Can TPO antibodies be negative but then change to positive?? How??

[ThyroidObsessed]

I ask this question as i have just found out from my endo that my tpo antibodies were negative when i was first diagnosed!?? Now they show as positive as they are slightly elevated...

[greygoose]

They change in number, that's all. Antibodies fluctuate all the time so it's perfectly normal for them to go from negative to positive and back again.

[ShootingStars]

Yes, very easily. Everyone with Hashi's was negative at some point. Antibodies became positive and then they had Hashi's. How does this happen? Basically something triggered your immune system to overreact, so it did. Now it's attacking your thyroid, resulting in Hashimoto's. Any illness, any infection, a urinary tract infection, any type of stress, cold's, flu's, a fungus, exposure to an environmental toxin, a leaky gut letting in things that a healthy gut would keep out, seasonal allergies, animal allergies, food allergies or sensitivities encouraging a leaky gut; these all can create the perfect storm in your body and then your body decides to attack itself, creating antibodies against your thyroid. Have you had any of the above situations happen recently?

What is your current number and the lab range? Are your FT3 and FT4 currently at or near optimal range?

I've charted my antibodies every 6 weeks for years. They increase for all the above reasons. I don't know how much they fluctuate up and down daily, but I've noticed some trends every 6 weeks. My results have never just gone up and down, up and down, month to month. Whatever mine do, there is always a reason. The trends I've noticed are: if under medicated and FT3 and FT4 are too low in the range, antibodies increase. Become optimal, and antibodies decrease. Or, antibodies hold quite steady for months, along with FT3 and FT4. Or, antibodies slowly increase every month in response to stress and illness. Treat that illness and reduce stress, and antibodies go down. The most I've seen antibodies increase between one 6 week testing interval was over 3,500 points. This happened several months in a row. Then they held steadily high, FT3 and FT4 finally caught up to the chaos, and they both plummeted from optimal 3/4 range, down to under 1/4 range, all in only 6 weeks.

This all happened despite doing "all the right things": gluten free, soy free, dairy free, minimal goitrogenic foods (no raw, only thoroughly cooked), no nightshades. 200 mcg selenium, inositol and vitamin E. Illness and resulting stress of illness over rode these "right things".

[SilverAvocado]

I believe this test can have false negatives (or maybe they aren't false at the time, sometimes antibodies are low even in people with Hashis). So having a negative test result doesn't necessarily prove you don't have Hashi's. Whereas a positive result, showing high antibodies, is conclusive.

[thyr01d]

Yes, this does happen, a family friend had 2 negatives but her endo was sure she had Hashimoto's so he tested again and results showed positive, she does have Hashi's.