Hi all. I'm really struggling with bloating. It sounds quite mundane and low level but it's keeping me up every night and is preventing me eating enough. My GP thinks I may have IBS or GERD, but none of the medicines they’ve tried so far have made any difference. I’m still hoping it could be connected to my thyroid because at least then it could be treated through thyroid hormones rather than being an untreatable mystery. Most of the fatigue symptoms I used to have seem to have gone away, but I still have cold intolerance. Perhaps that suggests the bloating could be thyroid-related and one of my last lingering symptoms. On the other hand, the bloating only started after about 14 months of other thyroid-related symptoms, which makes me wonder whether it's a separate problem. Does anyone have any ideas how I might know whether it's thyroid-related? If I keep adding thyroid hormones I suppose I'll find out eventually.
If it helps anyone to comment, these are my latest test results:
Inflammation
CRP HS <0.3 mg/l (Range: 0 - 5)
Iron Status
Ferritin 107 ug/L (Range: 30 - 400)
Vitamins
Folate - Serum 10.5 ug/L (Range: > 2.9)
Vitamin B12 - Active 108 pmol/L (Range: 25.1 - 165)
Have you gone gluten free? Coeliac is an allergy to gluten - however even if you are not coeliac you can still be intolerant to gluten. I found being gluten free helped with bloating.Hypos tend to have low stomach acid. This makes digesting protein difficult, the gut gets leaky and inflamed. I find a hot drink of apple cider vinegar with mother, is unfiltered can be bought in supermarket, helps. I put a tablespoon in mug with TSP honey and top up with hot water.
I will post a link to a good article you might find helpful when I can find it.
Thanks for chipping in. I tried going gluten free for six months but it did no good. It seems like my best bet is probably trying to optimise my thyroid hormone levels. I may try the apple cider vinegar as well.
Thanks. As far as I can tell, the response to low stomach acid is to optimise thyroid health, as it's difficult to do much to directly address acid levels.
No it's not difficult. There are plenty of things you can take. Read through the links SlowDragon has given you. And Lalatoot has already suggested apple cider vinegar, which helps a lot of people. I find that simply taking high doses of vit C beore - or even after - a meal also helps. Then there's betain HCL and pepsin, which a lot of people use. I recommend reading this article:
Thanks. As I said to greygoose above, the best response to low stomach acid seems to be to optimise thyroid health, as it's difficult to do much to directly address acid levels.
IBS type sensation of bloating can be caused by low magnesium which causes the smooth muscle in the gut to tighten. Note that magnesium blood tests are no use. Magnesium loss can occur from stress, alcohol, kidney problems and hypothyroidism although this is unlikely in your case as you didn’t have bloating when your thyroid levels were lower.
What medications, supplements do you take?
Good sources of magnesium are green vegetables and tomatoes although I would supplement with magnesium citrate. You could try chiming a magnesium citrate tablet and holding it under your tongue for a minute when you start to bloat, it this makes a difference it would suggest you might have low magnesium levels.
Thank you very much. I wasn't aware of a link between bloating and magnesium levels. I haven't been that consistent with supplementing with magnesium so I will definitely give it a try. In answer to your question, I take T3, T4, B complex vitamin, vitamin D and ferrous sulphate.
When I had bloating I found vitamin D worked but excess made it worse. One tablet daily was fine, two made it worse. It would have been a Solgar tablet but I can't remember what dose (20 years ago). Vitmin D is needed for magnesium absorption but too much enhances loss.
Supplement magnesium for a few months, also try the crushing a tablet under the tongue trick as it will give you an idea of whether it is magnesium related.
I have very strong vitamin D tablets (5000iu) so maybe I've been overdoing it. My levels wouldn't go up if I took any less. Perhaps I should try going without it for a week and see what happens to the bloating.
I'm going to try being more consistent with taking magnesium and possibly up the dose as well. I can't really try the tongue trick you mention because I have plastic covered capsules.
I was the same for a long time until I went Paleo ( caveman diet) whist not gluten free, it’s fairly grain free. Just “meat fish fruit veg” eggs are ok too ,it’s a very clean and easy to switch to diet that’s very satisfying without the bloating. It could be processed food is too difficult for your gut to digest if you have hypo malabsorption issues.
Thanks. I seem to react badly to dairy so I'm on the teva brand of levo. I know other people blame it for digestive symptoms but I've tried other brands and it made no difference.
Yes I am, but I need to be more strict about it. I read somewhere that lactose intolerance symptoms should clear up in a few days of stopping eating any lactose. I've been completely without it for at least two months and it hasn't made any difference to my bloating yet.
Thanks very much. I'd never heard that. You're a goldmine of information!
I don't have a diagnosis, it's just something I've noticed, so I've never mentioned it to my Endo. I've also noticed caffeine and alcohol make my symptoms worse, so I wasn't sure if I really had an intolerance. I'm going to ask my GP about getting a test ASAP.
Unfortunately, my Endo is very bound by TSH results and even if I have lactose tolerance he won't want to increase my dosage.
I was diagnosed with IBS (bloating, cramps etc). That went away totally whilst on Levo.It recently has come back with introducing T3, so could well be hormone related.
Thanks. My overall symptoms have improved since adding T3, and my bloating was with me before I started on it, so I doubt it's the cause for me. It's so hard working out what's going on!
Thankyou. Someone else mentioned I should try to eat more iron-rich foods because my ferritin levels are 107 ug/L (Range: 30 - 400). It's certainly worth a try.
Thanks. I eat a fair amount of red meat, beans, nuts etc so I'm a bit puzzled by my low ferritin levels. SeasideSusie suggested I eat black pudding or liver to help to address it. I'm going to try black pudding and more red meat to see if it helps. I imagine there's some reason SeasideSusie didn't suggest iron tablets.
Have you tried taking Solgar's iron capsules (iron bisglycinate)? Lots of anemic and thyroid-sick Americans left reviews online and on Amazon raving about it. After trying it out, I've had some luck in sorting out my iron. They're stomach-friendly and are available in drug stories and pharmacies. A bit expensive, doable on offer.
Some years ago I got myself tested for food intolerances because of increasing stiffness in my joints. My main problems were oats and wheat which I then gave up. After 2 or 3 months not only were my joints much improved, but as an unexpected bonus my indigestion and bloating which I'd had all of my life had cleared up. This was long before my thyroid problem was diagnosed. I'm not coeliac.
So for me indigestion and bloating are signs of food intolerances.
Thanks. Where did you get these tests done? Are they reliable? I've had extensive tests for coeliacs, including a biopsy, but they have come back clear.
That was over 20 years ago. A doctor who did the Vega test. I understand that reliability of the Vega test can depend upon who does it.
The only other suggestion I can make is that the ThyroidUK website has a page which lists places where you can get private thyroid tests. The last 2 on that list both mention food intolerance tests, but I don't know anything about them or their reliability.
I haven’t read the other comments so I’m sorry if it’s already been suggested but I went on a low salt diet to help my vertigo and I was surprised to see my bloated tummy go down. 👍
Hi I have a suggestion that you might like to try it involves taking bicarbonate of soda approx a teaspoon every morning in water or juice , a long covid symptom I was getting was bloating I started having the bicarbonate of soda and it's stopped I can't say it will work for you but it's worth a try
Actually I have the same thing lately. A few months ago my GP suggested I reduce my T3 (which is the sole thyroid treatment I use) from 75 to 50 mcg. My T3 levels are about the same as yours now and I've begun taking 1/4 tab more each day which I plan to increase to 1/2 a tab in a day or two. I'm wondering if the reduction had a detrimental affect on my digestive system because my bowels seem to be a bit sluggish. Perhaps a small increase in thyroid meds would sort it out. Here's hoping.
Have you been tested for h pylori? You may have dysbiosis. An imbalance of the microbiome can cause bloating with a myriad of other symptoms. I noticed that your ferratin needs improving and some increase in your vitamin D could be beneficial.
I use digestive enzymes, probiotic supplements and fermented foods to help with bloating and my overall stomach issues
Hi. I tested negative for h pylori when my symptoms first developed. I'm aware that issues with the gut microbiome can often cause digestive symptoms but I'm not sure how I'd know if it's a problem for me. Perhaps it's something to discuss with my GP. I've used VSL#3 probiotics/poly-biotics and eat kimchi but it's made no difference. What are the digestive enzymes you use?
Digestive enzymes were suggested to me by my doc but she never reccomended any brand. I'm currently using Renewlife but also have used Prairie Naturals enzyme force in the past because it has digestive enzymes with a little amount of betaine hydrochloride.
Thanks to everyone for their replies. I've now been on an extra 6.25mcg of T3 per day for five days and have woken up feeling hot and overly alert in the early hours of the morning between 3-5am. I've been taking the doses at 3.00am (with my T4), 12.00pm and 8.00 pm. I think I'm going to try taking all of my doses in waking hours and see if I get less hot/alert in the early hours of the morning. I was thinking of taking it at 7am, 1pm, and 7pm. Maybe it will help with my digestive issues as well if I have more T3 in my system while I'm trying to digest my meals.
As you were all so helpful last time I thought I'd add to the post to ask something else:
Since adding 6.25mcg of T3 to my existing dose of 125mcg of levothyroxine and 12.5mcg of T3, I've had periods of feeling hot and uncomfortable. The feeling goes away quite quickly and my resting heart rate hasn't gone up from 63bpm. I notice when my pulse is high I get hot and when it's low I feel cold.
Is it normal to have some difficulty adapting to a higher dose of T3 and then for it to settle?
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Medichecks results - please can anyone advise.
Please can anyone advise me
Hypothyroidism or something else?
Can anyone help or advise please?
Results in from medichecks. I'd love some input on them please.
