Do I have hashimoto?

[Dodo155]

Hello,

Last summer, I had a strong allergy attack but inspite of all my allergy meds, the difficulty in breathing I had didn't go away. I did blood tests to check thyroid profile, the results were as follows:

- TSH = 1.61, free T3= 2.2, free T4= 1.2, anti thyroglobulin abs= 98.4, anti thyroid peroxidase abs= 489.1 (which was pretty high).

I was asked to stop all my meds and repeat the test to re-check, so I did that after a month and a half, and the results were:

- TSH = 1.28, free T3= 2.8, free T4= 1.4, anti thyroglobulin abs= 76.6, anti thyroid peroxidase abs= 442.3

I had a neck ultrasound afterwards, a nodule was found in the right lobe of the thyroid and bilateral enlargement of non specific deep cervical and submandibular lymph nodes largest on left side.

I have so many hypothyroidism symptoms but above all I'm really suffering from legs, shoulders and back pain and numbness in my hands at times.

Please, advice and let me also know from your experience what I should be doing now.

Thanks in advance.

[kingyl]

I'm no expert like some of the very helpful ladies on here but your anti bodies are high, so I would say you have hashimoto.

[greygoose]

So, are you still not taking any 'meds'? When did you have your last blood test? You do have Hashi's, so you need to keep an eye on your levels, as they will fluctuate, and eventually, you will be come very hypo, again.

To lower antibodies, you could try a gluten-free diet, and taking selenium. But, you really need your TSH at zero to stop antibody activity.

[Dodo155 in reply to greygoose]

Thanks. A Dr prescribed me Eltroxin 50 mcg (bcoz my TSH was low & I was having hypothyroidism symptoms) But I don't feel well when I take it. It increases my heart rate. So the dose was modified & I'm supposed to take it now 3 times per week. But I feel a strange feeling in my neck when I take it, is that normal? Should I change it?

Regarding my last blood test, I did it end of Nov 2016. How frequent should I repeat the test?

I need to read more about the gluten free diet as I'm not sure yet what it is. I don't know the selenium either.

[greygoose in reply to Dodo155]

So, how long did you take 50 mcg? It could be that you felt bad on it because the dose was too low. They should have increased it after 6 weeks.

Leave it until March, and then do and ask for a new test.

Gluten is a protein found in certain grains, like wheat. A Gluten-free diet is when you cut it out of your diet, completely. The problem is, it can crop up in all sorts of strange places, in processed foods, so you need to continually read labels. There is a forum on HU you could join, called Gluten Free Guerrillas, you could have a look on there.

Selenium is a mineral that is very good for the thyroid, reduces antibodies, and promotes conversion. So, a very good thing to take. You can buy it on Amazon.

[Dodo155 in reply to greygoose]

Started taking Eltroxin last September. I'm not sure it's a good idea to increase the dose bcoz of the increased heart rate I got from it.

I'm reading about gluten free food yet it's hard to find in the country I'm in now and even if found, it'll be veryyy expensive. Yet, I'll try to minimize food containing gluten as much as I can from now on and increase fruits and vegetables. Hopefully, it'll work out for me.

[greygoose in reply to Dodo155]

Too low a dose can also increase heart rate.

If you cook everything from scratch, it's much easier to avoid gluten. Processed gluten-free food can contain things you really don't want to ingest.

[Dodo155 in reply to greygoose]

Didn't know about that.

Thanks a mill for the advice. I'll search for online cook books for gluten free food and try them.

[Learner1]

Please go gluten free. Gluten molecules look a lot like thyroid molecules to your immune system. You have high thyroid antibodies and it's a good bet you're reacting.

I was able to give up all my allergy meds and inhalers going gluten free. And giving up eggs, milk, and corn, which showed up on IgG allergy tests.

Look into a Paleo diet, lots of great cookbooks these days....