Antibodies

[Pixipot]

My last blood test showed high anti-body count, does this automatically mean I have Hashimoto according to this thyroid site? as my Doctor never even mentioned gluten or Hashimoto at the consultation.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Pixipot

Raised antibodies suggest autoimmune thyroid disease (know to patients as Hashimoto's, doctors prefer autoimmune thyroiditis). It's more common for Thyroid Peroxidase to be raised in Hashi's, although sometimes these are negative but Thyroglobulin antibodies are positive. And just to complicate things, apparently it's possible to have Hashi's without raised antibodies.

Many doctors dismiss antibodies as being of no importance and also dismiss the gluten connection.

One thing to remember is that we have many, many experienced patients on this forum who live with this condition day in day out. The great majority of doctors don't have hypothyroidism so no personal experience and just go by the small amount of flawed information they are given in medical school and guidelines.

[cjrsquared]

Yes the high antibodies mean you have hashimoto’s disease, often called autoimmune hypothyroidism. This is the most common cause of hypothyroidism in Europe. There is no treatment for the auto immune disease, only for the resulting hypothyroidism, therefore many doctors consider it unimportant, there is nothing they can ‘treat’ to slow down the destruction of the thyroid. Many also have poor understanding of hashi flares, where during an acute phase part of the thyroid dies causing a temporary rise in thyroid hormone released into the body as the tissue dies, often resulting in temporary overactive symptoms, followed by a crash into more severe hypothyroidism as there is less functioning thyroid which requires an increase in medication. There is some research which looks at the effect of gluten as a mediator in the autoimmune response, but it is not from a large multicentre random controlled trial, therefore it is not accepted as part of mainstream medicine. However many people on this site have adopted a gluten free diet and feel better.

There is also an increased incidence of true gluten intolerance if you have hashimoto’s as developing one autoimmune disease means you have an increase risk of developing others,

There is a lot to learn, you cannot absorb it all at one. There is also learning what works for you. Remember most gps know little about thyroid disease as they have little to offer other than levothyroxine. There is also variation in how they interpret results and treat the disease. This is not confined to hypothyroidism many illnesses will be treated according to the personal experiences of the clinician, hence the value of sometimes changing gp or a consultant.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

A GP will only call it autoimmune thyroid disease and completely ignore the “autoimmune” aspect

Technically in UK, Hashimoto’s is autoimmune thyroid disease with goitre. More common is autoimmune thyroid disease where thyroid shrinks and shrivels up, called Ord’s thyroiditis. They are both different results of autoimmune attack. Rest of the world calls both variations Hashimoto’s

Gluten

Majority of GP’s (and endocrinologists) only understand that coeliac disease may be more common with Hashimoto’s They should therefore test for coeliac.

If someone with Hashimoto’s tests negative for coeliac it would be extremely rare to find an NHS medic who would recommend trying strictly gluten free diet ....or even to be aware that gluten intolerance is likely to be a problem

There’s no test for gluten intolerance, only coeliac. So, if coeliac test is negative, it’s always worth trying gluten free diet to see if it reduces symptoms

Suggest you read up as much as possible about Hashimoto’s