CONFUSED

[Jaycee40]

I’ve just been told by my Surgery’s Clinician that my TPO is 310 but a normal reading would be 34. This has scared me somewhat but he is arranging for me to see an Endocrinologist. Can anyone enlighten me please.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Jaycee40

I’ve just been told by my Surgery’s Clinician that my TPO is 310 but a normal reading would be 34.

If that is what you were told the person is confused. 34 is not a normal reading. The "reference range " for TPO antibodies is <34, so below 34 is negative and above 34 is a positive result.

Raised TPO antibodies confirms that the cause of your hypothyroidism is auto immune, known to patients as Hashimoto's (named after the doctor who discovered it). Treatment is the same, you treat the resulting hypothyroidism.

I mentioned a couple of days ago that the cause of your inflammation which was shown by raised CRP could be Hashi's:

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Hashi's which is where the immune system attacks the thyroid and gradually destroys it.

Fluctuations in symptoms and test results are common with Hashi's.

Most doctors dismiss antibodies as being of no importance and know little or nothing about Hashi's and how it affects the patient, test results and symptoms. You need to read, learn, understand and help yourself where Hashi's is concerned.

Some members have found that adopting a strict gluten free diet can help, although there is no guarantee.

Gluten contains gliadin (a protein) which is thought to trigger autoimmune attacks so eliminating gluten can help reduce these attacks.

You don't need to be gluten sensitive or have Coeliac disease for a gluten free diet to help.

Gluten/thyroid connection: chriskresser.com/the-gluten...

stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...

stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...

hypothyroidmom.com/hashimot...

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

Supplementing with selenium l-selenomethionine 200mcg daily is said to help reduce the antibodies, as can keeping TSH suppressed.

Hashi's and gut absorption problems tend to go hand in hand and can very often result in low nutrient levels or deficiencies. It's essential to test Vit D, B12, Folate and Ferritin and address any problems. You are welcome to post these results, including reference ranges (plus units of measurement for Vit D and B12), for comment and suggestions for supplementing where necessary.

[Jaycee40 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you so much SeasideSusie very informative & comforting.

[tattybogle]

Don't worry . All this means is that it proves the cause of your hypothyroidism is Autoimmune Hypothyroidism (Commonly called Hashimoto's / Ord's)

This is the most common cause of hypothyroidism ..... so unless you know yours had another cause eg 'drug induced' or 'having your thyroid removed' ......you've almost certainly had autoimmune hypothyroidism for many years .. but nobody told you because it doesn't make any difference to the treatment they give for it .. (ie. replace the low thyroid hormone with Levo).

300 is not an unusually high result for TPOab.. 'positive' TPOab results can be anything from slightly over range at 35 to a few thousand . Anything up to about 500 is pretty common for Hashimoto's patients . A lot of people on here will have 100 or 200 .... i had 2999 then >3000 ,, someone on here had >6000.

In a way having a 'higher' number is 'useful' .. just because it sometimes makes Doctors sit up and pay attention more , but it's nothing in particular to worry about.

TPOab (Thyroid Peroxidase antibodies) ~ All these antibodies do is 'label' any thyroid peroxidase that has come from a damaged thyroid so it can be cleared away ... they don't do the damage to the thyroid.. your immune system did that already .

[Jaycee40 in reply to tattybogle]

Thanks so much Tattybogle I admit I was a tad concerned but now feel assured that although serious it’s treatable.

[tattybogle in reply to Jaycee40]

Well .. it's not 'treatable' as such .. there is no treatment for the autoimmune cause of hypothyroidism .. they just treat the resulting hypothyroidism , and you are already on that treatment .. Levo.

the endo may wish to change your dose of Levo, or perhaps change you to a different form of thyroid hormone replacement ( ie. include some T3 as well as the T4 you get from Levo) ... but this has nothing to do with your positive antibody result .

The TPOab result just confirms the reason why you needed thyroid hormone replacement on the first place.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

About 90% of primary hypothyroidism is autoimmune thyroid disease diagnosed by high thyroid antibodies

Autoimmune thyroid disease is called Hashimoto’s if you have goitre or Ord’s Thyroiditis if no goitre. With Ord’s Thyroiditis thyroid shrinks and shrivels up

You should have vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 levels tested annually

Plus coeliac blood test done, if not already on strictly gluten free diet

Only 5% of autoimmune thyroid patients are coeliac, but further 80% find strictly gluten free diet helps or is essential

[Jaycee40 in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you Slow Dragon very informative.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Jaycee40]

Extremely important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 at least once a year….privately if GP unhelpful

Poor gut function with Hashimoto’s can lead leaky gut (literally holes in gut wall) this can cause food intolerances. Most common by far is gluten. Dairy is second most common.

According to Izabella Wentz the Thyroid Pharmacist approx 5% with Hashimoto's are coeliac, but a further 80% find gluten free diet helps, sometimes significantly. Either due to direct gluten intolerance (no test available) or due to leaky gut and gluten causing molecular mimicry (see Amy Myers link)

Changing to a strictly gluten free diet may help reduce symptoms, help gut heal

Before considering trial on gluten free diet get coeliac blood test done FIRST just to rule it out

lloydspharmacy.com/products...

If you test positive for coeliac, will need to remain on gluten rich diet until endoscopy (officially 6 weeks wait)

If result is negative can consider trialing strictly gluten free diet for 3-6 months. Likely to see benefits. Can take many months for brain fog to lift.

If no obvious improvement, reintroduce gluten see if symptoms get worse.

chriskresser.com/the-gluten...

amymyersmd.com/2018/04/3-re...

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

drknews.com/changing-your-d...

restartmed.com/hashimotos-g...

Non Coeliac Gluten sensitivity (NCGS) and autoimmune disease

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/296...

The predominance of Hashimoto thyroiditis represents an interesting finding, since it has been indirectly confirmed by an Italian study, showing that autoimmune thyroid disease is a risk factor for the evolution towards NCGS in a group of patients with minimal duodenal inflammation. On these bases, an autoimmune stigma in NCGS is strongly supported

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/300...

The obtained results suggest that the gluten-free diet may bring clinical benefits to women with autoimmune thyroid disease

nuclmed.gr/wp/wp-content/up...

In summary, whereas it is not yet clear whether a gluten free diet can prevent autoimmune diseases, it is worth mentioning that HT patients with or without CD benefit from a diet low in gluten as far as the progression and the potential disease complications are concerned

restartmed.com/hashimotos-g...

Despite the fact that 5-10% of patients have Celiac disease, in my experience and in the experience of many other physicians, at least 80% + of patients with Hashimoto's who go gluten-free notice a reduction in their symptoms almost immediately.