Antibody testing and Gluten/Soy free diet

[malohant]

GP has agreed to test my thyroid antibodies (although it may only be one of them, I don't know) in early September. She recently poured suspicion on my Thriva fingerprick blood test results as fingerpricks apparently are 'notoriously unreliable' (I've tried to research this and found arguments both ways) so, as I have a test I haven't used yet I was planning on doing it at the same time (both as a check and also so I know I have all the results I want, including both antibodies and T3).

I have been trying gluten and soy free for the past month or two, just to be trying something within my power to feel better. Would it be better to start eating them again, to show any impact in my bloods, or do I not need to worry about that?

Any advice greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance

[crimple]

I made a point of doing a finger prick test from Medichecks immediately before going for a blood test with my GP. The results were pretty much identical. I did this in case I needed to demonstrate that Medichecks tests were reliable for my GP. They are accredited labs who often do the tests for private hospitals.

I found the tests very useful when slowly increasing my dose of T3 before I told Gp I was taking T3!

[malohant in reply to crimple]

Thanks crimple, I also want to see if/demonstrate that the tests are good enough for monitoring my health. It seems that tests from one or two drops of blood can vary a lot but as the sample size increases, the variability decreases, which makes sense.

[greygoose]

If you want to do a test for Coeliac Disease, then you need to be eating gluten at the time of the test. Otherwise, it's not going to have any effect on your labs.

What soy does is impede the uptake of thyroid hormone at a cellular level, so you can have good levels in the blood but still be hypo. I don't think you need to demonstrate that! So, I'd stay of the soy, if I were you.

[malohant in reply to greygoose]

Thank you greygoose! I was worried that, if for example gluten or soy were a contibuting factor to my antibodies potentially being raised, by avoiding them the antibody levels would be lowered and maybe not show up as outside the range (if indeed I have Hashis). I didn't know that about soy's effect on thyroid hormones, that's really interesting!

[greygoose in reply to malohant]

Soy wouldn't have any effect whatsoever on antibodies. And, it's actually very doubtful that gluten would, either.

Antibodies fluctuate all the time, independantly of anything you do. They tend to be highest just after an immune system attack on the thyroid, when they come along to clean up the debris.

So, there's never any guarantee that you're going to catch them when they're high. But, if they're low, it doesn't prove that you don't have Hashi's.

[malohant in reply to greygoose]

Ah, right. I probably just misunderstood something I read then. Thanks for helping me understand better!

If these tests come back within range for antibodies, should I be retesting them every so often to see if they've raised? Or try to ask for a thyroid ultrasound? It seems like finding out the cause of being hypo is quite important to getting a handle on managing it?

Much appreciated

[greygoose in reply to malohant]

It's more likely that what you read was just plain wrong. So many people believe that it's the TPO/Tg antibodies that do the attacking. But they don't.

You could try retesting a few time's, but not all Hashi's people ever have raised antibodies. An ultra sound would show up any Hashi's damage to the thyroid.

[Cat013]

Hi malohant

Can’t comment on anything like possible T3 changes etc but I have noticed going dairy free and gluten free in addition to trying to follow Izabella Wentz’ guides has actually lowered my thyroid antibodies a fair bit in quite a short space of time.

I did a food intolerance test which showed up a strong diary intolerance but quit both anyway as my daughter was gluten and dairy. Depending on how long you’ve been gluten free it may make a difference, but will depend if you’re gluten and soy intolerant. You may find you are actually dairy intolerant or even both in which case your antibodies may be high anyway. If quitting makes you feel better definitely don’t stop just for an antibody test as other things may be a trigger anyway. Best of luck with the test 😊x

[malohant in reply to Cat013]

Hi Cat013!

Yes I have been thinking about going dairy free, but wanted to sort of test one thing at a time to see what's having an effect. I haven't noticed any significant change with gluten but haven't tried going back on it yet. What I'm hoping is to get some sort of idea as to the cause of my hypo-ness (ie if its Hashis - although I'm aware a negative test to antibodies doesn't necessarily mean it isn't) and then book in to see a nutritionist to find how best to support my body. Although it might be worth doing a food intolerance test first? Who did you do yours with?

Thanks

[Cat013 in reply to malohant]

For me a food intolerance test sped everything up and helped me immediately target what was wrong so I would recommend them. But they aren’t cheap. I did mine for my children and I through Blue Horizon. It was £99 a test but There’s a 30% discount code if it’s still available. I keep forgetting it so will post it after this when I find it.

I don’t feel any different if I have gluten or not but chose to cut it out anyway. There was no intolerance there. Much better off dairy, which I was intolerant to. My summer pet / pollen allergies have almost entirely cleared up and my nose is no longer constantly blocked. No yukky fur on my tongue in the mornings and stomach much much better. So personally I am a fan of them. I know some people are sceptical.

Don’t know if you’ve posted all your thyroid / vitamin results but plenty of people will help on here with them 😊.

You will get a 30 min telephone consultation from a Blue Horizon nutritionalist included in the price of the test. They can give you some helpful guidance. They don’t always know everything about the thyroid though. I found Izabella Wentz the best for food and vitamin help. X

[Cat013]

Code is TUK30

Hope it still works x

[malohant in reply to Cat013]

thank you!