, 90 - 120 during my long run 1X per week, weight training 30 min 4X per week and yoga 3X per week 20 - 40 minutes. I was doing this then, too, but without getting results (other than keeping from gaining massive amounts of weight from my thyroid).
The Armour also enabled me to really feel *awake* and ready to roll in the morning. I used to be a morning person before hypothyroidism but had to drag myself out of bed to be at the gym early while on Synthroid. Since Armour I'm at the gym at 6:30am feeling ready to work out.
Running....
Congratulations!!!! Wow...your journey is inspiring and has given me renewed hope. Thank you so much for sharing this with us all. It is so good to hear of successful journeys. That is how I'm looking at this...a journey. I believe that we all learn so much about ourselves, our fortitude, our attitudes and how we deal with conflict and obstacles when we're faced with a challenge...in our cases, a chronic health issue. I takes patience, persurverance and determination...an LOTS of support and education but it CAN be done...you've proven that. Be well and stay well!
...It would seem that relative to everyone's mail...that synthroid could be one of the causes of cellulite...would you say that armour thryroid could be as well or not?...or just being hypothyroid, which doesn't sound right seeing as I think I may have been hypo for a long time and have never developed cellulite until recently when I started taking armour and came off DHEA...I would much appreciate any views...Thank you!
My friends that are on Synthroid either can not lose weight or gained, while as my friends...and I...either lost weight or remained stable.
However, I would question the effects of coming off of DHEA. That may have triggered the weight gain rather than the Armour.
Judy
so... If I switched from Synthroid to The Amour(SP?) I might have a better chance of losing weight? Are they pretty much the same meds?
No, by no stretch of imagination! Armour thyroid has T4 (like Synthroid), but also T3, T2, and T1. Although not perfect, it has more of what the human body needs. It is a natural product made from pork/beef thyroid. Synthroid is only a synthetic form of T4. Once your body doesn't have enough T4, it also begins to fail to convert enough into T3. This is the form that your body can actually use. So, if you just take T4, and you already have trouble converting enough into T3, how can Synthroid work for you? Of course not everyone has this issue, but all the people I'm in contact with do way better on Armour. It's all about how well you feel, not how good your lab results look!
Judy
I would not expect the switch to armour from synthroid to allow weight loss. Although I am on armour and have taken to it much better than synthroid-- I have the weight problem as well. No matter how much I do not eat or exercise- i stay the same. This is very frustrating and it could be i am not on the right dose. I also have recently experienced the "cellulite" phenomenon...at 27 and have never had cellulite before. I also have never been not able to lose weight.........
----i also have a question....my doctors goal for my thyroid is for tsh to be under 5....i would like it to be 1-1.5, these levels i most hear people talking about feeling best in. So far I feel good but the weight issue makes me feel my meds need to be adjusted more. How do i explain to my doc? Will she understand when i tell her the meds are not at correct dose because my weight wont come off?
Weight problems are a sad tale of woe with nearly everyone that's hypothyroid (very few escape it). After a lot of research, I found a formula that was meant for figuring hypo weight loss. It may work for you. First and foremost, stop drinking any and all regular and diet sodas. All artificial sweetners stop weight loss, as does all forms of chocolate, black tea and coffee, including decaf. Secondly, whatever formula you are using to figure your calories, drop it by another 200 calories per day because no matter how well you're controlled, you're never going to be normal again. This also means that your carb count can't be over 30 to 35% for your daily intake and your protein should be around 40%. White foods are NOT your friends (white potato, white rice, white bread, white flour, white sugar...get the pic?). You are allowed, within your daily calories, whole-wheat bread, brown rice, sweet potato (baked or nuked)...but sorry, no sugar of any kind. Salads are your best friend now, the more colorful the vegetable, the better, and don't be afraid to use oil and vinegar (no balsamic as it has sugar, and no commercial dressings as they're loaded with sugar too). Drink at least 64 oz of water a day, with your docs permission if you have cardiac issues.
As for your lab work, your doctor needs to lose interest in your TSH. It is of no value whatsoever for controlloing your dosage. You should get her to be only concerned with your Free T3 and Free T4, both of which should be above the mid range of the reference range. It all depends on how well you feel...it's not about the numbers. I basically have worked it out with my doc that I get enough Armour thyroid to feel well all day, but not so much that I can't go to sleep at night. That's the key! This is also how most of the well controlled hypothyroid people I know do eventually. It just works better (and no, your bones aren't going to melt and your not going to get heart disease or high blood pressure from too high a dose as most docs would have you believe!).
Best of luck!
Judy
Thyroid - Cellulite? Possibly Dumb Question 
Re: Thyroid - Cellulite? Possibly Dumb Question 
TT 1/26/06 -Levothyroxine 75-88
