Hashimoto's and Thyroid Antibodies

[ecmb709]

I'm a 55-year-old woman.  After a slew of tests, one result being positive ANA, a doctor diagnosed me as having Hashimoto's.  In following up on this, my primary care physician has been testing me for thyroid antibodies only to find that the antibody level has dropped within the past two months.  The last level was 70.  I'm scheduled for follow-up testing in 3-4 months to recheck for thyroid antibodies.  

I've been told that thyroid antibodies can result from a virus which usually clears up within a matter of months.  If this is true, and the antibody level continues to drop, does this mean I do not have Hashimoto's or am I dealing with two separate and distinct medical issues?

Thanks for any response.

[ecmb709]

To follow-up on the replies:

March 2007:   ANA was positive 1:80

May 2007:      TSH was 780.79

Currently I am not taking any prescription meds. for my thyroid.

Next step is to be re-tested in October to see if the thyroid level drops.

Is it possible to improve thyroid function through the use of herbal supplements?

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

If this is Hashimoto's the antibodies will persist in most cases.  There are transient inflammatory thyroid conditions (thyroiditis) that may result in thyroid antibody fluctuations and resoultion -- this may be the viral cause the doctor mentioned.

ANA is another auto-immune marker -- is this decreasing as well?  If you are being treated for another auto-immune disease (eg, with plaquenil), then the thyroid antibodies may fall - but we don't use these medications for thyroid autoimmune diseases.

Would be interested in the thyroid function trend -- this is important to sort out if there was a transient thyroiditis.

[cosmicsoul]

TPO antibodies of 70 is not that high. I recommend that you check this once every 6 months. How was your TSH and other thyroid test results? Do you have any hypothyroid symptoms?