Hi All,
Can I just ask....are you all GF because you have Hashimotos?
Is it totally necessary, like do I have the choice or not?
I went GF for 3 months and all it seemed to do was reduce bloating a little.
Colonoscopy results showed I have no gluten intolerance....
Should I be doing this anyway?
Thank you!
It is regularly recommended here that folk with Hashimotos should go gluten free. I never have, although I have reduced cakes/ biscuits etc because of Type 2 diabetes being diagnosed. Everyone is different .If it gad no benefit then do not bother.
Yes you have a choice, but before you decide either way, check out the following:
chriskresser.com/the-gluten...
hypothyroidmom.com/10-reaso...
amymyersmd.com/2017/02/3-im...
thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...
Edited to add: Yes I am gluten-free, I have been for 10 months now and lost weight and have considerably less bloating as well. Also went dairy free a couple of months ago.
Thanks for those links Hidden Some Ive not seen before
Ive been hypo 30 years & coeliac 20 years but only recently found out I'm hashimotos and started my journey into self medicating. May I ask if you have noticed the benefits of going dairy free. I think id struggle as I Love cheese,
I think for me personally, going dairy-free (which I was loathe to do as I love cheese!) has been more effective than going gluten-free. Anything dairy gives me wind/bloating, I think I'd just accepted it as part of normal life until I realised that no, it isn't! I now have coconut milk yoghurt, make my own sourdough bread as well. I managed to eliminate dairy slowly over several months and now barely notice it's gone. I did try cheese as a test to see if I could tolerate it but it gave me bad cramps and wind the following day, so I figure I can do without that! My doc said give different cheeses a go just in case they're OK, but unfortunately anything I tried had the same effect. Six months ago if you'd told me I'd have given up dairy and what's more, don't actually mind, I wouldn't have believed it. 
It is definitely a journey, I'm sorry to hear you have diabetes too.
That's very interesting because I do still regularly get cramps bloating diarrhoea and what I call my grippy tummy - where it feels acheingly hungry. Even though I'm very strict with my diet, have separate toasters and butter from my OH, even separate prep areas.
Yesterday I had my usual brunch of low suger beans ( with chilli & smoked paprika ) a slice of gf toast with a little butter and a little grated cheese on my beans. I'm still not optimally medicated so I'm not dieting. After I was bloated and crampy 😕. I've definitely been getting worse over the past couple of years and was going to ask the doctor for tests for possible crohns or colitis.
But I think I've just answered my own question 😞 I better give dairy free a go. ARH NO CHEESE 😮
Hah yes that does sound suspiciously like you're intolerant of dairy. It's quite tricky eliminating it entirely. For example, I no longer fry mushrooms in a little butter, nor cook an omelette that way. I had to find other means of doing it, so it's trial and error. Plus checking anything you buy for 'lactose' or indeed, casein (the milk protein).
I'd suggest (only from a personal non-medically-trained perspective) that once you manage to eliminate dairy, let your gut (hopefully!) settle down, then after a few weeks try ONE dairy item, cheese if you like it so much, and see how you react.
One finnish doctor says that hashi's have antibodies to casein in milk. Not sure where it is tested normally but he has private practice and runs the test. He says that if patient has antibodies to casein they most certainly have hashi.
Like some of his patients come see him for another reason than thyroid as he treats gut issues as well and they start with certain tests to rule out allergies/intolerance. Then he has noticed that those who have antibodies to casein should be tested for thyroid issues.
But cause for you tummy issues can be anything and weird.
Once I removed :gluten, dairy, rice, corn and banana I got rid of worst symptoms!
I stopped consuming regular milk and cheese because of the casein proteins. I only have cream and butter because they have a lot less casein protein in them and have noticed a difference. If I eat cheese now my stomach blows up whereas it doesn't if I have cream. Trying to give up all dairy but it's hard.
I assume it's also down to breed of the cow. For example over here in Finland most cows produce milk high in casein that is difficult to digest.
So there are different type of casein as well.
I don't understand why it's that way over here as in the rest of the world it's the other way around and majority of milk is from breed that produce milk lower in casein.
I wish I could tolerate butter as it's healthy!
Try coconut " butter"delicious
Could try it! Thanks!
I would hate to be dairy free - that would be much harder, anyone who does has my sympathies and my little one agrees very much with this lol 
both the enzymes in gluton and lactose have to make the adrenals work harder to digest .. fatigued adrenals will cause poorly thyroid..
I'm gluton and lactose free... I love diary but there are now so many lactose free cheeses that taste exactly the same.. even blue cheese. . also because any vintage cheese has 0.05 of lactose it's suitable to eat ie parmesan vintage gouda and cheddar.. also feta and goat have different enzymes as not from cow so you should be able to eat those.. they even do lactose free Greek style yogurt.. lactose free butter tastes exactly the same ... so not so awful after all
I went on a workshop given by gaynor Jackson ...amazing story of how she cured her man of many yuk problems. Dairy and gluten free she thinks saved his life.
Last night I organised the first gluten / dairy free meal for large group ...food was amazing and no " the morning after " x
Try A2 milk, also goat & sheep cheese.
Cheese I am sure caused arthritis in my feet. There are lots of Dairy free cheeses now. Wish I had gone dairy free years Ago.
Thanks for those posts Gingergirl1948 All very encouraging. Hidden I had no idea lactose free cheese existed so that's great news. I really don't think I could live without cheese and butter on the occasional bit of gluten free toast / bacon butty - my weekend treat 😋
That's very interesting re cheese causing arthritis. I've had bad joint pain on & off for years, particularly my shoulders. Which sometimes I can barely move them for days on end. They have improved since taking b complex and now b12. But its recently returned and I did eat a fair amount of cheese last week.
I think I'm going to have to give it a go as my stomach is off yet again and I'm getting sick of it.
I tried it for three months, and it did absolutely nothing for me - same for dairy-free and sugar-free. And, when I went back to eating these things, I didn't feel any worse. So, I didn't bother. It's all about how you feel.
I've read that it makes your hashimotos worse. Is that true?? Or a load of baloney?
I really don't see how it would make Hashi's worse. It's supposed to reduce antibodies.
That is VERY good news!
Actually, thinking about it, I'm not sure I understood what you said. What makes Hashi's worse? Eating gluten? Or giving it up?
Eating gluten does make Hashi's worse for some people, but not for everybody.
I think the answer to that is 'it depends on the person' because if there's one thing I've learned out of having Hashi's, it's that everyone is different. So greygoose may indeed be doing perfectly fine on gluten/dairy stuff (so, so jealous!) but I don't, and others may be OK with one and not the other. Horses for courses.
What bloats you?
Any dairy - cheese, butter, milk - all give me gut pains and wind. Delightful! Also have less wind having given up a lot of carbs like regular wheat bread/pasta. Now I make fermented sourdough bread from other types of flour (tapioca, potato, brown rice flours to name a few) and have chickpea pasta occasionally.
GF sourdough sounds amazing. Could I be cheeky and ask if you'd have time to post a recipe? Sourdough is what I miss most, being GF. Thanks.
Hi Zuzka
As already mentioned, everyone is different but gluten free worked for me. All you can do is remove and see as with the other foods also. I think gluten is reported more likely on here. It has to be 100% GF to know for sure - tiny crumbs are enough to keep you ill and sometimes takes a little longer than three months (coeliacs take six months for the immune reaction to subside and a year plus for stomach to heal). Three months is normally long enough to see some improvements though so maybe just not a problem for you
However, I just want to add - gluten intolerance/coeliacs can only be ruled out by endoscopy from the other end. A colonoscopy could not test for this as they wouldn't be able to get into the duodenum enough to get the 5/6 samples required for biopsy. There are over 30 feet of small intestine and doubt very much he could have reached far enough to get these
I had both cameras in both entry's and she's confirmed I have no intolerance to Gluten 😊
They can tell if you have celiac disease that way but they cannot tell if you have an intolerance to gluten. Many people are intolerant to gluten who do not have celiac disease.
This video discusses Hashimoto's and food intolerances:
She has conducted surveys and found that approximately 90% of patients feel better off gluten, and a slightly lower percentage feel better off dairy.
There are many components of gluten, and they can affect skin and neurons (brain and other nerves) as well as, or instead of, the gut. I discovered I had antibodies to several components of gluten (as well as wheat, rye, barley). Feeling much better without it (already dairy free as vegan, but there is lactose in thyroid meds in UK and they won't prescribe any other kind). It took 5 weeks for me to begin to feel dramatic benefits in mood & energy - even improved eyesight for colours - because I made errors when I first went gluten free (I have Hashimoto's). Now if I have the tiniest speck of gluten (e.g. something produced on a line that also handles gluten) I get extremely tired, anxious, gut problems, numbness in hands, irritable etc.
I hope you are OK with gluten, but if you discover that you aren't, be reassured that even with my restricted diet there are thousands of delicious things left to eat
The reason gluten free diets are strongly suggested for those with hashimotos, is that the gluten molecule looks very similar in structure to some cells in the thyroid (strange I know). So when you have antibodies against your thyroid as with hashimotos, and you eat gluten, sometimes the body gets confused. The antibodies detect the gluten, and begin an attack, both towards the gluten molecule as well as thyroid tissue. This is why those who continue to eat gluten, can often have higher antibody readings.
Some people will pick up on these symptoms when they consume gluten, and remove it from their diet. However, because an immune attack can happen anywhere between hours to weeks, sometimes it can be difficult to determine why you are feeling awful some weeks and not others.
I choose to eat gluten free, and have since the moment I was diagnosed with hashimotos due to these reasons. My antibodies are low (originally >62, now 28). My mother, aunties and grandmother however had antibodies >300. With a gluten free diet, and supportive supplements, selenium, iron etc, all have reduced antibodies now <150.
I believe it's definietly worth a try! I know everyone is different, but with a condition such as hashimotos, that only tends to worsen over time- you have nothing to lose in trying
I have been gluten free for 6 wks now and have not noticed anything, had an intolerence trst in april and i was wheat and gluten intolerance ,
My friend with Hashimotos goes lactose and gluten free.Even Levothyroxine is ordered lacto free for her as the normal one includes lactose.She said tests show her antibodies attacking her thyroid gland have reduced since sticking to a lacto/gluten free diet.
It can't do any harm giving it up and may do a lot of good ....I feel much better without it
For those considering dairy free, look into A2 milk. This is a good site for researching nutrition and supplements... examine.com
Thank you everyone - there is lots for me to ponder on.
Im not apposed to being Gluten Free - in fact we eat alot of non wheat alternatives already but I guess like everyone its easier when going out etc etc.
I shall think
Hashimotos and Gluten
Hashimotos and Gluten
Gluten free at Christmas
