Hashimotos- is it unwise to go back to eating gluten?

[Qwerty11]

Evening all, I would like to know any opinions or advice re giving up being gluten free.... I was diagnosed with underactive thyroid and started on levothyroxine in October 2017. Dr was thorough and sent me for tpo blood test, which came back sky high, meaning i have hashimotos. I went gluten free ptetty much straight away, and I've stuck to it apart from a mistake with the wrong gravy at a Christmas do in December. I'm now nearly 4 months pregnant and have suffered badly with morning sickness/mild hypremesis- I'm just coming out of this and im finding I just want to eat anything and not restrict myself anymore, after having had a really rough patch where I couldn't even drink blackcurrant squash without throwing up. Im wondering are there people who don't need to be on a gluten free diet who have hashimotos? My tpo levels were originally high, but I've never had bloating or stomach cramps, I've always had a very sturdy digestion system and I only gave up gluten free because lots of people on here already had. MY original symptoms were vitamin d deficiency and indertility. I'll get tpo retested at the end of this week- but what will that tell me? I have previously been tested for celiac disease and it was negative- I was definitely not even remotely gluten free at that point. Thanks for any ideas x

[Qwerty11]

(I also had severe morning sickness with previous pregnancy- I was not gluten free then so I don't think it's linked) x

[Nanaedake]

If going gluten free has not improved things then it's probably not a solution for you. By now, you would know if it's made a difference to your health. I would have thought the most important thing in pregnancy is a balanced and nutritious diet as advised by your pre-natal clinic or whoever you see. I'm sure your doctor or clinic is keeping an eye on your iron, folate and vitamin D levels?

[warchile]

The reason to go with gluten free is to assist with reducing the level of anti-bodies in your system. You want to avoid your thyroid deteriorating , in the long term gluten free diets can reduce the damage to your thyroid (which cannot currently be repaired).

You would probably be best to get re-tested and see if your levels have dropped. If they have then its likely , at least in part , that going gluten free has helped you.

This is an area where it would be best to get your Doctors advice.

[Chippysue]

I now follow a gluten free diet. I am determined. It to have any more autoimmune diseases. Gluten is a foreign body and is not digestible by any human. The immune system attacks it and attacks good cells too - thyroid cells look the same apparently.

Sadly you cannot be 99% gluten free, it has to be 100% as any gluten can be in your system for months.

Non celiac gluten sensitivity can be silent without symptoms.

[csj113]

Hi, I have Hashimotos and going gluten free made no difference to me whatsoever. If you’re not Coeliac then I don’t see how it could do you any harm. Congrats and enjoy your pregnancy.

[Hashi-Monster]

Probably best to stick with gluten-free until you have your TPO retested, then you and your doctor can decide if gluten was affecting your antibodies.

I’m a coeliac so its hard for me to comment on whether you should or should not start eating it again.

[Hidden]

I have Hashimoto’s and still in the process of finding the right dose of Levothyroxine. However despite having a flare up of IBS symptoms at the beginning of this journey I decided not to go gluten free. As my Levo has been increased my gut problems have subsided and I am relatively well despite having a TSH of 14.2. Having said that it’s going in the right direction having started at 81 then dropped to 27, 25, and now 14.2. See what it is in six weeks time. Oh and the lab ranges for my TSH are 0.4-4.4

[SilverAvocado]

This is a case of trial and error and what is right for you. Trying some gluten won't damage you if you are sensitive to it. It will just make you feel sick for a while, and you can return to bring gluten free if you have a bad reaction.

It's said that some high percentage of Hashimotos sufferers benefit from being gluten free - something like 75 or 80%. So if you're in the 20 or 25% there's no point in being gluten free.

You've now been gluten free for 5 months or more. This is a nice long trial to find if you've had any benefits from it. If you eat gluten now you should know very quickly if you were benefiting, because you'll feel sick. You can also ask yourself how you felt when you had the wrong gravy. Most people who are sensitive to gluten would have had a reaction of some kind.

As others have pointed out, besides symptoms, the goal of being gluten free is to reduce antibodies. Hopefully you've had antibodies tested over your pregnancy, so you can see if they're lower than before you went gluten free. If not, if you want to be very thorough, you could get a pinprick mail order test and look at anti body numbers.

Or if you don't record blood tests and want to know, you can just go by symptoms.

[Angel_of_the_North]

Most squash is full of chemicals and sugar and should be considered a junk food - your body was trying to tell you something. Better to drink water with a tiny amount of real fresh fruit juice (not concentrate) in it if you must. Some people are able to eat gluten-containing foods again after repopulating the gut with good bacteria, but modern grains are not the same as the ones our systems evolved to deal with - they are full of glyphosate (which kills gut bacteria) as well as gluten and gliadin, so usually best avoided.

[Chickenlady2009]

I recently had a blood test done to see which foods prompted my blood to make an antibody. The foods were, gluten, rice, oats, dairy, sesame. I have no physical symptoms when I eat those foods. ( I love them all!!) I just now know that my immune system will create antibodies that will kill off my thyroid and other organs when I consume them. I also had a blood test done that showed which antibodies are in my blood. I have anti bodies associated with Crohn's, Lupus, etc (but thankfully no symptoms). So, I will not be eating any food that prompts my blood to create these antibodies, even though I have no symptoms other than the symptoms associated with hashimotos.

The blood tests were expensive and not covered by my insurance, and they were ordered by a holistic doctor. When I expressed my concerns about getting a secondary auto immune disease, my Endo told me, "a percentage of people will get diabetes, there's nothing you can do about it".

I hope this info helps you make a decision about your diet.

Congratulations on your pregnancy!

[Qwerty11]

Thank you all for sharing advice... it's all a bit mixed still I suppose. I'll get antibodies test done for TPO and see if anything has changed.

To answer an earlier question- nothing happened to me when I ate the wrong gravy, I didn't feel any different. But I don't want to be doing long term damage and I'm worried about rocking the boat at the moment so I'll probably stay gluten free until after baby is born and then have a try at a gradual reintroduction. I've tried to get medical advice- my Dr doesn't really know- I had to print out nice guidelines to get my levothyroxine increased and blood tested when first pregnant and he said it was a "knowledge gap" ... he referred me twice to endocrinology consultant but both times it's been refused as even though I'm pregnant all the levels are within range so the reason given was "fine to continue managing in the community . Thanks again! X