Also, having low iron changes thyroid metabolism, reduces T4-to-T3 conversion, binds T3, makes excess RT3, increases circulating concentrations of TSH.

Being hypothyroid can instigate low iron, and low iron can instigate hypothyroid issues. It can be a vicious cycle!

I’ve struggled with hypothyroidism and very low iron, as well. My doctors’ poor education in hypothyroidism and iron issues left me sick for years. I have found a great deal of support and information about my health issues in the Stop the Thyroid Madness website and support groups (on Facebook). The Natural Thyroid Hormone Yahoo Group offers wonderful support as well. I’m happy to say that all of my health issues are dwindling now!

Amanda, your website has offered me support and given me confidence in my knowledge of traditional nutrition for many years, as well. Thank you for all that you do – especially your honesty and sharing your knowledge with others. I wish you the best!

I am dealing with an iron deficiency and a friend sent this post to me. I’m already following a plan like yours, but it was nice to see that someone else has the same plan laid out (iron first, then weight loss).

I saw that a couple of people above were mentioning the thyroid, and in your response to one of them, you mentioned you think your thyroid is sluggish but not your biggest problem. I hope you decide to look more closely at your suspected thyroid issue, because if you are even slightly hypothyroid, losing weight will be a battle you ultimately won’t be able to win. Even if you initially lose a little, you’ll plateau and eventually gain it back even while doing everything “right”. I speak from experience here.

Iron and thyroid performance are very closely linked. If your thyroid is sluggish, your digestion slows down and you can’t process and absorb nutrients properly, including iron. Iron is required for proper thyroid function, and if you are deficient in it at all, your thyroid automatically slows down. It’s a vicious cycle. What I’m saying is that iron supplements are an important part of recovery, but if you have an unfixed thyroid problem and stop taking the supplements, you will likely find yourself iron deficient again. And fixing your iron issues, if they are part of the reason for the hypothyroidism, will not always fix even a minor thyroid issue. It might do the trick, but you might also need more support for your thyroid than that.

Here’s a link to information about iron’s role in thyroid performance:

http://nahypothyroidism.org/deiodinases/

You’ll have to scroll down through all the super science-y stuff to get to the small section on iron, but it’s worth reading because it also mentions ferritin. You don’t mention ferritin in your post here, but ferritin is a measure of our iron stores and you can be low in it even if you’re not technically anemic. Ferritin is crucial for thyroid performance, so even if your blood tests show you are no longer iron deficient, be sure to get your ferritin levels tested. Before I became anemic, my ferritin was at 17 (it should be a minimum of 70 for women).

I’m saying all this because even if you are feeling better and regular iron tests show that you are no longer anemic, if your ferritin is low, you could still continue to struggle to lose weight.

Lastly, I have to agree with the other commenter who said exercising with a nutrient deficiency may not be the best idea. It may not make you violently ill, but may make it more difficult to keep your iron levels up since exercise uses up nutrients more quickly. And ironically, if your thyroid is even only slightly sluggish, dieting and exercise beyond walking and yoga will only make you more hypythyroid. In that link I sent you above, there is a section on dieting and how it actually slows down your thyroid even further. Again, this is something I’ve experienced personally. I was very mildly hypothyroid 3 years ago, but dieted and overexercised my way into full-blown hypothyroidism that caused me to gain 30 lbs even while eating a healthy, whole foods diet. It’s been awful.

Thanks for writing this blog and for all of the info you’ve provided!

My problem turned out to be my severe menorrhagia from fibroids. I had to have surgery to remove them and wound up with two blood transfusions (which I don’t recommend because I swear that has something to do with my current issues). I never took the iron pill supplements after the surgery, but loaded up on liver, liver, and more liver in the form of pate with tons of butter. To this day the doctor has no clue that I didn’t follow his protocol for the fake iron supplements.

Good luck to you Amanda. Iron is a tricky thing to get under control.

I do, however, have a friend who was/id low iron and she started focusing on boosting that and she said she has SO much more energy and feels so much better. It was interesting reading your post here and thinking about my friend. I passed it along to her as well.

The Stop The Thyroid Madness website is awesome. I also recommend the book – it has a lot of info that’s not on the website.

Food allergies also play a huge role in weight gain and the inability to lose weight (I think). Over the last 6-7 years, I have put on 70 pounds due to thyroid problems. This summer when we figured out it was Hashi’s, I eliminated grains, legumes, sugar, and dairy. I also boosted my fat intake a bit and the weight started coming off. For the first time in my life, I feel like I will actually make it back to my old pre-thyroid issue weight. I never had any known allergies, but because gluten and casein are so closely linked to Hashi’s, I may have been undergoing an autoimmune response to those foods, even though I didn’t really know it. And, when your body is under an autoimmune attack, it makes it very hard to lose weight. That is just my thoughts.

Keep up the awesome work! Will be sharing this on my page!