Diagnosed With Hypothyroidism. Feeling Lethargic. Is This Related To Weight Gain?

Posted on Thu, 18 Apr 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 Answered on

Mon, 20 Mar 2017 Last reviewed on

Question : I am a chronic patient of hypothyroidism. I have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism from past 17 years now. I feel lethargic. I am around 15 kg overweight. has hypothyroidism to do any thing with my weight gain? As already mentioned I am lethargic and often dont tend to continue with my exercise schedules...

Answered by Dr. Rahul Tawde (42 hours later)

Dear XXXXXXX
Thanks for writing in. Hypothyroidism is a chronic lifelong problem. Not everyone who is hypothyroid is obese. Some are lean and thin. But having hypothyroidism makes weight loss more difficult because it decreases body metabolism. But there is no drug that can increade body met in these patoents. So you need to put extra efforts to lose weight. We do see many patients with similar complaint like you do. Its diff8cult to counsel them because diet & walking are easier said than done and there is noth8ng in terms of medication we can offer them. Take multivitamins, calcium and vitamin D supplementation for lethargy. Put in more efforts in diet and workout. Im confident you will succeed ultimately.
Hope this helps
Shivaprasad

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar