Anyone with Graves disease have high gastric parietal cell antibodies?

[Beefull8]

Hi. I just had a lab done and found out I am positive for gastric parietal cell antibodies 26 where over 25 is considered positive. I read that it can be from pernicious anemia (my levels were low but normal now), autoimmune gastritis (i did an endoscopy and have mild gastritis) or from thyroid disease and I do have graves’ disease. Just wondering if others had a positive test along with thyroid disease. Thanks!

[JuSa44]

I don't know exactly what gastric parietal cell antibodies are but my relapse of Graves' disease this year stuffed up my digestive system and I got really bad gastritis, acid reflux etc. The thyroid is linked to almost everything in your body, including the stomach which I found out through painful experience. I wish you all the best!

[Beefull8 in reply to JuSa44]

Thank you for your reply! I’m sorry you’re struggling with this too. How did you get a relapse? And wonder how we get hyperthyroidism in the first place?

[JuSa44 in reply to Beefull8]

Good question! Who knows - it's still a mystery to me! My gastroenterologist said the thyroid caused my gastric issues and my endocrinologist said my gastric issues caused my Graves relapse And messed up my thyroid. Very confusing to me.

[Beefull8 in reply to JuSa44]

😅Everyone wants to blame the other body part. Doctors don’t usually mention diet and stress. I think I need to go back to gluten free and see if that’s what’s causing my issues. Wish I never got thyroid problems.

[helvella Administrator]

Gastric Parietal Cell antibodies have been regarded as an indicator of Pernicious Anaemia - but are not regarded as proof.

As testing for Pernicious Anaemia is so poor, maybe request an Intrinsic Factor antibodies test? A single positive IFab test should be regarded as proof. But negative tests mean nothing and are common, You might need several IFab tests to get a positive result.

Alongside that, you should have your vitamin B12 (and folate) tested.

I'm fairly confident that GPCab would be seen far more often in thyroid disease if they were tested! But they aren't often tested.

Parietal Cell Antibody. An antibody against the parietal cells that produce intrinsic factor. It is present in nearly all cases of pernicious anaemia but may also be seen in other disorders. A negative result makes the diagnosis of pernicious anaemia unlikely.

labtestsonline.org.uk/condi...

[Beefull8 in reply to helvella]

Thank you that’s so helpful! My MMA was tested and it’s low normal so I think that with my B12 being over 600 means I am not deficient in B12. But I get weak when I don’t eat protein and had issues with low ferritin too so wondering if I do have PA.

[helvella Administrator in reply to Beefull8]

It is right to wonder - but looks like you do not have PA.

Others are far more clued up on protein and diet generally.

Regarding iron, you might find a few hints in my iron document.

helvella - Iron Document

This is a summary of what I have read up and found out about iron supplements over the past few years. I am not in any way medically trained. You are strongly encouraged to check every detail before making any decisions for yourself.

Last updated 04/07/2024

helvella.blogspot.com/p/hel...

[Beefull8 in reply to helvella]

This is helpful. Thank you so much! I also checked my ferritin and iron and ferritin was low as well as absorption but it increased to about 48 for ferritin and absorption increased as well after I started supplements. I stopped however because I didn’t want it to get too high but I did feel better on it.

[helvella Administrator in reply to Beefull8]

Ferritin alone is not a good guide, but we see so many who supplement for a while (often under medical advice), seem better, then stop.

While excess iron is definitely to be avoided, it is possibly better not to stop, but rather to reduce dose? And test at suitable intervals.

48 is not high.

[Beefull8 in reply to helvella]

I wasn’t taking a lot but with daily iron supplement plus eating more meat, I was able to increase my iron to over 100 and and ferritin.

[samaja]

In addition to what helvella said, to diagnose PA you need to test IFAB but if it is negative you also check MMA and homocysteine and look at your full blood count. You definitely also need to check your folate becuase B12 and folate work together. If you eat meat, fish, eggs and dairy and your levels are low (the range for B12 is often way too wide and some countries consider any results below 500 as deficiency, sadly not in Britain) than there is an indication of B12 malabsorption and the only effective treatment for that (as for PA) is the B12 injections. Have a look at the Pernicious Anaemia/B12 Deficiency Support Group of FB or Tracey Witty's website for more information.

[Beefull8 in reply to samaja]

This is great! Thank you! I will check it out. My homocysteine is a little high around 8 or 9 I think. I think my B vitamins have been low in the past. I feel like covid might have temporarily worsened everything which is why I had long covid.

[helvella Administrator in reply to Beefull8]

And there's always:

Pernicious Anaemia Society

healthunlocked.com/pasoc