IBS. Could levothyroxine be doing this.

[glen56]

I take 100 levothyroxine at night before bed. (so that I can have coffee first thing). I suffer with IBSD. This is embarrassing and as I with in the community inconvenience. I can be fine for days then suddenly get taken short. Usually a day after I say I've been fine for a while 😁. Tryed taking levo first think but no difference. Anyone else got this problem.

[Buddy195 Administrator]

What brand of Levo are you taking glen56? Some contain lactose and fillers that may trigger IBS. Coffee itself can also trigger/ exacerbate IBS issues; have you found this at all?

[glen56 in reply to Buddy195]

I only drink decaf with soya milk can't cope with caffeine.

[Regenallotment in reply to glen56]

sorry if you already said this somewhere but did you confirm which brand of Levo you are taking?

They all have different ingredients as the fillers and some of us react to them.

E.g. Accord contains lactose I’ll have gurgling, burps, pain then the runs within hours.

Teva doesn’t I’m ok with it, but gurgly but others are affected by the mannitol in it and it makes them very unwell.

Useful ingredient table in helvella ’s documents

This could be the root cause.

Helvella’s ingredients of Levothyroxine

[Fruitandnutcase]

No, I’ve had IBS for years - started with a massively stressful experience in the early 1980s and I’ve been stuck with it ever since ☹️ When I took levo for a year when I was being treated for Graves in 2012 it didn’t cause any problems.

I developed inflammatory arthritis a couple of years after my Graves disease so I went totally gluten free - I was fed up with autoimmune conditions at that point - and I’d say that going GF made a massive difference to my IBS but the levo didn’t make any difference to it - certainly didn’t make it any worse.

[glen56 in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

Thanks I've tryed gluten free on and off but I'm starting slimming world on Friday so will try again I think. Can you recommend a decent gluten free bread 😂

[SlowDragon Administrator]

IBS, low stomach acid, low nutrient levels and gluten and dairy intolerance all common when thyroid levels not fine tuned…..especially if your hypothyroidism is autoimmune

Looking at previous posts couldn’t see any thyroid antibodies results or vitamin test results

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 tested 

Also both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested at least once 

Very important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 at least once year minimum

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

Autoimmune thyroid disease with goitre is Hashimoto’s

Autoimmune thyroid disease without goitre is Ord’s thyroiditis. 

Both are autoimmune and generally called Hashimoto’s.

Have you ever had thyroid antibodies tested?

Low vitamin levels are extremely common when hypothyroid, especially with autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto’s or Ord’s thyroiditis)

20% of autoimmune thyroid patients never have high thyroid antibodies and ultrasound scan of thyroid can get diagnosis 

In U.K. medics hardly ever refer to autoimmune thyroid disease as Hashimoto’s (or Ord’s thyroiditis)

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests early morning, ideally just before 9am and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test 

This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)

Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or all relevant vitamins

List of private testing options and money off codes

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

Medichecks Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins

medichecks.com/products/adv...

Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes antibodies, cortisol and vitamins

bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

Just Thyroid includes BOTH TPO and TG antibodies -£49

randoxhealth.com/at-home/Th...

If you can get GP to test vitamins and thyroid antibodies then cheapest option for just TSH, FT4 and FT3

£29 (via NHS private service ) and 10% off down to £26.10 if go on thyroid uk for code

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

monitormyhealth.org.uk/

Monitor My Health also now offer thyroid and vitamin testing, plus cholesterol and HBA1C for £65 

(Doesn’t include thyroid antibodies) 

monitormyhealth.org.uk/full...

10% off code here 

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

NHS easy postal kit vitamin D test £29 via

vitamindtest.org.uk

Only do private testing early Monday or Tuesday morning. 

Link about thyroid blood tests

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

Link about Hashimoto’s

thyroiduk.org/hypothyroid-b...

Symptoms of hypothyroidism 

thyroiduk.org/wp-content/up...

[SlowDragon Administrator]

You will see many hundreds of members on here have found gluten free diet and/or dairy free diets are helpful or essential

Get coeliac blood test via GP before considering cutting gluten out

[glen56 in reply to SlowDragon]

Yes I had one but maybe I'm just intolerant?

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to glen56]

Soya not recommended for any thyroid patients. Best to avoid all soya completely

Try oat milk instead?

Only 5% of Hashimoto’s patients test positive for coeliac but a further 81% of Hashimoto’s patients who try gluten free diet find noticeable or significant improvement or find it’s essential

A strictly gluten free diet helps or is essential due to 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 and may slowly lower TPO antibodies 

Trying gluten free diet for 3-6 months. If no noticeable improvement then reintroduce gluten and see if symptoms get worse

chriskresser.com/the-gluten...

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

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

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

Non Coeliac Gluten sensitivity (NCGS) and autoimmune disease

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/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

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.

Similarly few months later consider trying dairy free too. Approx 50-60% find dairy free beneficial

Hashimoto’s and leaky gut often occur together

[Regenallotment]

Hey @glen56

I hear you, its awful when you know you gotta go, thank heavens for Asda loos is all I can say.

I thought it was meat and went veggie for 3 years - it wasn't meat it didn't go away.

I thought it was gluten - it improved things but still happened

I thought it was dairy - it improved a lot but still happened occasionally.

Someone said onions... I tried it - wow ... no more onions.

Read a book that said take vit C to bowel tolerance to rid yourself of unwanted gut bacteria.... my tolerance is about 1/2 teaspoon a week! The book thought you could get to about 5 teaspoons a day... not me 😂

I'm currently reading Super Gut by Dr Williams, fascinating. I am sure I've got some dysbiosis on the GI tract, have treated myself for SIBO symptoms, have upped my stomach acid with Betaine with Pepsin and Apple Cider Vinegar (just a teaspoon in a shot of water before meals).

Bring on the fermented live probiotic bacterias!

S Boulardii - actually a fungus, found in the fridge at the health food shop was really good, they recommend you take this if you have to take antibiotics.

NSAIDS - anti-inflammatory pain relief - that can do it, as a family we are all very sensitive to those.

Oh and. super tummy settler I buy L Glutamine powder from My Protein online and have a tiny grey scoop (included) in a little water first thing in the morning, promotes better gut mucous (I had too much before). Its an amino acid that apparently does a lot of good.

Hope that helps, 🌱🦋🌱

[bluejourney in reply to Regenallotment]

I’m just reading ‘Super Gut’ by Dr William Davis, and it seems to make a lot of sense - very impressed. I see he recommends the FoodMarble AIRE Digestive Tracker - a breath analyser for overgrowth of gut bacteria, which can detect methane as well as hydrogen. It sounds as though it might be a bit of a game changer. I wonder if anyone here has tried it. And I’d also like to know, how did you know you had too much gut mucous?

[Regenallotment in reply to bluejourney]

How did I know I had too much mucous? It was coming out of me 🤭🙈 when I ate the wrong things. My poor gut was trying to heal itself and I kept throwing allergens and dysbiosis inducing combinations at it. Thankfully it has gone away. 🌱

[glen56 in reply to Regenallotment]

Yes it's the mucus

[glen56 in reply to Regenallotment]

Thanks I'll try l glutamine

[glen56 in reply to Regenallotment]

I've just ordered some.

[Regenallotment in reply to glen56]

Good luck 🤞 , let me know how you get on.

I’m just reading Supergut by Dr David Williams. More things to try in there. He’s done some brilliant research and shares all the stuff he has learned. 💡🌱

[CernCrystal]

Hi I found it best to avoid too many carbs on levo. I can get awful tummies (and explosions!) if I fail to do this. Now on low carb diet and all good - plus I have a flatter tummy, am regular and am slowly losing weight despite being hypo. One of the lovely women on here did mention that people can experience problems with gluten but mine is more than that. Very happy now.

[glen56 in reply to CernCrystal]

Thank you. I'm OK for a week or so then explosive!

[Rhannii7]

Absolutely, I cant tolerate it, gastric as soon as I take it.