Face and glands swollen so much: Hi - I have... - Thyroid UK

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Face and glands swollen so much

seagreenblue profile image
8 Replies

Hi - I have Coeliacs disease and some thyroid issues (hypo). I am a big fan of veggies. I consumed this afternoon quite a lot and this is the only thing different I can think of. My face is horribly swollen, my neck hurts and my glands actually hurt when i press on them - does anyone know if this is inflammation or some allergic reaction or something. I ate broccoli, tomatoes, mushroom, nori sushi. Nothing with gluten but my coeliacs never gives me this reaction so immediately. 

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seagreenblue profile image
seagreenblue
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8 Replies
AnitaApple profile image
AnitaApple

Hi I've felt the same today my neck is swollen especially when I look down and it feels like my thyroid area is slightly inflamed especially when I touch it 

norwood1 profile image
norwood1

Hi, i am no expert but sounds like you may have had an allergic reaction, perhaps to the sushi?

caledoniancat profile image
caledoniancat

Perhaps a seaweed allergy to the Nori sushi?

Sandybeach1964 profile image
Sandybeach1964

My husband is extremely allergic to mushrooms. Could they be the culprit? 

seagreenblue profile image
seagreenblue

All possibilities - also does anyone know about cruciferous veggies - are they inflammatory at all? i read a post where someone was avoiding them for some reason - to do with thyroid i think im not sure

greygoose profile image
greygoose in reply toseagreenblue

Yeah, people do avoid cruciferous veggies because they are goitrogenic, but it doesn't make much sense to do so. There are many, many goitrogens, so just avoiding the cruciferous family isn't going to change much.

What goitrogens do is impede the uptake of iodine by the thyroid gland. This can make it harder for the gland to make hormones. But you'd have to eat an awful lot of them to make you hypo, or cause a goitre (hence the name). Besides, if you are on a full replacement dose of thyroid hormone, then they shouldn't affect you at all. Nor if your gland is missing for some reason. They Don't affect the hormone you take by mouth. And they Don't damage the gland, as some people think.

However, that doesn't stop you being allergic to them, or being affected in some way if you still rely on your gland for some of your hormone. But, then again, not all goitrogens affect all hypos. It's just a case of if it disagrees with you, stop eating it.

Did you eat anything different, new today? Or are the things listed things you eat all the time? Tomatoes do disagree with some people because they are part of the nightshade family. Or, the iodine in the seaweed in the sushi could have had an effect - although it can only have been a tiny, weeny amount. Or, was there any soy in anything you ate? Because soy is a goitrogen plus! It also impedes the uptake of T3 by the cells, so that could have a very bad effect.

seagreenblue profile image
seagreenblue in reply togreygoose

I ate Tamari which is soy (GF) I believe. I ate quite a lot of nori as I'm mad - I basically ate three sheets wrapped round veggies. I had no idea about soy as I drink a lot of soya and almond milk - I'm vegetarian so I love tofu as well. Yeh I think sometimes it might have been tomatoes or the broccoli but I might also be getting sort of paranoid and anxious about everything. The only safe thing is almond milk and um lettuce. 

greygoose profile image
greygoose in reply toseagreenblue

No, that's not true. Lettuce doesn't agree with everybody! It belongs to the nightshade family. lol And almonds are goitrogens! ha ha! You can't win!

OK, so you ingest a lot of soy. And that is sort of shooting yourself in the foot. Because, as I said, it is stopping the T3 getting into your cells. You may have good levels of hormone in your blood, so your doctor will think you're just fine! But you are still hypo because it isn't getting into the cells, because of the soy. 

Soy milk, tofu, any form of unfermented soy is very very bad for everyone, but especially for hypos. And please Don't tell me that the Japanese have been eating it for hundreds of years so it must be ok. The Japanese only eat fermented soy, because fermentation gets rid of the nasties, and they only use it as a condiment. They certainly Don't drink soy milk and have a soy steak for dinner!

So, given that you ate a lot of seaweed - meaning extra iodine - and have soy, I very much doubt that it was the tomatoes or the broccoli! :D

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