Antibodies trigger? Gastroenterology referral?

[HowCome]

Recently tested as low B12, then have tested ‘weakly positive’ for GPC antibodies.

Any idea what triggers the antibodies?

And is there anything a gastroenterologist would be able to help with?

[JanD236]

I can only offer my own personal experience. I had Graves’ disease (an autoimmune thyroid illness) several years ago and the endocrinologist said such illnesses can be brought on by stress, such as a bereavement. My father had died 6 months earlier.

A matter of weeks before I first noticed symptoms I ran my one and only marathon and pushed really hard, possibly way beyond my ability and training as it was my way of coping with my Dad’s death. It was a very emotional experience as so many people were running for charities connected with lost or ill loved ones.

I think the marathon tipped me over the edge physically and emotionally and that’s why I became ill with Graves.

Having had that auto immune illness made me susceptible to others and I subsequently had vitiligo and then PA.

[HowCome in reply to JanD236]

Many thanks for your reply, and for sharing your difficult experiences.

[HowCome in reply to JanD236]

I’ve had a stressful 6-8months, so that rings bells.

And I have been treated for hypothyroid for many years. The low B12 came back in a batch of tests when i requested to have my thyroid antibodies tested... that was positive, so that’s one autoimmune condition, increasing the likelihood of others.

[HowCome in reply to JanD236]

I’m reading Isabella Wentz’ book Hashimotos Root Cause, which pits forward the idea that if you can heal leaky gut, and identify & remove triggers (trigger foods, infections, toxins... sometimes multiple triggers, and not helped by stress), then the antibodies can reduce to zero, reversing the autoimmune condition...

...so hence wondering what triggers (apart from stress and a jumpy immune system - foods, infections, toxibs) might have given rise to gatric parietal cell antibodies...

[Polaris in reply to HowCome]

I believe this will only work in the very early stages of HT before thyroid tissue is destroyed, but not if you've had Hashimoto's for a number of years.

I don't know if this research link below helps - posted originally by John Midgley, advisor to TUK helps. It highlights the connection between Hashimoto's Thyroid disease and PA, and how gastric atrophy (often silent) in HT leads eventually to malabsorption of essential nutrients, including vitamin B12, and PA :

"The natural history of HT is the progressive reduction of thyroid function till overt hypothyroidism (24) with a rate of progression of 2–4% per year (23), while that of gastric atrophy features the progressive reduction, till disappearance, of parietal cells, leading to reduced or absent acid production (3, 22). These alterations interfere with absorption of essential nutrients leading, at first, to iron-deficient anemia, followed by PA if the self-injurious process involves the IFA (13)."

"A well-described clinical feature of thyrogastric syndrome is represented by the presence of an iron-deficient and/or a PA. In fact, it has been demonstrated that an iron-deficient anemia, refractory to oral iron therapy, in patients with HT, may be due to chronic atrophic gastritis (13). The clinical signs of this disease appear after several years of its onset, when the progressive reduction to disappearance of the parietal cells leads to atrophy of the gastric mucosa, impairing the absorption of iron, vitamin B12 (cobalamin), folate, and other nutrients."

frontiersin.org/articles/10...

Another useful link:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/221...

[HowCome in reply to Polaris]

Thankyou for reply, and links.

I know 17years hypo, with a few patches of iron anaemia, does not bode well.

Shame there isn’t more research into dietary change... still tempted to try it, but hard to commit and start when I feel a under par... 🙄

[Polaris in reply to HowCome]

You will, hopefully, start to feel better on injections but, from experience, there's no quick fix with B12 treatment - the symptoms build up subtly over time and it usually takes time to heal the various systems affected. Stress and overdoing things can temporarily mean a setback but I've noticed that it became easier to handle stress, as well as feeling an overall improvement in mood, anxiety, etc. after S.I. for a while.

I hope you start to feel better soon 🤞

[HowCome in reply to Polaris]

Thankyou for coming back with a hopeful message!

I have begun to accept that things will take time, and that i need to simplify life!

Food is a big issue for me, no interest or confidence in cooking, plus picky child (& husband, tbh!) so diving into big dietary changes to cut out processed ‘easy’ elements of meals feels like the opposite of simplify. Concentrating on more veg of more colours! Might then try cutting out gluten, and work from there...