# Hashimoto's and gluten, always enemies ?



## jeffbursens (Mar 24, 2014)

I have Hashimoto,

I try to manage it as much as I can with thyroid replacements, fish oil, selenium + zinc supplements and the paleo diet but I still have some thoughts about the gluten problem. About a month ago I've been tested negative for gluten. Blood work showed I had no gluten issues but I am still concerned about whether I would or would not consume it. I read a lot of articles that say we should avoid gluten not matter what because the negative link between Hashimoto's disease and gluten is real and patients has to stop eating products with gluten immediately if not sooner. I also know that a simple blood test is not always enough to be sure you're gluten tolerant. Should I do something more to be sure and if I am really negative for gluten, (which is highly likely because a blood test is about 90% accurate) should I still need to avoid gluten? Should people with Hashimoto's always need to avoid gluten products no matter what? Even if they test negative for it?


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

I had/have Hashi's (my thyroid has since been removed) and going gluten free had no impact on me...not did eating gluten. Ergo, I eat gluten. 

But for others, it clearly has a huge impact. So, I think it's something to consider, but it's not a set-in-stone rule.


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## spottythecat (Jun 18, 2014)

My endo tells me no gluten and I have to say, I gained....and I did't eat the junky "gluten free" stuff from the snack aisle. I think I ate more dairy because yogurt and some gelato is gluten free...so, that failed me. I have read alot about fixing your gut health with probiotics because they can calm the inflammation that you may have it your GI tract. There is so much to read about what to do and not do that I often get confused and I don't know who to listen to!


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## shafree (May 8, 2014)

I'd been gluten-free (strictly, no cheating) for five or six months for other health reasons when I became insanely fatigued, started losing hair by the fistful and felt like my increasingly sore neck was being squeezed. While poking around in my blood for other autoimmune diseases, my doctor discovered that my antibodies were in the thousands and Hashimoto's was throwing a raucous party in my throat!

Naturally one of the first things I did was investigate what lifestyle changes I could make to restore my health faster. When I saw "go gluten-free!" I had to laugh. It certainly works for some people, though, and has definitely helped me in other ways. Wouldn't hurt to give it a try.


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

I've had Hashi's for over 10 years now and tried the gluten free thing a few years ago and it did nothing for me. But, I'm not allergic to gluten nor do I have celiac disease. It doesn't hurt to try, it does wonders for some, but I'll be over here in my corner happily gluten filled, lol!


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## jeffbursens (Mar 24, 2014)

thanks all for your replies. I still don't know what do to though. So hard to find real good advice because a lot of people are saying the opposite. I'll begin with a small intestine biopsy.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

You might want to consider doing a simple trial. It seems less invasive than a biopsy.

The gluten free experts will have to weight in, but I think you need six weeks of 100% gluten free eating. If you feel better, stick with it. If your symptoms don't change, then *shrug* it probably won't help.

I would say there's one and only one rule related to thyroid disease: the "right" treatment protocol is different for everyone. The trick is finding what works for you and sticking with it.


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## Pamala (Feb 19, 2013)

Thank you for this post. It is something I have been wondering about.


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## Airmid (Apr 24, 2013)

jeffbursens said:


> thanks all for your replies. I still don't know what do to though. So hard to find real good advice because a lot of people are saying the opposite. I'll begin with a small intestine biopsy.


The gold standard is a biopsy of your small intestine. That is the only way they can know if you are having issues with gluten or not.

I've heard people talk about being gluten intolerant but have seen zero medical literature confirming that it plays a role in auto-immune diseases.

That being said - if you don't have symptoms of this an intestinal biopsy seems a bit of a jump. There are symptoms that your body does throw out that it is having difficulties with gluten including changes in stool that don't happen with Hashimoto's. You can always just try going gluten free to see if it helps but remember that it will invalidate blood tests while you are avoiding gluten. Make sure you let your doctors know about it and if they want to test you again you will have to start taking in gluten to get accurate results.


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## bigfoot (May 13, 2011)

I second the others, unless you are looking forward to the small intestine biopsy like a kid towards Christmas, it wouldn't be first on my list. In fact, it wouldn't really be on my list at all. 

As far as a concrete, definite connection between gluten consumption and autoimmune issues -- just because some lauded scientific research paper hasn't made the connection, doesn't necessarily make it untrue. (That goes for a lot of things, really.) There are countless first-hand reports of people with all sorts of autoimmune problems going gluten free, and in some cases, grain free, paleo, dairy free, etc., and with amazing results. These are worth something in their own right. However, not everyone suffers from Celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity (not necessarily the same thing, and different tests, blood vs saliva). It has become the latest buzzword in food-labeling, fancy restaurants, and celebrities. The upside to that is those of us who *are* GF now have a ton of choices at the grocery store and dining out.

Here's a similar example, which you probably already know about since you have been doing paleo: For years, fats and cholesterols have been a big target. There have been countless studies, reports, statements, guidelines, dietary changes, and so forth. But the science behind that was driven by various agendas, not the least of which was money. Now all of a sudden we have Time magazine quoting what the fringe experts have been saying for decades -- all fats and cholesterols are not bad. In fact, sugars and carbs are more of a problem.

I will also state that if you are truly paleo, you are not supposed to consume gluten, amongst other things. The big problem with gluten is that you can't go GF "most of the time". It's an all or nothing approach. No exceptions. It likes to stick around for weeks or more in your system. While I can't explain the exact biological pathways and reactions behind the scenes, I can tell you that if I was to go out and get a couple of tasty donuts right now, I'd be downright miserable. And it would extend beyond just my gut; we are talking very bad brain fog, too. Some people get heart palps, others have skin reactions, etc. It affects everyone differently.

I agree with everyone else; don't stop eating gluten if you plan on being tested. And it's totally possible to be negative for Celiac, but positive for a gluten sensitivity. That's what I ran into. Be on the lookout for other food triggers or allergens, too. I replaced gluten with dairy, and that really wasn't the answer right either. A ND doc can be a good resource for a lot of this stuff.

The real trick is figuring out if gluten truly affects you. We are all so different. But it's definitely worth looking into if you suspect it.


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## jeffbursens (Mar 24, 2014)

Thank you so much for your philanthropic and well-informative answer!
Very very kind of you...


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## CA-Lynn (Apr 29, 2010)

Just a reminder: No one should assume there is a connection between gluten sensitivity to thyroid disease. Coincidental, if a person has both.


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## bigfoot (May 13, 2011)

Right -- I should have clarified that.  One doesn't cause the other, and vice-versa. And just because you have one doesn't mean you automatically have the other, either. I think much of the gluten issue is really just a larger symptom of GI health, and has everything to do with the heavily-processed foods we eat nowadays that are treated with chemicals and all sorts of synthetic compounds. And most of us would probably do better in general by improving our gut health, for example.


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## surge (Aug 15, 2012)

There's a lot of good information here already and several wise cautionary notes, so I'll weigh in with personal experience only: I had a crazy case of hashi's swinging between high and low with lots of antibodies. Things kicked into high gear for me AFTER I'd gone back to regular eating upon finishing a 28-day cleanse in which I didn't consume wheat, dairy, alcohol, caffeine, sugar, etc (ironically, I did this cleanse b/c a naturopath thought this would help me get off thyroid meds). It could've been a total coincidence. But like you I wondered...

Eventually, I had my thyroid removed. Which was good for some symptoms, but I found it hard to stay euthyroid. I just kept dipping. A dose would work for about 2-4 months, and then I'd be low again. I spent a lot of time taking a month or two off wheat, but ultimately not knowing if it was worth it, I sometimes caved. I think this is where you are at, asking yourself, is this worth it?

At one point I decided to go the opposite direction. Instead of avoiding gluten, what if I charted what happened when I went hog wild with wheat? I really recommend trying this in summer. Ahh, the joys. I ate a lot of pizza and fresh pesto with pasta and bread and drank beer. It was a good July- August. I noticed I was pretty happy, but super tired and bloated and had gained a gut. I checked my numbers and my tsh went from just under 2 to 9 in 5 weeks. huh. That sort of did it for me. I stopped gluten then. My numbers now only oscillate in a much smaller range. Again, this could be coincidence. But it's been almost a year, and all in all, a pretty good one, thyroid-wise. I had one dip around February.

The big difference is hair. It's still thin at the front and temples (which is typically where I see my thyroid hair changes. I was experiencing whole-head thinning), it's growing in there and the back of my crown where I had thinned noticeably is back to normal. I've read that hair loss associated with wheat can take up to a year to begin righting itself. I fit this profile. And I guess this is my takeaway, for me, it took longer than 6 weeks to appreciate some of the changes. Also, knowing that the hairloss was probably an absorption issue meant for me making sure I took iron. Even though my numbers were okay on this front. My dermatologist told me this and for about 6 months I took the iron-water supplements, then moved onto just a multi- that included iron.

One thought: It's also okay to be indecisive. Maybe you're resistant because you just really don't want to do this right now. So consider a different approach. Perhaps, just an overall health upgrade: trying to do some kind of exercise every day to keep you moving, drinking lots of water and adding a green drink. Something, in other words, that's still supporting your body, but doesn't feel like deprivation. This would support overall health but maybe wouldn't feel as much like a sacrifice. This thyroid stuff is a long slog. And there's no one way out...you can always come back to the gf idea. Once you're in, you're in, though. It's like setting limits for a toddler: if you say no, you can't back down.

Good luck and keep us updated!


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## BLUEJAY (May 15, 2013)

Stool tests for gluten sensitivity and other food allergies are less intrusive than a small intestine biopsy and more accurate than blood tests.


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## fireball (Jun 9, 2014)

LOL LOL

When people throw arounds words like ribbon like and rabbit pellets it cracks me up! If you don't know what these are chances you are not gluten sensitive. LOL

Gawd the pizza, beer diet is soo tempting. Personal stories are powerful. Thank you Serge!!

There are surprisingly few studies on gluten/autoimmune disease. I wonder why? is it because monsanto has such a large lobbyist group?

Speaking of conspiracies... what's the association between the American Thyroid Association and levothyroxine?


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## MJBK (Aug 10, 2014)

Just to throw in 2 cents worth;

Isn't there a problem with the leaky gut and auto-immune disorders? I am reading a book by Susan Blum MD called "The Immune System Recovery Plan" she advises to eliminated gluten, sugar, dairy and alcohol for a period of weeks and then add them back in one at a time to see what your sensitivities are.

Hashi's is an autoimmune disorder and I fear that if we don't fix our leaky gut then we are opening the possibility to developing more autoimmune diseases.

Dr. David Perlmutter wrote a book called "The Grain Brain" and it is really an eye-opener to read his book and see what he thinks about gluten.

I'm not taking any chances on poor health, I'm choosing to be pro-active and eat as clean as I can. Not perfect; but as close as I can manage it.


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## shafree (May 8, 2014)

MJBK said:


> Just to throw in 2 cents worth;
> 
> Isn't there a problem with the leaky gut and auto-immune disorders? I am reading a book by Susan Blum MD called "The Immune System Recovery Plan" she advises to eliminated gluten, sugar, dairy and alcohol for a period of weeks and then add them back in one at a time to see what your sensitivities are.
> 
> ...


The autoimmune/gut connection is always being studied by researchers and they're still a long, long way from cracking it. The Internet muddles this issue a lot but it's important to understand there is "leaky gut," which is mostly talked about by naturopaths, in which leaky gut is somehow tied to almost every illness under the sun, especially incurable autoimmune disorders. And there is something else called "intestinal permeability" that is similar but considered more medically sound.

Most of the serious research about intestinal permeability involves autoimmune diseases that attack the intestines (ulcerative colitis, celiac disease) and a real understanding of what any of it means is probably still decades away for a number of very complicated reasons. Even then, it's only one part of the picture because autoimmune diseases are believed to be triggered by an unknown combination of genetic, environmental and possibly lifestyle factors that can vary from person to person. Five cases of the same autoimmune disease could very well have five different causes. It's enough to give you a headache.

It never hurts to try eating healthier and figuring out what works for you. Going gluten-free will accomplish nothing for some people and make a world of difference for others. You'll only know for yourself if you give the diet a serious try.


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## Whisperwindkat (Jul 31, 2014)

Like others have said you don't really know if it will help you unless you try, everyone is different. I can tell you that for me it has been a lifesaver. I have been off all thyroid meds for going on 3 months now because of doctors trying to determine what is or is not going on with my thyroid. I went gluten and grain free a year ago. I am still functional and still have more energy than I did before when I ate gluten and grains. I don't feel amazing but I am not sleeping 16 hours a day either. I do get things accomplished around the farm even though at a bit slower pace. I have been fighting thyroid disease for 10 years and before thyroid meds I was sleeping 16 hours a day, could no longer drive (because I would fall asleep), could not take care of any of the farm (got rid of the livestock and the garden). I was completely nonfunctional. So comparing both periods of thyroid disease with no meds is like night and day. I am convinced that going gluten free and grain free has made a huge impact on my life even though I still don't feel well. I feel better than I have in the past. I have lost fat, not weight, but fat.....my clothes are too big now. My triglycerides have gone from over 150 down to 51 and my HDL went from 42 to 61. My bloodwork looks good. All I know is that it has worked wonders for me, even though not the complete cure. once I get this thyroid straightened out I should feel like a new woman. Blessings, Kat


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## ifthespiritmovesme (Jan 8, 2014)

When you have one autoimmune condition, you very often will have another. Just to prove that gluten had no affect on me, I went GF on the urging of my daughter. Within 10 days, I experienced a major improvement in many areas - bloating, energy level, stamina, less stiffness, and a major decrease in ny chronic neck and shoulder pain. Also my year-round allergy symptoms disappeared. I continued to improve. I have had a negative blood test for celiac.

I've been GF for about a year and a half. If I eat gluten, I notice its negative effects on me within hours (a return of symptoms) and they last for days. As far as I am concerned, gluten is a poison to me. Can't hurt to give it a try.


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