Treatment for Hashimotos before things get worse

[ammy111]

IS there anything to stop/reduce thyroid antibodies from attacking thyroid? I want to do something about it now, before things get really bad. I have read that avoiding glutein is suppose to help.Has anybody tried this or done anything else that can stop these thyroid antibodies from attacking the thyroid.

Please anybody any thoughts and ideas on this??

[ammy111]

Hey Red, thanks for your answers. Does that mean in hashimotos the antibodies will destroy the thyroid completly, and wont function at all? Does it disappear?

can I also ask, do you know what the connection is with hashimotos and nodules on the thyroid? I always thought a nodule usually meant an iodine deficiency?

thanks again for the help

[redheadaussie]

Yes, sadly it will do that. For some people it is sooner, for some it is later. But generally speaking it will be a case that you will need some medication to 'control' it when it goes either into hypo or hyper stages.
  Sorry to the bearer of bad news, but that's just the way of it. You can lead a great life though, so don't dwell on it too much.

[ammy111]

Im having some more blood work done again soon. I know I have high antibodies, I just wanted to ask if there was anything one can do to stop them from destroying the thyroid. So if there is nothing to decrease antibodies, does this mean eventually they will destroy the thyroid and I'll have to be on medication for the rest of my life?

[Barb135]

As Red said - you will hear all kinds of stories about people giving up gluten and miraculously being "cured" or "recovering"; there is no cure for Hashimoto's and studies haven't even proven a link between gluten and Hashimoto's.  


Are you on any thyroid med?  If so, what med/dosage?  Can you post your latest lab results, along with the reference ranges, since these vary from lab to lab and must come from your own report.  

Getting an early start on thyroid med may help alleviate some the symptoms, before they become intolerable.  

[redheadaussie]

In a word, Nope.

You can try avoiding gluten. I have been gluten intolerant for years but it never stopped my Hashimoto's from becoming severe. I avoid gluten like the plague, but still get Hashimoto episodes.
You can read a ton of stuff on the internet on them being interconnected. Sadly, once you have your body thinking that the thyroid is a foreign object, then you unfortunately have a runaway train.

   Often Hashi's is genetic and there ain't much you can do about going back in time and changing your parent's heritage!

I am sure you will get anecdotal stories of how someone gave up gluten and 'miraculously' they had no more Hashi symptoms, but you will often find this is just a coincidence with timing of taking thyroid medication around the same time as giving up gluten.

Put it this way though, once I stopped eating gluten, in cakes, cookies and the like, I did lose a lot of weight, so that helped with dealing with the Hashi's, but did not cure it.