Hashimoto's Disease

yes. for about 10 years.

No but I hear a gluten free diet can assist in managing it.

The doc told me to get off gluten for 2 months and we'd see what happened. Sometimes gluten can set off multiple auto immune responses. I've been tested a few times for celiac/gluten markers and have been negative every time.

But... my doc told me that you don't have to have celiac to be sensitive to gluten. So...I'd rather give up gluten if I don't have to take pills and get blood tests. HATE needles!!! Have a serious phobia of needles.

So...how has your Hashi's been treated?

cts

Had surgery in 1979 due to enlarged nodules caused by Hashimoto's ... local surgeons kept doing tests, but the surgeons in Seattle did surgery in a few days after their examination.

Due to having worked around radiation they were not sure which it was - thyroid cancer or Hashimoto's as I had been taking Synthroid tablets for years previous to growths on the thyroid.

The surgeon had a BIG SMILE on his face when he talked with me after surgery, and all the nurses had SMILES on their faces too ..

We now celebrate Sunsets as we have seen oodles of them since 1979 !

Didn't know about the gluten free diet thought so much as changed in medical procedures/etc since 1979.

RoadXYZ wrote:
Had surgery in 1979 due to enlarged nodules caused by Hashimoto's ... local surgeons kept doing tests, but the surgeons in Seattle did surgery in a few days after their examination.

Due to having worked around radiation they were not sure which it was - thyroid cancer or Hashimoto's as I had been taking Synthroid tablets for years previous to growths on the thyroid.

The surgeon had a BIG SMILE on his face when he talked with me after surgery, and all the nurses had SMILES on their faces too ..

We now celebrate Sunsets as we have seen oodles of them since 1979 !

Didn't know about the gluten free diet thought so much as changed in medical procedures/etc since 1979.

Glad to hear you are doing so well! Lots has changed for sure...but if you had nodules the surgery would be just as necessary today. Could have been radiation. They know a whole lot more about that now too. My Dad was in Japan when they dropped the bomb.. he had numerous "auto immune" diseases over the years. Apparently some can be passed on. My doc says Hashi's has a genetic tendency. Lucky me. Anyway... it is my understanding that 70% of the low thyroid in the US is caused by Hashi's. Have to wonder about that with all the radiation many were exposed to over the years.

Since Hashi's is an "auto immune" disease and gluten is a highly suspicious culprit in a lot of AI's these days... it was recommended I get off it. 14 days now. Don't really miss it. But, I'm looking for a good toast/sandwich alternative. It's hard to make a real sandwich without a bread of some sort. Lettuce wraps just don't cut it.

I don't want to get caught up in "medical hXXX". I've seen way too much of the medical/test trap with family to want to get caught in that spider web. But.. I do want to get better.

Right now... I'm doing my own research... and eating gluten free... and going almost total organic. I hope that makes a difference.

I already have psoriasis (very mild).. so I have a history of AI's I guess.

I am also looking for a different doc for a second opinion. This doc is good...but she hasn't really "examined" me. Only looked at labs. How do you know what's going on without physically examining the thyroid?

Anyway...thanks for your response and glad to know you're ok.

cts

My daughter-in law has Hashimoto's, well controlled by thyroid medication. She's been doing the gluten-free thing for over a year and it hasn't made any difference in her thyroid activity/levels of meds required.

There doesn't seem to be much science related to the gluten connection- but maybe the Docs that are urging their patients to try going off it are doing "field research".

covetsthesun wrote:
How do you know what's going on without physically examining the thyroid?

Examining the thyroid - you best have a Endocrinologist!!!

wny_pat wrote:

covetsthesun wrote:
How do you know what's going on without physically examining the thyroid?

Examining the thyroid - you best have a Endocrinologist!!!

After a few years of weird problems my wife and I drove over the mountain's to Seattle's Virginia Mason hospital. In an instant the doc knew what it was. Hashimoto's Disease. This was in 1979 and thyroid cancer arrived in 1983 so the thyroid was removed.

All good since 1983.
chevman

larry barnhart wrote:

wny_pat wrote:

covetsthesun wrote:
How do you know what's going on without physically examining the thyroid?

Examining the thyroid - you best have a Endocrinologist!!!

After a few years of weird problems my wife and I drove over the mountain's to Seattle's Virginia Mason hospital. In an instant the doc knew what it was. Hashimoto's Disease. This was in 1979 and thyroid cancer arrived in 1983 so the thyroid was removed.

All good since 1983.
chevman

How did the doctor know "in an instant"? I have no outward signs of enlarged thyroid etc. I have had dry skin during the winter for years... and low thyroid markers on my blood work...but not too low. I don't feel sluggish... what weight gain I had (and lost eventually) was from eating too much. My hair is thinner now.

The Hashi antibody markers are around 300 and above 20 is high. So something is up.

Did your doc say that Hashi causes thyroid cancer? Is that always the case??

cts

Francesca Knowles wrote:
My daughter-in law has Hashimoto's, well controlled by thyroid medication. She's been doing the gluten-free thing for over a year and it hasn't made any difference in her thyroid activity/levels of meds required.

There doesn't seem to be much science related to the gluten connection- but maybe the Docs that are urging their patients to try going off it are doing "field research".

It isn't taking the pill that bothers me so much as the "monitoring". I am a true needle phobe. Heart rate skyrockets just looking at a needle.

There probably is an element of field research... I feel like a lab rat sometimes!

cts