Went GF/ Soy Free & Caffeine Free and antibodies gone through the roof!

[eureka74]

Hi all,

Has anyone any experience of this?

I cut out Gluten, Soy and Caffeine to try and help my antibodies which were at 630 reference range of 0-60.

I've just been re-tested and my antibodies are now >1300!!!

The only other difference is my doc agreed to increase my T3 from 10mcg EOD to 20 every day.

Could the T3 be making my antibodies worse? I didn't think they had anything to do with it but now not so sure. I was expecting them to either stay the same or reduce because of going GF.........so very confused and a little scared at how high my antibodies are!!

Thanks in advance xx

[shaws Administrator]

I believe antibodies wax and wane. You might find the following link of interest and this is a short extract:-

In practice, because thyroid antibodies levels tend to wax to wane, they may not always show up as being abnormally high in a blood test – the trick is to catch them when they are high!

In Dr Bo Wikland's clinic in Sweden thyroid problems are routinely investigated using the Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) technique. Dr Wikland's experience, as published in The Lancet (2001 and 2003), is that FNA is actually very valuable in the demonstration of thyroid autoimmunity; superior in fact to antibody testing. It is interesting to note that Dr Wikland has noticed that when the TSH level is suppressed, thyroid antibodies will be suppressed also, so here is a further argument against TSH as the golden measure of thyroid health (discussed in the first 'Myths' article).

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/thyroi...

[Clutter]

Eureka74,

T3 20mcg added to Levothyroxine is likely to suppress TSH which can be helpful in reducing thyroid and antibody levels. I can't think of any reason why T3 would cause antibodies to rise.

How long have you been g-f? It can often take more than a year g-f before antibodies reduce and sometimes g-f makes no difference. I'm not aware that caffeine has any effect on thyroid antibodies.

[eureka74 in reply to Clutter]

Thanks for your reply......I think I'll just have to chalk it all up to "who knows" I didn't feel any better GF (4-5 months) and don't think it's worth continuing for another six months as I started to feel better once my T3 was increased. Was just shocked at how high my antibodies were. My TSH is 0.01 so doubt that will make a difference to my antibodies either.

[marigold22]

Please see my latest post - healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[greygoose]

Nothing to be scared of. Antibodies fluctuate all the time. Just because you've never seen them that high before, doesn't mean they haven't been that high before.

I don't think soy has anything to do with antibodies - either in a good or a bad way. But, it's good you given up the nasty stuff! Because it will keep you hypo, by stopping the uptake of thyroid hormone by your cells.

[researcherUK]

How long have you been GF?

The immune response to gluten can last up to 6 months after the last time you had gluten. It takes longer for the body to switch off the state of fight/alert/attack and even longer if you are also coeliac.