Training & Nutrition - hypothyroid and heart rate

Hello:
I was diagnosed with having an underactive thyroid - just before my first century last month. In any event, I've started taking synthetic thyroid medication... but sometimes, my heart rate seems low while riding. Could be that I have not been training as hard as before the century...took off a week and then have been struggling to ride with weather and work constraints.

Anybody else out there hypothyroid???

Funny that you posted this- I'd been wondering about some of this stuff myself. I just found out this spring that I have high antibodies and some small nodules which means that I am in the process of developing Hashimoto's. My mother has the same thing. I haven't started on meds yet, I'm being monitored. I am sure that they'll put me on meds too, SYnthroid probably.

One of the symptoms I noticed is sort of a sore feeling in my chest, like a tightness of the chest muscles. However, it doesn't seem to have any effect on my heart rate or recovery,it just makes it feel like I am short of breath but I'm not. Also I don't have it every day, it comes and goes. And sometimes I feel more tired than others. But I've been able to do an 80k ride and I'm hoping to do a century, meds or no meds. Also, I've lost about 6 pounds since the season started- I've gained a few pounds because of this problem, about 15, which doesn't sound like a lot but it is for me.

There must be others like us out there- apparently thyroid disease is incredibly common and affects about 70 million americans.

Hi Wabbit...no chest tightness for me. Mostly weight gain and tiredness. I guess too low BP/heart rate.
Today, it took nearly 40 mins to get my heart up to 80 %...most of the time just hovered at 65%. Maybe I was just overtired with the traveling I've been doing for work lately etc... and my body is just in 'protection' mode.

Maybe it's the medication- sometimes when you start on meds it can take a while for you to get the right dosage. From what I understand, it can make your heart rate go up or down and can cause various symptoms until the dosage is just right.

It dawns on me that there isn't much info out there for people who have various conditions and who are into sports. I mean, how do you deal with being hypo or whatever and train to do a century? I visited a web site about thyroid disease and it had this whole section on how to live well and keep your weight down, etc. I've gained a few pounds in the past year, and so that is a concern to me. Anyways, it was obviously aimed at people who never get any exercise- it just showed some chubby middle aged guy doing deep knee bends, leg lifts and squats. I'm a little bit beyond that. Geez, is it any wonder these people gain so much weight? They never get any exercise. ALthough they did recommend "biking" probably not thinking about 80k. It's just not aimed at higher-end types! They think everyone with hypo is tubby, out of shape and have never even walked more than a block!

yeah, chubsters...
that's what makes me think "ah ha'! all those times I'd complain about gaining weight over the years.... i exercised more but still gained ... i chalked it to quitting smoking and getting older.

Yeah, same here, but if you're really trying, or you're cycling and training and you can't lost any weight, then something is up. In my case, it was not so much the amount of weight, but I'd always had a speedy metabolism and had never had rouble losing weight, and it was like my metabolism had shut down.


Apparently, most of the weight you gain from thyroid is actually fluid, like retaining water, and most people gain only abouta 15 lbs. There is a myth that thyroid makes you pile on 50 lbs but that's just a myth. Apparently, the weight comes off when you start meds. In my case, I'm not on meds but like I said, since the season started I've lost about 6 lbs.

Originally posted by wabbit
Apparently, most of the weight you gain from thyroid is actually fluid, like retaining water, and most people gain only abouta 15 lbs. There is a myth that thyroid makes you pile on 50 lbs but that's just a myth. Apparently, the weight comes off when you start meds.

Since the thyroid gland governs one's basal metabolic rate, a person with a hypoactive thyroid will need to eat less than someone with a normal or hyperactive gland.

If you start taking large doses of natural or synthetic (e.g. Synthroid) thyroid hormone, your thyroid gland will gradually become less active, because the pituitary gland cranks out less Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) when it senses a high level of thyroid hormone (irrespective of its source) in the blood. As a result, you may eventually become totally dependent on Synthroid; this is not necessarily bad, just an observation.

If you are having thyroid problems, find a good endocrinologist who will listen to you and teach you how to watch for the symptoms of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism. Although the TSH concentration blood test is considered the gold standard for setting dosage, it is a momentary snapshot of a dynamic, changing value. Other factors, such as the patient's basal body temperature (measured while still lying in bed in the early morning) and general feeling of well-being, must also be considered when setting the dosage. Synthroid comes in 75, 88, 100, 112, 125, and 150 microgram doses; find a doctor with the patience to help you find the right dose for your needs.

There are several good thyroid disease support groups on the Internet; you can learn alot from other patients. [My wife lost her thyroid gland to cancer nine years ago. She just changed doctors because one wanted to reduce her Synthroid dose, even though she shows no signs of hyperthyroidism, and occasional subtle signs of hypothyroidism.]

My mother has been on Synthroid for years, so it doesn't worry me that much. Actually, I was the one who began noticing the symnptoms. One thing I've learned is that symptoms can seem really benign, minor or unthreatening but if they're unusual for yu, then it's not that subtle, and also, having so many of them at the same time. In fact, when I mentioned it to my GP he wasn't convinced anything was wrong, but I was insistent because I have a family history, and I knew something just wasn't right. I can see why so many people walk around not knowing they have hypo, because you don't feel sick or disabled and you aren't having major, horrible symptoms. ANd I think most people aren't in good shape, don't exercie, eat crappy food and certainly don't go cycling, so feeling tired, out of breath, having palpitations or aches and pains is normal for them! It' s like if a triathlete starts having chest pains, take notice. If someone who is normally in very good physical shape is feeling like hell, then it's not 'nothing'. I think it's a case of you knowing yourself and how you normally feel, but I guess a lot of people aren't tuned in.

i am on synthroid 0.05mg tabs each morning. you should be taking your dose on an empty stomach as early in the morning as possible.
there is great debate about how one get's hypothyroidism. the common hashimoto's type is caused by your body making antibodies to and somehow thinking that your thyroid in the bloodstream is a foreign body needing to be destroyed. how this happens is anyone's guess. some say the heavy metals in well water or tap water. some suggest a single unique physical trauma that triggers this reaction.
i found it wierd that i all of a sudden gained 15 lbs despite no change in diet or exercise pattern. this was 4 months after my left shoulder was ripped out of its socket in an accident. i had no other symptoms (although when i looked further about all the symptoms i developed all of them, hahahaha) --->

my TSH level at its highest was 45!! (normal is like 4 or 5, right?) and only a slight dose of 0.05mg set it right. my doctor tested again and again not believing the result.

now i am in my normal weight range andi never detected any energy drop off.....

At my last test, my TSH was just over the normal, but the antibodies were high. As for Hashimoto's, what exactly causes it is still a mystery, except that it does run in families. My mother has it and my aunt now has it, and I always figured I might develop it. One thing I noticed was the weight gain without any reason for it, and other things which I'd had for a while but didn't put them together. I'd always needed lots of sleep to feel normal- like nine hours. And more recently, I developed weird, stabbing crampy pains in my hands, feet, joints, dizzy spells, and other sort of subtle signs that I attributed to all kinds of things. I only discovered it because my on my yearly gyno checkup, he sent me for a blood workup because he thought my thyroid looked enlarged, and thats when I saw my TSH was slightly high. As it is, I have to go for a full blood test again this fall to see how it's going, but I'm pretty sure I'll be on meds eventually. I'm not worried too much, right now I'm feeling fine except I get a bit tired.

my doc is also testing t4 and t3 levels... not sure what they all do, but all inter-related to tsh levels.
one other thing i've noticed, aches and pains deep within my muscles...thyroid induced maybe??
i too think antibodies have something to do with my thyroid disease since my dermatologist said i have discoid lupus which only effects the skin but it is related to the systemic lupus.

Yes, those aches and pains seem to be part of hypo- could be fibromyalgia which is often part of it. I get these sudden needly cramps in my hands and feet, and those deep-muscle pains. I don't think there's much you can really do about it, but maybe it goes away as they give you the right dosage. I find that sometimes I go through a period where it doesn't bother me at all and then I get those needly pains, they kind of feel like writer's cramp.