Title: Why Levothyroxine Causes Weight Gain and How to Prevent it
Headings: Why Levothyroxine Causes Weight Gain and How to Prevent it
Why Levothyroxine Causes Weight Gain and How to Prevent it
T4 to T3 Conversion Matters... A lot
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Foods to Avoid if you have Thyroid Problems:
The Complete List of Thyroid Lab Tests:
​Levothyroxine and Synthroid are Both T4 only Medications
​How Levothyroxine Causes weight gain
What to do if you think Levothyroxine is Causing Weight Gain
Step #1: ​Check your Basal Body Temperature Each Morning
​Step #2: Check your Resting Pulse or Resting Heart Rate
Step #3: Check a Complete Thyroid Panel​
​How to Finally Lose Weight with Hypothyroidism
Does Levothyroxine ever Cause Weight Loss?
5 Steps YOU can Take Today to Lose Weight and Boost Thyroid Function
1. ​Optimize T4 to T3 Conversion
2. Optimize your Adrenal Function and Cortisol Levels
3. Add in High-Intensity Exercise
4. Reduce Inflammation
5. Balance Insulin and Leptin levels
Real Patients and Real Results
​ More Resources and Links showing why T4 only medications don't work for everyone:
The Effects of Levothyroxine substitution on body composition . (17)
Differences in hypothalamic type 2 deiodinase ubiquitination explain localized sensitivity to thyroxine . (18)
References (Click to Expand)
About Dr. Westin Childs

Content: By itself it doesn't do anything for your body except act as a reservoir for T3 and T3 is the active thyroid hormone in your body . T3 is what enters into your cells and turns on the genes that increase your metabolism, help with hair growth and give you energy. In order for T4 thyroid hormone to be active in your body, it MUST be converted to the active hormone T3. ​The problem is that T4 doesn't always convert to T3: (This image shows what is required to convert T4 into the active free T3 hormone, it also outlines what causes your body to turn T4 into the inactive reverse T3)
You see: Your body has two options: 1. Turn T4 into T3 which enters into your cells and activates genetic transcription (this is what you WANT to have happened and what most doctors assume is happening)
or...
2. Turn into Reverse T3 which blocks thyroid action, lowers metabolism and makes patients feel like they are hypothyroid (this is what you DON'T want to have happened but ends up happening in many patients on T4 only medications)
The more reverse T3 in your bloodstream the less you can rely on normal thyroid blood tests to give you any actionable information. So if you understand this concept the next question you should be asking yourself is this: