Antibodies after Thyroid cancer

[Arios]

Hello,

I just want to know if it is possible to have Hashimoto after Thyroid removal due to cancer? My daughter still has very high antibodies after her thyroid was removed. I don't know her levels, just that the doctors tell her they are very high.

[Clutter]

Arios,

It can take several months for antibodies to diminish after thyroidectomy. Thyroidectomy due to thyCa is usually quite radical leaving very little thyroid material. How long ago was your daughter's thyroidectomy and has she had follow up RAI?

[Arios in reply to Clutter]

Her thyroidectomy was seven years ago, she had RAI after plus the cancer came back about four years after, she had another round of RAI but had surgery to remove a small tumor anyways. Her antibodies are still high but so far there is not sign of cancer.

[Clutter in reply to Arios]

Arios,

I'm very surprised she still has antibodies after 2 rounds of RAI. How is her thyroglobulin?

[Arios in reply to Clutter]

I honestly don't know, she doesn't give me her results. After the last RAI, she was told it does not work for her.

I'm just curious about all this because I was told that I might have Hashimoto's and have been reading a lot about it and since her antibodies are high I was wondering if she had Hashi before the cancer and if it is possible that she still has it. She did not have any symptoms and the lump was found by chance after she had her first baby.

She was always tired, though and used to have headaches.

[Clutter in reply to Arios]

Arios,

If she is RAI refractive then she probably has thyroid cells somewhere in her body and is making antibodies to them.

If she had Hashimoto's before her thyroidectomy and RAI she will probably still have it if there are thyroid cells existing.

[Arios in reply to Clutter]

How can they know if she still has thyroid cells? She gets Pet Scans at least every two years plus Ultrasounds every six months.

[Clutter in reply to Arios]

Arios,

Hot spots on the gamma-ray scanner after RAI will have shown up thyroid cells which took up the RAI.

[Arios in reply to Clutter]

Thank you, I don't think they have mentioned any of this to her.

[Clutter in reply to Arios]

Arios,

I'm surmising this from you saying your daughter is resistant to RAI because all RAI should do is destroy any thyroid cells left after surgery.

[Arios in reply to Clutter]

That's what we are thinking. She is a difficult case, according to her doctors, and my guess is since they are conventional endos they don't recognize Hashimoto's.

[Clutter in reply to Arios]

Arios,

They'll be familiar with Hashimoto's although they are more likely to call it autoimmune thyroiditis or just thyroiditis.

I'm assuming your daughter has high thyroglobulin antibodies. The problem with having high thyroglobulin antibodies is that they can interfere with thyroglobulin which is used as a cancer marker post thyCa.

[Arios in reply to Clutter]

You are right! I'm going to have to ask her to get her blood test results.

She was diagnosed last year with Hemochromatosis which is high blood iron and Ferritin.

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Dairy intolerant for 50 + years, thyroid cancer 35 years ago. when I eat any form of dairy I become thyrotoxicosis. only found this out 7 years ago when I realised that I was dairy intolerant and accidently overdosed on the lactose free liquid thyroxin my GP. prescribed. The symptoms were exactly the same as I first remembered as a four year old and for the last 40 odd years. I finally put 2 and 2 together and came up with 4 for over 40 years of dairy has been making my thyroid gland, even the bit I am left with over function and was most probably the cause of my thyroid cancer. I have passed this on to my son who has the dairy intolerance and the same thyrotoxicosis. GP, paediatrician etc. etc. all think I am nuts. So big link with dairy here.