Real information about thyroid antibodies & vac... - Thyroid UK

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Real information about thyroid antibodies & vaccines?

Raucous profile image
18 Replies

I am looking for proper scientific information or research about the effect of vaccines when you have autoimmunity such as raised TPO/TG antibodies. There is so much fake stuff out there and I'm not interested in conspiracy theories but I am concerned about whether a vaccine can have a detrimental effect on those with autoimmunity.

Might the immune system overact?

Could it trigger further autoimmune issues?

Or perhaps we need it even more because we are more vulnerable?

I would describe myself a vaccine sceptic but I am not completely against having the Covid one since the thought of long Covid on top of Hypothyroidism is quite scary.

Does anyone know of reliable sources of information?

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Raucous profile image
Raucous
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18 Replies
jimh111 profile image
jimh111

We have a very large number of vaccinations during our life, for example we start off with the 6 in 1 vaccination nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinati... and it's followed by the 3 in 1 MMR. Add to that vaccinations to prevent cervical cancer and for holidays. Also, around 10% to 25% of women have thyroid antibodies, e.g. sciencedirect.com/science/a... .

I haven't answered your question directly but there are hundreds of millions of people with autoimmunity who have had dozenss of vaccines so any link would have cropped up long ago.

StitchFairy profile image
StitchFairy

You're asking a million dollar question! Everyone seems to want to blame vaccines for their autoimmune diseases, but many of us have a family back story of thyroid and other autoimmune issues. Lots of the vaccinations we might have had in our own childhood weren't around in previous generations. So that theory doesn't hold a lot of water for me.

The Covid vaccines are brand new. No-one is going to have any valid information as to what effect it may have on anyone with autoimmune issues. We're all in this together and if we all run away scared of this vaccine, we risk a never ending pandemic across the world.

Raucous profile image
Raucous in reply to StitchFairy

Yes I have read suggestions that vaccines may be a contributory factor in the rise of autoimmune diseases and allergies, but until somebody funds a very long term study I guess we won't know. I suspect as with many things the causes will be many and complex.I am 52 and had no vaccines as a child because I had convulsions and the GP advised against, I had measles, whooping cough and chicken pox as a child. I do remember have the polio sugar cube and the rubella vaccine as a teenager, then a few for foreign travel but nothing like as many as are given these days. But I wasn't hypothyroid when I had any of those previous jabs...

StitchFairy profile image
StitchFairy in reply to Raucous

How do you know you didn't have autoimmune thyroid disease when you had those vaccinations? It's possible to have thyroid antibodies for many years before symptoms occur and your hormone levels drop so much that you need medication.

Raucous profile image
Raucous in reply to StitchFairy

Yes of course I can't know for sure, although since educating myself about thyroid conditions i think I know when it started - or at least when I got the first possible symptoms...

StitchFairy profile image
StitchFairy in reply to Raucous

And that's the point. Symptoms don't necessarily correlate with the presence of antibodies. Symptoms only occur when the hormone levels drop too much. The effect of thyroid antibodies might have been nibbling away at your thyroid for a long time before that. :D

Raucous profile image
Raucous in reply to StitchFairy

Very likely - especially since my mother and younger sister were both diagnosed as Hypothyroid some years before me!

SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering

Raucous

If your question has been triggered by wanting information specifically about the Covid vaccine then Lynn made a post about this the other day, it is in the Pinned Post section but here is the link:

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

and there is the dedicated poll/thread where members have posted about their experiences of having the vaccine here:

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Hopefully these will help.

Raucous profile image
Raucous in reply to SeasideSusie

Yes, I've had a look at that. I'm not worried about side effects - although i have friends who have been really quite ill for a few days after - it is more the possibility of triggering further autoimmune conditions as I'm kind of coping alright at the moment, so would want to weigh tha up against the possibility of getting Covid 🙄

Raucous profile image
Raucous

From what I have read so far, there are many individuals who believe their autoimmune condition was brought on by a vaccine, but we cannot know for sure partly because it generally isn't studied.

However we do know that many viruses can cause autoimmune conditions, therefore it may be equally possible that Covid itself could trigger an autoimmune condition - especially given what they are discovering about long covid!

I think at the moment I am slightly erring on the side of having the jab ...

I have a 17 year old son who would be unlikely to suffer badly form covid and am so sure about whether he should have it if offered

🤔

StitchFairy profile image
StitchFairy in reply to Raucous

I think you've answered your own question. As much as is possible anyway. Put on your big girl pants and go for it. I'm going to. At least we do have a choice. I would be much more worried if getting this vaccine was compulsory!

jimh111 profile image
jimh111

The best thyroid doctor ever, the late Dr Gordon Skinner was a virologist and developed a number of vaccines. Of course I can't speak for him but had he suspected vaccines caused thyroid disorders we would have heard of it. The response a vaccine triggers is much milder and controllled than the native infection.

kittyelen profile image
kittyelen

I was told I have mildly positive antibodies and I've had my invitation for the vaccine so I will update on how it goes

I've got a blood test booked on the march 6th but need to call to book in the vaccine I am assuming it should not affect anything if before the blood test, does anyone know if better to get it booked in before or after the blood test?

Raucous profile image
Raucous in reply to kittyelen

My guess would be have the blood test first......I certainly wouldn’t think a blood test very soon after a vaccine would be a good idea but I could be wrong....

Barrister profile image
Barrister

I have always been a vaccine sceptic and at the beginning of the pandemic I was adamant that I would not have a Covid vaccine for a long time, until we knew more about it. I have numerous autoimmune disorders, one that will probably mean I die sooner than I should, but I had my first Covid jab last months because I do not want Covid to be a factor in my death! I’ve been shielding for almost a year now, along with many many others and I want a chance to start living again, something none of us are going to be able to do until this virus can be brought under some sort of control. I understand completely having reservations regarding the various vaccines, I also have them even after having had one but I can’t see any other way forward without them.

Clemmie

helvella profile image
helvellaAdministratorThyroid UK

I know very little about how autoimmune processes start, and even less about vaccines. So I cannot explain anything but what I can do is point you in the direction of mounds of information.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?te...

That search alone produced 4,457 papers!

HighlandMo profile image
HighlandMo

I found this helpful. I have been researching for months and this website sums up what has taken me many, many hours to discover. There are lots of links to take it further if you want to. uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5fa...

Miffie profile image
Miffie

I don’t have Hashimotos, my thyroid was destroyed by radiation therapy in the early 1950s. I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism as a child. I have however a number of other autoimmune conditions including diabetes. I know that having any one autoimmune condition can lead to others so a good chance those with Hashimotos may develop another at some point in time.

I had no vaccinations as a child( my mother was against it). As a result I had my first vaccination at age 18 when I needed smallpox vaccine to take up a summer job in the US. A live vaccine I had a very severe reaction but was fine in two weeks.

Since then I have had all the usual suspects thyphiod and yellow fever to allow me to travel.

I never questioned having any and so had great experiences, I am happy I was never inclined to question any of those. Would I be left with only one autoimmune condition if I was never vaccinated? I will never know. As so many people with one autoimmune condition go onto develop further conditions science seems to regard that as a given.

Given the number of people in the UK with diabetes, the 80% of hypothyroidism cases due to autoimmunity I suspect we may have seen a link long before this.

As I say no personal experience of Hashimotos. however I understand it is much like any other autoimmune condition.

I do know that diabetes is one of those conditions which mean a person may develop more severe illness if infected with Covid, however not at greater risk of contracting it. As far as I know it is due to the many complications those with diabetes can contract which puts them in this category rather than having an autoimmune condition .

Good luck with you search for an answer.

PS Vaccinated 31/ 01/ 2021 due to age not underlying conditions. If younger ai would now be eligible. No ill effects from vaccine.

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