GERD (acid reflux) and Hypothyroidism

[PizzaPerson]

Hi,

28 years ago, i was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, following a very bad sore throat (I still remember the pain in my throat!). Benign nodules that have now disappeared. On Levothyroxine 75 since then.

2 weeks ago, I had a routine blood test showing that my TSH is 5.36 (normal range is 0.27 to 4.2, and my usual level is 1). My FT4 is 15.7 (normal range: 12-22, my usual level is around 17-20)

Serum Ferritin at 27 (normal range 13-150). I have very heavy periods and feel tired.

GP increased Levo to 100 (from 75) following the increase in TSH and advised to take Iron supplement daily.

I have a very bad sore throat. I think it is GERD (ie. acid reflux - I have a hiatus hernia that usually does not cause issues, except when it was diagnosed 10 years ago, it gave me a bad sore throat which over time resolved itself). and probably combined with the symptom of sore throat associated with thyroiditis (diagnosis is pending).

I had a scan last week that shows the thyroid looks normal but lymph nodes nearby are slightly enlarged. I am waiting for biopsy results on the lymph nodes.

I'm waiting for blood tests results from an endocrinologis this week (not sure what tests it was).

There is history of Thyroid cancer in my family, but on my father's side.

I feel very tired but thanks to Gaviscon, my sore throat it better (not perfect, but much less painful and does not wake me up at night anylonger)

Questions:

Is it OK to take Gaviscon in my situation? Or shall I use something else?

Shall I be concerned or reassured about the situation?

Thank you

[Anthea55]

Acid reflux may also be alkali reflux. The burning sensation in your throat can be caused by alkali if your stomach acid is too low. Many of us have low stomach acid.

Low stomach acid is called 'hypochlorhydria'. Here are two links which explain more about it.

healthline.com/health/hypoc...

drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/Hypochl...

Unfortunately most doctors don't know about it and it's not mentioned on the NHS website. They then treat low acid as if it's high acid which is clearly the wrong treatment.

I have a hiatus hernia too. When it was diagnosed I was sent a prescription for one of the PPIs, but I read up the patient leaflet online and decided it wasn't for me. When I was seeing an endo he was horrified that I refused to take it. I had further tests and I was right. I now take apple cider vinegar to improve my stomach acid.

[PizzaPerson in reply to Anthea55]

Hi Anthea55 , thank you for letting me know. I was looking at the NHS website and did not find any reference to acid reflux and hypothyroidism. ... I was starting to worry about this, thinking it was a sign of something more sinister (I tend to worry!). I noticed that sucking a mint has also helped, maybe it helps produce more saliva and helps my digestion.

I'll ask my endo about it as well... see if knows about this.

Thanks again!

[Ellie-Louise in reply to Anthea55]

How are you now regarding the apple cider vinegar?

[Bertwills]

Hello, I’ve got the same symptoms. Hiatus hernia & acid reflux. Raising the head of my bed has helped at night, I use a pile of magazines but you can buy bed raiders on Amazon,

Gluten free might help you too. I’m now gluten, dairy & alcohol free & I avoid any spicy or acidic food in the evening. I’ve found a glass of hazelnut milk soothes my stomach in the evening. Slippery elm is also useful.

I regularly take oregano oil capsules for a week or so as they’re brilliant at killing off Candida or any bad stomach bacteria. Don’t take for too long as they can kill the good too. A probiotic might help you.

Some people swear by vinegar helping but I’ve never found it helpful. I think, once you have a hernia, it’s harder to keep the acidity away from the oesophagus so the vinegar can just add to the problem. Gaviscon is very useful but remember not to take any tablets within at least 2 hours of a dose.

[PizzaPerson in reply to Bertwills]

Yes, thank you, good point: I had a gluten free lunch and dinner and my acid reflux decreased really significantly.

A friend is a naturopath and did talked about vinegar. FYI she did a good course from this provider: naturopathy-uk.com/

She recommended reading Dr Axe (note I'm no specialist but his articles seem reasonable): draxe.com/health/hypothyroi....

and: draxe.com/health/low-stomac...

[arTistapple]

So many symptoms and so many variations, even within the same ‘situation’. I can’t find any actual reference to my ‘theory’ but strongly suspect ……… sphincters. My sense is that when under medicated sphincters don’t quite work properly. They lose ‘tone’. There is one at the entry to the stomach and one as it becomes the small bowel. Peristalsis, the process by which food moves along through the bowels (should work in one direction only towards the anus) and finally the very powerful sphincter at the anus. Sphincters allow leakage if they lose tone. In the case of the stomach, this releases acid (even with low acid) into the eosophagus, creating reflux symptoms. This situation is often named hiatus hernia, which will improve with good thyroid levels. At the other end constipation makes it difficult to pass a hard stool, already created by poor peristalsis and this sphincter can’t relax properly to pass the stool easily. Leakage of liquid here is common in severe constipation, especially in children and the elderly. In over medication there will be loose stools and lots of visits to the loo required because peristalsis will go into overdrive.

Too much information?

It helps to pay particularly good attention to diet until this settles. PPIs only make things worse for hypothyroids in the long term by also interfering with thyroid medication uptake.

[PizzaPerson]

Update from me: The sore throat was aweful, waking me at night, pain all day, chest pain, feeling that i had a ball in my throat - for 3 months... I was starting to think it was serious, looking up tonsil or throat decease. I emailed my endocrinologist and he replied that the ultra sound scan covered the throat and did not show any issue, but no other advice.

I stopped eating Gluten and Milk/Yogurt.

Yesterday, after dinner, I walked 30 minutes (to aid digestion) and bought Fisherman's Friend losanges.

I then drunk a bit of lemon juice with ice cold water. Followed by Fisherman's Friend.

For the first time in 3 months, I did not have sore throat last night. It is pretty much gone.

Advice: do not take lemon juice in the evening, because it may have caused me (maybe because I'm sensitive to vit C) to wake up at night (not to the point that I was fully awake for hours, luckily).

This morning, I woke up refreshed despite waking up. No sore throat.

I bought some Apple Cider Vinegar and drunk some with water at lunch (I think you have to do before lunch). I will have lemon in the morning and Apple Cider Vinegar maybe in the evening.... I will experiment.

This advice on stomach acid & hypothyroidism helped me: stopthethyroidmadness.com/s...