TPO levels between 100 and 300 long term

[Danielj1]

I read an article recently from a doctor stating. to the effect TPO levels in this range long term do not put you at risk from serious long term side effects.

Ie there is diminishing returns trying to squeeze every last drop out of the tube of reducing TPO nice you are least within this range

Given this applies to me and I feel wonderfully well relative to 6 months ago on TSH now under 5 and TPO of 150 I am mindful of not stressing myself of various dietary restrictions to reduce lower

I have been so Puritan for my standards for 3 know months I am unsure whether I need to keep this up

[greygoose]

That doctor is ignoring the fact that antibodies fluctuate naturally. They are highest just after an immune system attack - because they go in to clear up the debris - and then they reduce until the next attack. So, you can never say that any level is a fixed level. And, what exactly does he mean by 'serious long-term side-effects'? I don't really think he has any idea what he's talking about. Which is pretty standard for doctors where antibodies are concerned!

As to whether or not you should stay on a gluten-free diet, that depends entirely on how you react to gluten, not on a one-off antibody test. Did you feel any better after adopting a gluten-free diet? Did you feel less symptomatic? Did it lessen your Hashi's flares? If you answer 'yes' to any of those questions, then it would be a good idea for you to stay on a gluten-free diet. If you answer 'no' to them all, then try eating gluten again, and see what effect it has on you.

It's all trial and error, where thyroid is concerned, because we're all different. And those that don't actually have the disease can never understand, despite all their clever theories, what it's really like. I wonder on what, exactly, he bases his hypothesis!

[Danielj1 in reply to greygoose]

Very helpful comments and thank you.

I will dig out the article if I can locate it.

I accept flares may return in the future but for now post diet/supplement changes they have ttotally gone

So provided there is now a “stable state” if you can call it that are the above tsh and tpo levels an issue long term.

It is important for me to know

This as it is massively more incremental effort for further potentially small gains if the current levels

Are acceptable eg AIP diet protocol.

What I also find very confusing to read is some here whose tsh moves from say 1 to 3 and

Feel truly dreadful and me at 4.5 feel great vs 30 less than 8 months ago...

[Danielj1 in reply to Danielj1]

Cutting back 90 percent on gluten has massively helped the odd small amount here and there seems to have little to no effect.

I accept wider guidance is zero tolerance.

[greygoose in reply to Danielj1]

With a TSH of 4.5, you are still hypo, and unlikely to feel great long-term. Plus, with antibodies, level are bound to vary.

The point is, if you have Hashi's, you are going to end up with no thyroid, and totally dependant on thyroid hormone replacement. However, once the gland is destroyed, the antibodies will go. They won't hang around. The difficulty is to know exactly what stage you are at in the destruction of your gland. Blood tests can't really tell you that.

However, keeping your TSH at 4.5 is going to invite further immune attacks, because what is left of your thyroid is going to try to respond to the stimulation of the TSH. And, where there is gland activity, there is antibody activity. You really need your TSH suppressed. And that is not a question of diet, it is a question of thyroid hormone replacement. What are you taking at the moment?

[Danielj1]

Thanks again for coming back.

I suspect I have had symptoms for over 40 years - no one ever told me in all that time about my thyroid being the possible cause! I must have a strong constitution as I did some aggressive marathon running over the last decade.

So I honestly suspect I have lived with this all my life - I had 2 very recent scans of the the thyroid and it is 100 percent intact thank goodness for me - just some scarring on the outside whatever that means of course.

So relative to the past decades of not feeling right where I am now is in relative terms genuinely brilliant.

Given all of the above and the gland has survived intact for all this time with periodic ups and downs my intuition says I should be OK as I am and not be too concerned with tsh=4.5.

I am saying all this as i sense I am stuck with current thyroxine levels of 50- I feel awful each time i have upped to 75. I am not prepared to try this again.

So my backup plan is more of the supplements eg magnesium just started ,

Black cumin seed oil and serrapatese and cut cumin if needs be.

And if I am absolutely going to throw the money at the problem £100 /month on ASEA bottled drinking redox signaling.

I would really prefer not to spend out at these levels - you state very unequivocally that my thyroid will be gone - if I can convince myself this was the case I would jump probably right now to ASEA as I have no other alternative.

I read many stories here of this type - I am luckier than most that I feel really well and am sleeping well too.

And this is my huge puzzle - can some people live with my condition at the level it is and it not make a difference - I fully accept when tsh was 30 that was a totally different ball game

[Danielj1]

drruscio.com/thyroid-autoim...

So under 500 is OK then ?

[Danielj1]

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/276...