Does gluten free really help hashi flares?

[ThyroidObsessed]

Not sure if iv even got hashi yet till i see the endo, as my antibodys was only slightly elevated and apperantely this can happen to healthy people for numerous reasons..

My results for antibodys are 40kU/L [<34]

Just wanted to know peoples experience of going gluten free and how hard is it to do?

[puncturedbicycle]

I think it depends on your current diet. I didn't find it all that difficult but I don't eat a lot of bread or pasta. I did miss cream crackers (? I had no idea I was that fond of them in the first place) and having a beer in a pub w my friends. The gf beers I drank were nice but you can't generally find it out. I don't drink much wine, cider or spirits so that was annoying.

In the end it didn't change my antibodies much but others have had a lot of success being gf.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

I found going GF completely transformative - after nearly a year on GF diet, my antibodies have halved.

GF diet at home is relatively easy, you soon get used to what you can have & adapt. Eating out is getting a lot easier. Some chains are fantastic (e.g. Leon & Cote Brassiere )

Agree about lack of GF beer in pubs (though we have a local pub run by coeliac landlord so they always have some 😀)

Eating at friends or family can be tricky .....especially family if they think it unnecessary. I have found that they have become more accepting as my health has obviously improved so much since going GF

[greygoose]

I would be interested to know just one reason for antibodies being elevated in healthy people.

I think the truth is, doctors just hate diagnosing with Hashi's - or Autoimmune Thyroiditis, as they call it - because patients might ask embarrassing questions - like : what are you going to do about it? And, of course, there's nothing they can do, because they don't know anything about it.

I think, with that result, it's pretty certain you do have Hashi's.

[spongecat]

I was roundly told that nothing can be done about Hashi's.....which I understand as far as antibodies are concerned.

Like puncturedbicycle it was not too bad going GF, I too do not "do" a lot of bread and pasta but when I do have it I find the GF rice-based pastas and noodles perfectly acceptable even though they seem to be a bit more slimier (sorry about that!).

No, what did it for me is no more trendy 9 month preggers look after eating wheat. I also had to knock wheat beer on the head, which I was very fond of but would blow me up like a blimp with its own wind supplied

I'm a few months off a BH test but I will be interested if my antibodies have decreased but I don't think that's the full answer...you are stuck with them to a certain extent and if they spot gliadin in the blood from gluten leaking through the gut wall they will give it a kicking and a right pasting for the thyroid too because of the molecular mimicry. Quite extraordinary. I'm still plugging on with the glutamine powder and scoffing sauerkraut to help the gut.

Eating out can be difficult. Our local Thai restaurant understands though and have cookware reserved for cooking for coeliacs and a lot of their ingredients and dishes are GF anyway.

I can recommend a pilsner style lager and it's on the Coeliac UK list and that is St Peter's G-Free beer....lots of taste and a nice citrussy bite and delicious served ice cold. My husband is a bit of a connoisseur *cough* and he thinks it's a superb beer and my brother -in-law tried to hijack my bottles over Christmas!