# Is TPO a fast or slow moving number?



## laff66 (Mar 9, 2012)

To anyone who might have had their TPO antibodies checked regularly, is that a number that is likely to move quickly? In other words, does it fluctuate a great deal, or does it stay pretty consistent?

Mine was 803 about in Feb 2012, and this June its 626 (normal <35).
I am also wondering if the meds (armour or levo) do anything to bring it down. I went gluten free on 5/5/12, and the lab that showed sensitivity to gluten stated that eliminating gluten often calmed the TPO ab's down.

Also had an ultrasound this week, and they showed me the pictures that had little "pits" like a bird had been pecking at my thyroid. She even put the machine to her own neck to show me what normal looked like. No nodules found, and the doc said the bloodflow was "low" which was supposedly good because a hashi thyroid under attach shows high flow? The way they summarized it was a thyroid that had been "hit by hashimotos, and then calmed down."


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## sjmjuly (Mar 23, 2012)

When I was first diagnosed mine were 439. After going gluten free they went down to 290. Not sure why the flux, but I guess they do. I feel much better now, and the attacks have calmed down alot. I could tell when an attack was coming on and taking place. My body felt like a war zone. 
I am taking NatureThroid but I don't think thyroid meds have any affect on the antibodies, but I could be wrong. I take Selenuim & Thytrophin PMG. I have heard the Selenium helps bring the TPO down, and the Thytrophin gives the antibodies something the "chew on" other than your thyroid. It binds with the antibodies so they don't attack as much. 
Alot of doctors won't even treat hashi's until it's completely destroyed your thyroid and then they treat you for hypothyroidism. All the while you feel like total crap. Most doctors don't know how to treat the autoimmune componet of the disease so they do nothing. Alot of them don't think gluten and hashi's are related. All I know is I feel 100% better now I am gluten free and on meds.


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## laff66 (Mar 9, 2012)

When I first got diagnosed with hashi's I asked the dr if I should go GF and he said no its too hard, you really can't. I did anyway, so I'm curious if that had anything to do with lowering TPO. I was just about to try introducing some back into my diet, as I really don't feel any different but now I'm not sure. 
I did have three days of no back pain, starting the fourth day of being GF, so I have no idea if it's related or not.


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## sjmjuly (Mar 23, 2012)

laff66 said:


> When I first got diagnosed with hashi's I asked the dr if I should go GF and he said no its too hard, you really can't. I did anyway, so I'm curious if that had anything to do with lowering TPO. I was just about to try introducing some back into my diet, as I really don't feel any different but now I'm not sure.
> I did have three days of no back pain, starting the fourth day of being GF, so I have no idea if it's related or not.


I had stomach issues for years. I could never understand why I could eat a bowl or Cream of Wheat and then want to die afterwards. It got so bad that I was coming home from work and throwing up almost every other day. After I counted how many times I threw up in a months time, I started to put two & two together and had a food test done. Sure enough - grains were killing me. There is so much back and forth about whether gluten effects hashi's that you really don't know who to believe, so I decided to believe in ME and how I feel. I feel MUCH better without gluten and after you get the hang of it, it's not that hard. Especially if it makes you as sick as it made me. I was in the ER 10 times last year and thought I was going to die, so my decision saved me. You can try to introduce gluten and see how you feel. If you start to feel crappy again, stop eating it. I just know for me it's not an option and the thyroid attacks were not as severe.


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## CA-Lynn (Apr 29, 2010)

_"Alot of doctors won't even treat hashi's until it's completely destroyed your thyroid and then they treat you for hypothyroidism. "_

Really? That has not been my experience.


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## sjmjuly (Mar 23, 2012)

CA-Lynn said:


> _"Alot of doctors won't even treat hashi's until it's completely destroyed your thyroid and then they treat you for hypothyroidism. "_
> 
> Really? That has not been my experience.


Well then, aren't you the lucky one? I have been all over researching this stupid disease and the common thread is that alot of people are frustrated with the fact their doctors don't or won't treat them. I see time and time again they are told "let's wait and see what happens". I can tell you what happens: You continue to feel like hell. 
Because the autoimmune part of the disease cannot be given a "pill" to fix it, the regular western medical doctors don't know what to do. Most of them don't believe removing gluten helps so they don't recomment that, and there is no cure for it, so they wait til your thyroid dies and then they treat you. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS TOLD BY THE THREE DOCTORS I WENT TO BEFORE I FOUND MY NATUROPATH. Until then they try and make you think you are either crazy or depressed and try and shove anti-anxiety meds & anti-depressents down your throat. So you are a lucky one and be glad you found a good doctor that actually understands the disease. Most of us had a hard time at first and had to do alot of searching before we found someone that could & would treat us or even listen to us about our symptoms.


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## smelliebellie (Oct 14, 2012)

sjmjuly,
i cant agree with you enough. i am still on the search for the one dr that can answer my prayer of getting better. one endo has started me on synthroid but its too early to tell if that will help me or not. i know i have hashi's, i have the symptoms, but my labs dont show me as a hypo. but within normal range, thats why the 1st endo i went to did not want to treat me.


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## surge (Aug 15, 2012)

My endo told me, "Hey, this is auto-immune. Which means there are times when it flares and times when it doesn't. We don't really know much about what controls the flares, just that people feel bad when it flares, and better when it's calm. And we can't make any guarantees. We can treat the accompanying hypothyroidism, but during flare ups, this too is made difficult." I think this is the thing. With autoimmune disorder, symptoms vary widely and response time varies widely. So some people respond quickly to good ol' T4 replacement and others don't. Some people really respond to eliminating grains (I have a friend who first had to cut out ALL grains, and then eventually could add back a little GF oats). Some people benefit from taking out dairy and sugars, too, since those can also cause inflammation.

We could ask the bigger question about what we see as treatment for hashi's. Isn't a lot of our frustration with doctors also a frustration with a disorder that we desperately want help for, and yet, there are times when there is no help coming, just coping mechanisms to get through?


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

sjmjuly said:


> Well then, aren't you the lucky one? I have been all over researching this stupid disease and the common thread is that alot of people are frustrated with the fact their doctors don't or won't treat them. I see time and time again they are told "let's wait and see what happens". I can tell you what happens: You continue to feel like hell.
> Because the autoimmune part of the disease cannot be given a "pill" to fix it, the regular western medical doctors don't know what to do. Most of them don't believe removing gluten helps so they don't recomment that, and there is no cure for it, so they wait til your thyroid dies and then they treat you. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS TOLD BY THE THREE DOCTORS I WENT TO BEFORE I FOUND MY NATUROPATH. Until then they try and make you think you are either crazy or depressed and try and shove anti-anxiety meds & anti-depressents down your throat. So you are a lucky one and be glad you found a good doctor that actually understands the disease. Most of us had a hard time at first and had to do alot of searching before we found someone that could & would treat us or even listen to us about our symptoms.


Yep; I agree....................I saw way more than 3 trying to get help. I was fluffed off repeatedly and offered anti-d's by every single one.


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## Sarah31905 (Sep 3, 2012)

Honestly I look at it this way, Hashimoto's eventually kills your thyroid. Why not go ahead and have it removed so you can start getting your levels under control in only a hypo state and your aren't bouncing from hypo to hyper? Just a thought. Why suffer while waiting for the disease to kill the thyroid? I am so glad my doctors are so amazing and I will not have to suffer long. I have about 31 more days until my monster comes out.


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## Swimmer (Sep 12, 2013)

Sarah31905 said:


> Honestly I look at it this way, Hashimoto's eventually kills your thyroid. Why not go ahead and have it removed so you can start getting your levels under control in only a hypo state and your aren't bouncing from hypo to hyper? Just a thought. Why suffer while waiting for the disease to kill the thyroid? I am so glad my doctors are so amazing and I will not have to suffer long. I have about 31 more days until my monster comes out.


Are we sure this is true -- what if stopping the attack triggers, i.e., what if we figure out what calms this whole autoimmune attack and we stop it, then aren't we stopping our thyroid from being killled? I really want to know.


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## StormFinch (Nov 16, 2012)

The problem is Swimmer, there are so very many triggers and each person's could be different. You'd practically have to live alone in a bubble, and then you still might not be able to avoid everything; environmental exposures, infectious agents, iodine, gluten, low D and/or selenium, seasonal and/or food allergies, sex hormone fluctuations, stress... and those are just some of the most common. Heck, I'd have to leave my husband just to avoid one of my biggest triggers!


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## Desertrose (Jul 30, 2013)

So far, on my journey, the response from doctors has been entirely fixated on thyroid levels and nothing at all to do with the auto immune side of things.
I totally agree that it must be a completely individual thing, both in the symptoms and causes of symptoms.
I struggle in my mind with the gluten thing because for me there has never been any direct symptom of sensitivity. Everything for me is just vague and ever changing. I never know what symptom my body is going to throw at me next - which is why I began to BELIEVE that it was all in my head or some sort of weird anxiety condition.
Now, I suspect it has some kind of hormone relationship....

But bottom line, I do believe that diet has an incredible amount to do with it - We simply must all strive to eat as health-fully as possible.
There IS something to be said for going gluten free and that is that it does force you too look at your diet, and if you avoid all the "gluten free" RUBBISH - all the snacks and cookies etc which are just junk food, then it can only serve to make your body FEEL better because you're eating healthy.

I don't see why it's not possible to nurture your thyroid and avoid having to have it removed. I'm kinda fond of my internal organs and believe in keeping them unless there IS no other alternative. But there again - it's all an individual situation.


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