Colds/flu/viruses and Thyroxine

[Sunflower535]

Just wondering is there any link to having Hashimotos and not having any colds/flu/viruses.

The reason I ask is that I never got sick, with the usual colds etc for many years. I just started thyroxine a few months ago. Now I have a really horrible virus, coughing, temperature, flu like symptoms. This is all so foreign to me. I have a very high level vitamin d so did stop taking it for a week or two but have started again. Could that make a difference.

Just wondering would the fact that I never got colds etc before have anything to do with untreated thyroid problems. My antibodies were way over 600 when I was first tested. Have dropped a bit to nearer 500 if my memory serves me right.

Just wondering if any link.....

[greygoose]

I'm the opposite. I've probably been hypo since I was about 8, but wasn't diagnosed until I was 55. Before I started levo, I always had colds, caught everything that was going. But, I rarely get a cold these days - touch wood! Still get the odd dose of flu, but not colds.

But there's unlikely to be any connection between viruses and the Hashi's antibodies. They are not involved in that sort of thing.

[HealthStarDust in reply to greygoose]

This sounds like my experience. I even think my very serious asthma may be misdiagnosed. I was very young when I collapsed with breathlessness before becoming unconscious after excercise at the time of my diagnosis. I’m not wondering if this was my thyroid failing terrible at a young age.

Anyway, to answer your question Sunflower535 I have not come across any research or comment that links colds to hashimotos .

[Sunflower535 in reply to HealthStarDust]

Thank you too Healthstardust. The thyroid is a mystery that hasn't been completely solved yet I think.

[HealthStarDust in reply to Sunflower535]

Oh most definitely!

[Sunflower535 in reply to greygoose]

Thanks Greygoose. Just thought there might have been some link.

[Blissful]

Just wondering is there any link to having Hashimotos and not having any colds/flu/viruses.

I believe there is an indirect link and possibly iron status is it.

About 30 years ago a vegetarian friend was telling me that she never got colds etc. She'd been diagnosed with iron deficient anaemia at aged 15 and at one point due to overwhelming fatigue, she slept 20hours a day (for about 2 years). Eventually she improved her iron status and then started to experience the various bugs that constantly do their rounds!

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/315...

[Sunflower535 in reply to Blissful]

Thanks for that link Blissful. Very interesting.

[greygoose]

You're welcome.

[DeniseR]

It’s weird you should say that. I still don’t really know what’s wrong with me. Previously diagnosed borderline hypothyroid, with CFS and Fibromyalgia. Levo made me worse. T3 put me into recovering/remission for many years until perimenopause, where I am now suffering the same symptoms amongst menopause symptoms. I used to get normal cold etc before I got ill, since getting ill I noticed I hardly ever catch anything. I’ve probably had 2 colds in around 20 years and one bout of Covid. Whilst everyone around me seems to come down with bugs regularly, I wonder why I don’t. I’d linked it to possible unknown autoimmune conditions/heightened immune system.

[Sunflower535 in reply to DeniseR]

That's what I thought too, linked to heightened autoimmune system. No matter what cold or virus the others got I never caught it. This weekend I feel miserable with high temperature, cough, everything. It's not covid as I did two tests and both negative. Thanks for your reoly. Perhaps there is a link but not yet discovered.

[Hashiboy]

hi    Sunflower535 sorry to hear you were ill. That nasty cold you describe could be the latest Covid variant - I had it three weeks ago so did a few family members and it was like the worse cold ever and tests were a mixture of negative and positive so not brilliant. I’m triple vaccinated and had Covid before.. I don’t think there’s any evidence for levo making you vulnerable to viruses. Worse flu I ever had was four months before starting levo and I stopped getting my annual cold the past few years once I was on meds (probably due to less mixing and Covid lockdown).

[Sunflower535 in reply to Hashiboy]

Thanks Hashiboy. I suppose what I really meant was, did my high antibodies mean I was protected against colds etc. I'm not blaming the thyroxine as I don't know where I'd be without it. I must test again for covid. Last 2 tests negative but still symptomatic. I had covid once before but didn't have a cough or runny nose just fatigue. Thanks for your reply.

[Hashiboy in reply to Sunflower535]

oh right, I get you. As far as I know our various thyroid antibodies attach to thyroid cells, tissues etc and flag them for attack by our own immune systems. Cold and flu viruses aren’t in their job description (they just do thyroid stuff and anything that looks like thyroid stuff) so unfortunately thyroid autoimmunity isn’t a sign of broader super immunity to colds and flus. However, in some people it can work the other way around where colds and flu make thyroid autoimmunity worse. The immune system can create antibodies to an invading virus ( like cold or flu or coronavirus) but also mistakenly target thyroid tissue in the process (known as subacute thyroiditis or de quervain’s thyroiditis) . Hope that helps and hope you are fully over your nasty cold.