Quick Update on my Gluten Free diet in Regards to Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

18update7 Okay, I need to make this clear… this post is going to be only about how I feel my gluten free diet is benefiting the technical side of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. In my next post, I will do a more “feelings” oriented assessment (I am speaking about how my body is “feeling”, but I guess I can include also how my “emotions” are doing too!). LOL

Before I started my current TRUE Gluten Free Diet, my antibody count (TPO) was ranging (over 10 years) between 3,000 to over 7,000. I got my test back a couple weeks ago after being gluten free for about 6 weeks. I will be much more detailed in my next post, even on this, but this is just a quick update. The antibody test came back at 172! Yes, you are reading right….172! Now how’s that for progress! I haven’t done anything new besides a serious diet change and this is something to get excited about. My TSH has also gone from 12 (range) to 7 (range) without a change in medication. So I would say I’m on the right track, wouldn’t you? See you soon with a full update! Mo

Disclaimer: All posts are describing my personal journey through health issues and are in no way meant to guide anyone towards any method in particular. I am not a medical practitioner or have a dietary or medical license, and this blog is not intended to be taken as authoritative advice. Please see your doctor, or health professional before making any drastic diet changes! Also, occasionally I find others to partner with whom I have had tremendous help from and therefore, there may be paid advertisements and links to support them and help me financially run this website.

Posted

June 4, 2011

autoimmune, gluten sensitivity, hashimotos thyroiditis, thyroid disease, thyroiditis, Wheat Intolerance

maureen

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16 responses to “Quick Update on my Gluten Free diet in Regards to Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis”

Becky

June 4, 2011

To answer your question: YES, you are on the right track! I left a couple of posts regarding stopping gluten that haven’t been moderated yet. But it’s really exciting to see these results.

I’m currently three plus weeks off my Armour thyroid completely, after 10 years on, and stopping gluten January 1, 2011. Will be tested three weeks from now for antibodies. I keep checking back here to see what’s going on with you. Heads up: Foods that are goitrogens might, as your antibodies decrease, have a greater effect on how you feel than before. I think it might be the thyroid coming “awake” again, but don’t know. I seem to have a greater awareness of foods that feel nourishing and foods that don’t. Coconut products seem to be enormously nourishing.
maureen

June 7, 2011

Hi Becky,

Sorry I have been so slow to moderate the comments. I have had some problems with the site. Hopefully, it will be all fixed now.

I am soooo excited to hear of you going off of Armour after so many years! That gives me so much hope! Also, what kind of symptoms do you notice with the goitrogens now? Sluggishness?

Are you on the forum? It would be great to connect there.

Thank you for sharing! This is such a great relief to hear of those responding favorably to the gluten free diet!

Are you also staying away from personal products with gluten? I have found that to be the hardest since I keep forgetting I can’t just grab a shampoo or conditioner at the store, as well as toothpaste.

Keep me updated and thank you for commenting!

Are you in the U.S.?

Mo 🙂
Becky

June 7, 2011

Yes, if you get a special forum category going, I’ll pop over there and recap what’s going on with me.

With goitrogens, if you are on thyroid medication I don’t think they’re that big a deal as long as you don’t eat tons of them at the same time, or all the time, or along with your med. BUT. Off medication, I notice a strikingly obvious swelling of my thyroid and that “neck” feeling; took me a while to put it together but I think the foods (had sweet potatoes, spinach, cabbage AND strawberries for dinner last night! Silly!) are the trigger for the swelling, which I believe means the thyroid is working harder. Going a few days with no goitrogens makes my neck lovely and flat!

Stopping gluten and going off medication SEEMS to have “woken up” my thyroid again and in its newly awakened, non-med-supplemented state, it may be a little weaker than a normal thyroid would be.

About shampoos, I’ve used “natural” ones for years but haven’t looked into whether they contain gluten. About food, I am strictly off gluten without paranoia or cheating; this means I don’t have it at home and when I am out I ask but trust what they tell me. The fact is that we are going to be exposed to it, and I am okay with going along on that ride as long I don’t purposely or knowingly consume it. Life is too short to track every molecule.

I should say that as of January 1, 2011 we not only went gluten free, but grain-, legume- sugar- and processed-oil free as well. Essentially, Paleo or Primal. So there are those factors as well.

BE AWARE that “gluten free” does not mean “healthy,” as I’m sure you know. Gluten free bread can contain enormously high levels of starches and carbohydrates, as well as legumes. Garbanzo flour is commonly used. All these mysteriously mixed ingredients can individually contain not only goitrogens, but other substances that have an effect on metabolism and health.

And going “grain free,” with no flours or sugars, means lovely, slow, but permanent weight loss … 18 pounds for me.
Becky

June 7, 2011

Yes, I’m in Washington State.
Jessica

June 9, 2011

Hey, have you seen a link between gluten and dairy. i have stopped gluten but i have been told to stop dairy as well because casein in dairy and gluten are so similar molecularly that it is best to avoid casein too.
jess
brandon

June 11, 2011

What’s your diet like now?

I have been on GAPS diet for 3 months and my TPO is still over 800… its been as high as 1800…
But i think my TPO has dropped not because of the gaps diet but because i lowered my armour thyroid, i think armour thyroid feeds my antibodies…
A.Lockwood

June 11, 2011

Hello.

I’ve enjoyed reading your site. I have biopsy comfirmed Celiac Disease and am very strict with a gluten free lifestyle. I also have Hashimoto’s and being gluten free hasn’t done anything to improve my HT labs or symptoms.

I’m glad you’re finding improvment!

Amy
A.Lockwood

June 11, 2011

Oh, Colgate and many Dove products sre gluten free and have no chance for cross contamination.

Amy
maureen

June 14, 2011

Hi Amy,

This is interesting. Now something to consider is that I went about one month without ANY grains or eggs or any preservatives, etc. I am thinking gluten free is a great start but we might also have cross-reactive issues. For example, have you heard about the idea that certain other grains can be seen similarly to gluten even on a gluten free diet? I will post the podcast that talks about that in my next post. I think there might be something to it.

Hope you can find some results. I would like to start a true gluten free support group for those of us with Hashimotos so we can track the progress on this particular disease. Hopefully, I can get this started soon.

Thanks for your comment.

Mo 🙂
maureen

June 14, 2011

Brandon,

Hmmmm… you bring up an important question. Do you know if there is a corn filler in your Armour supplement? I think I turned away from Armour due to something like that. I take Naturethroid which as far as I know doesn’t have any other allergens I am sensitive to. You might want to check on that.

Also, as you may have seen on my other comment, you might want to check into cross-reactive grains that mimic wheat gluten in our system.

I will get that post up today if possible – it will be short but that is what I think could be keeping some from seeing more success on the gluten free diet and Hashi’s.

Mo 🙂
maureen

June 14, 2011

Jessica,

That is a very interesting thought. I started putting milk back into my diet recently. I will have to update everyone once I get my results again for my antibodies. I don’t sense a reaction to milk itself (however I am a raw milk drinker so I am getting a more pure form of milk). I’ll keep this in mind and will update you if I see a connection. Thanks for the comment. 🙂 Mo
Becky

July 6, 2011

I registered for the forum several weeks ago but haven’t received a confirmation e-mail so can’t participate there yet.

Meanwhile, after six months gluten/soy/grain/sugar/legume-free, experiencing high-thyroid symptoms and reducing Armour until I took none at all for six weeks, my TSH came in at 8.83, the highest it’s ever been. But my antibodies were 20, which indicates normal range. Apparently, everyone has thyroid antibodies, not just Hashimoto’s patients. The doctor put me on 1/2 grain Armour to see how that helps the TSH. My previous dose was 1-1/2 grains.

Must admit I’m flummoxed as to how to find Real Answers for the thyroid. I try to eat nourishingly for it, and do think that avoiding gluten is important. But it is not the whole story … as you’ve noted, there are other trigger foods, plus there are goitrogens that inhibit the thyroid. I am trying to chart a course to follow that will be as optimal as possible, given what I am observing through experience.
Teresa

July 11, 2011

Hello All,
I have Hypothyroidism, Hashimoto’s, Celiac disease, Rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, degenerative disc disease. I also have a yeast problem,(Candida). So I am starting on this NO gluten/soy/grain/sugar diet.. I just saw where Becky says she stayed away from legumes as well, what do they hurt does anyone know? I read to avoid foods high in cysteine – red meat and eggs.. so there goes my egg, spinach, goat cheese omelet. Also does anyone know about organic oatmeal being bad or not? With thyroid issues I read to stay away from spinach, kale, it also said no turnips so does that mean turnip greens? If so what greens can we eat? I am overwhelmed with what I can eat or not… Help..
maureen

August 4, 2011

In my opinion, if you can somehow afford it, it would be a good thing to see if you have any other allergies that might be causing a cross-reactive situation. You might want to read my post on this subject. It helps to have foods you feel you CAN go to without wondering how they might be hurting our body. Hope this helps. Mo 🙂
Mae

June 4, 2013

Hi, I’m so impressed by your lowered TPOs. I just found out that I went from 56 3 months ago to 2078, and I need to lower them quickly. I also have Graves, not Hashimotos. I’ve found LDN to be a huge help in fighting the autoimmune aspect of thyroid disease (and any autoimmune disease for that matter, I highly recommend it. David Borenstein in NY will do phone consults for it, and get it at Skips in Florida). It tricks your immune system into healing itself through endorphins. So my thyroid levels are now close to normal although all the doctors and surgeons said I wouldn’t be able to control it and needed it out. Ha! At any rate, I did acupuncture 3 times a week, I cut drastically down on grains and refined sugars, and I’d already cut out dairy, gluten, and most soy except tamari, plus yeast. I think I’m also sensitive to corn, so I just reluctantly cut it out. What puzzles me is that on this diet (except it was before I totally cut corn), my TPOs skyrocketed. I don’t like Paleo because I end up eating too much meat and I feel happier with some carbs. Did you try autoimmune GAPS or straight GAPS? I’m also going to do fermented foods and high strength probiotics to rebuild the gut flora, since that’s where most immune tissue is, hence healing the immune system and any possible leaky gut. I’m really glad to have found your posting because I was losing hope that I could lower my TPOs quickly. =)
maureen

June 4, 2013

Hi Mellerman:

Honestly, the only way I lowered my antibodies was when I was meticulously gluten free and cross-contamination free. I thought I was truly gluten free the first time I did it but then realized I was getting gluten from sources I had no idea had it in. Now I only buy things that say gluten free but most foods are not labeled because I eat mostly whole foods. I don’t eat in restaurants (except once in a long while I eat at Outback but it is a dangerous practice to me to go out). I don’t think I got enough success until I was completely grain, sugar and gluten free. You don’t really have to eat much meat on Paleo because there are so many other good foods available. If you are concentrating on your antibodies right now, you might want to just up your vegetables and include foods you can tolerate like almonds, eggs (if tolerated), good fats like ghee and grass-fed butter (if tolerated), along with small amounts of grass fed beef or organic chicken and hopefully you will see good results. It is very difficult to be 100% gluten free (I had to completely switch over all my pots and pans and crock pots, etc) so you are not getting cross-contaminated. If you haven’t seen this post of mine, you might find it informative. I hope you get them down and find success! Thank you for commenting!