Hashimoto's remission and antibodies.

[tyronecvc]

I was diagnosed Hypothroid in Autumn '14. At the time my symptoms included: Fatigue, Weakness, Cold feet, Skin damage not healing properly, Weight gain, Memory loss, Anxiety, Depression, Reduced stress tolerance, Sleep problems and Vivid dreams. My doctor put me on Levothyroxine and immediately I had more energy but also from the first day indigestion. Over time the indigestion got progressively worse and in September '15 I got very ill, losing 2 st. in a month and lacking energy. My doctor referred me to a surgeon.

At this stage I decided I needed to research the illness myself and started reading. I went gluten free and visited a nutritionist. Fortunately by the time I met with the surgeon my indigestion was reducing, otherwise I dread to think what treatment might been undertaken. In December '15 I went on an auto-immune Paleo elimination diet. The effect was dramatic, I had more energy and vitality than for several years and emotionally much happier and more enthusiastic about life.

I asked my doctor to me switch me from Levothyroxine to NDT which he refused but was willing to refer me to an endocrinologist. She also would not accept that the Levothyroxine was effecting my digestion, even though at this stage I was getting a 'non-medical' NDT off Amazon and feeling better on it. Am now buying my NDT from Thailand (Thiroyd) - thanks for the help through this web site.

Having read Izabella Wentz's first book I also did her on-line course. It seemed clear that I had Hashimoto's - the problem was not my thyroid but an auto-immune reaction. My antibodies had come down from 1000+ to around 500 with the change of diet, however Izabella recommends a level of around 35 so there was some way to go. I tried all sorts of treatments: Low Dose Naltraxone, Accupuncture, Ayurvedic doctor, many different supplements, meditation…. Nothing made any difference.

In April '17 I decided to have tests done for gut bacteria and heavy metals. I found a functional medicine practitioner online (my nutritionist couldn't get the right tests done) and had GI-Map and Melissa tests done. The GI-map came up positive for Blastocyctis hominis, Dientamoeba fragilis, Geotrichum spp. amongst others and the Melissa test for Nickel. My practitioner put me on a course of anti-microbials for two months, which was pretty hard going. I have also been treating the Nickel with natural remedies and changing my cookware.

I have tried to adjust my lifestyle to reduce stress and have cut out some of the areas of my life where I was dealing with difficult people. I do 20 minutes of pilates and meditation every morning, work in the garden most days and am active in a rowing club. Have been able to relax my diet over time; am gluten free and eat lots of fresh fruit and veg. (mostly organic) and good quality meat and fats. Low or minimal processed foods, soy, sugar, alcohol, lentils, grains and dairy.

Have done a lot of reading and study on the internet, which for someone with no medical background has sometimes been hard work. The three books in particular that I have worked to are:

Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, the root cause - Izabella Wentz.

Hashimoto's Protocol - Izabella Wentz.

Your personal paleo diet - Chris Kresser.

In my opinion the root cause of my Hashimoto's was a combination of mental stress and trauma (I had some difficult times form '07 till '11) AND a three month course of anti-malarial antibiotics which probably damaged my good gut bacteria. I think for my personal condition the mental side is as important as the physical. Early on I had 9 months with a therapist which helped clear one particular trauma. Am now meeting on-line every week with an Optimal EFT group which is very helpful.

As I write my physical and mental health are close to 100%, I still feel less emotionally resilient than I used to be which is interesting as that was the first thyroid symptom that manifested itself - so some way to go but am making good progress.

However my antibodies are still way too high, now three months after coming off the anti-microbials they are still around 400. Would welcome any suggestions on where to go next, I don't know if it just takes more time for the antibodies to drop OR perhaps the anti-microbials have not done the job OR maybe there is another cause like something in my diet that am not aware of.

[Clutter]

Tyronecvc,

You don't say what your TSH is. Suppressing TSH <0.1 reduces thyroid activity which may help reduce thyroid antibodies. I'm not sure it is ever possible to eradicate antibodies until they've destroyed the thyroid gland.

[tyronecvc in reply to Clutter]

Hi Clutter,

My TSH was around 6 and has come down to around 3, although it fluctuates and had one reading of 0.1.

My understanding of Hashimoto's, and I realise this may be completely wrong, is that there is an autoimmune reaction (gut issues, gluten, heavy metal,...) which causes the antibodies which cause the thyroid failure. If the antibodies come to below 35 then the Hashimoto's is in remission. Further that the autoimmune reaction can trigger other illnesses.

What do you think is the cause of the antibodies ?

[Clutter in reply to tyronecvc]

Tyronecvc,

You are undermedicated to have TSH 3 while taking Levothyroxine.

The goal of Levothyroxine is to restore the patient to euthyroid status. For most patients that will be when TSH is 0.3 - 1.0 with FT4 in the upper range. FT4 needs to be in the upper range in order that sufficient T3 is converted. Read Treatment Options in thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_... Email [e-mail] if you would like a copy of the Pulse article to show your GP.

As I said earlier suppressing TSH <0.1 may help further reduce antibodies but it's not everyone who is able to put Hashimoto's into remission.

There are many potential causes of Hashimoto's and as far as I'm aware they can be hereditary/genetic, environmental, dietary etc. I'm not aware that having Hashimoto's causes anything other than hypothyroidism but it is true that having one autoimmune disease does make it likely you may develop other autoimmune diseases.