This post is just a 'starter' and is meant to generate discussion, which will hopefully give people some pointers for further research into what might be causing their own symptoms.
Please join in and add any information, links to papers, articles etc that you've found helpful for fixing your own symptoms.
----------
▪️ If your thyroid medication dose is too low, or your T4/T3 ratio isn't right for you, your digestive system is likely to be unable to function at its best. This can be the cause of many problems, not just the commonly mentioned constipation. Many thyroid patients get brushed off with a diagnosis of IBS.
▪️Stomach issues can be connected to the excipients in levothyroxine tablets. For example, lactose used as an excipient in many thyroxine tablets can be an issue for some people even if they can tolerate dairy. My theory is that it's the combination of the hormone (i.e. levo) and lactose in the digestive system that seems to be problematic. (Hormones are not normally delivered in large dollops directly into the stomach.)
▪️Mannitol which is used instead of lactose in some brands of levothyroxine, can cause digestive issues for some people. If the brand of levo you are taking contains mannitol and you have stomach issues, tell your pharmacist to give you a different brand to try.
▪️Histamine intolerance can become a big problem for people taking levothyroxine. It may cause hives, and/or stomach issues. Histamine. is found in many foods, and some drinks such as coffee.
▪️Caffeine. Sometimes people find they can no longer tolerate coffee, and assume it's an issue with caffeine. But tea is often higher in caffeine than coffee. So if you tolerate tea, but not coffee, consider that coffee is high in histamine, which may be the cause of your sudden intolerance to coffee, rather than the caffeine.
▪️Supplements. Lots of useful discussion here on the forum every day about how being hypothyroid may have caused low or deficient nutrient levels, and that taking vitamin and mineral supplements can help you to recover. But, supplements are just as likely to cause stomach issues as foods, especially when stomach acid levels are not optimum due to thyroid hormone imbalance.
---------
Some links to start off your research:
Syndrome of idiopathic chronic urticaria and angioedema with thyroid autoimmunity: A study of 90 patients sciencedirect.com/science/a...
Your Gut Microbes and Your Thyroid: What’s the Connection? chriskresser.com/your-gut-m...
Histamine and Hashimoto’s thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...
The surprising truth about histamine intolerance (Zoe Podcast) zoe.com/learn/podcast-truth...
What Causes SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth) and Why It’s so Hard to Treat chriskresser.com/sibo-what-...
The Link Between SIBO And Your Thyroid palomahealth.com/learn/link...