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Hashimoto's And Celiac?

salexander421

By salexander421
in Related Issues & Disorders

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salexander421 Enthusiast
salexander421
Posted

I know they are both autoimmune disorders so I know someone can obviously have both. I'm wondering if there is any literature that states the percentage of people with Hashimoto's who have Celiac as well? My Mom, her twin sister, and my cousin (mom's twin sister's daughter)all have hashimoto's. My mom and cousin are both on a gluten free diet but are not super strict, especially my mom who cheats pretty frequently. My aunt goes back and forth, one minute she thinks she has a problem with gluten and the next she is eating regular gluten foods. It's a mess! :P My mom and my aunt also both struggle with anemia and my aunt just had a hysterectomy at age 49, she was EXTREMELY anemic before hand. My aunt also gets a rash on her belly. I really suspect celiac here, especially with the issues that me and my girls have dealt with so far. Oh yeah, their brother (my uncle) has type 1 diabetes and overall not really healthy. I'm just looking for statistics here since they seem to respond well to that. Thanks!

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Roda Rising Star
Roda
Posted

I don't know the statistics, but my search in 2008 lead me to celiac. I was looking for a connection on hashimoto's disease and low ferritin/anemia. I found lots of articles referencing celiac. It was this research that eventually prompted me to get tested by my endocrinologist for celiac.

BrittLoves2Run Apprentice
BrittLoves2Run
Posted

I too am wondering about this today. I just had a Celiac blood panel and a Thyroid test done this morning. All the women in my family have underactive thyroid.. and i'm thinking I have Celiac too. I couldn't believe how hesitant my doctor was to test for Celiac!

  • 2 weeks later...
zeeclass6 Explorer
zeeclass6
Posted

I've had Hashimoto's for 15 years and have been gluten free for 3 weeks now on the advice of a new doctor. All the women in my family have thyroid problems and/or auto-immune problems of some sort.

My 90-year-old mother was first diagnosed with Hashi 5 years ago! Her sister had Hashi and then it flipped and became Graves.

None of us ever suspected a problem with gluten. But my mother dropped a bombshell on me the other day. She said that she remembers HER grandmother (in the 1930s) going to a special store to get gluten-free flour to make bread! But as far as I know, nobody in my family avoids gluten or has been diagnosed with Celiac, not even my mother or her sister.

My Celiac test was negative twice in 10 years. But recently I found out that my IGA is low, so it may be possible that I have some form of Celiac or just gluten sensitivity and not have known it. My clueless doctor didn't understand that maybe I should have further testing (IGG).

I have eaten gluten all my life and never considered that it was a problem, until the past few months. Body aches (feeling like there is glue in my body; very stiff), joint and muscle pain, slow healing of "pulled" muscles, worsening reflux, low B-12, and adhesive capsulitis in my shoulder prompted me to finally say, "Whoa, WHAT is going on????!!!" Suddenly, in the course of about a year, it seemed that something was crippling me for "no reason."

I got a lot of thyroid books out of the library and stumbled upon the Stop The Thyroid Madness (STTM) website (and eventually bought the book....both are EXCELLENT).

I saw a doctor from The Holtorf Group in N. Calif. They are extremely expensive. They ran a lot of tests. I found out that I have Fibrin in my blood and apparently have a problem called Hypercoagulation (thick clotty blood). I have no idea why, or when this started. Also, although my TSH was "perfect at 1.26" other tests (free T3, Reverse T3 and reflexes) showed that indeed I was still hypo and needed, at the very least, some T3.

I am not going back to the Holtorf doctor for several reasons. First, they are extremely expensive and aggressively push their private label supplements at you. Second, they do not really understand how to prescribe T3 and will not prescribe natural thyroid or do saliva cortisol tests. Thirdly, the doctors there are overloaded and do not have the time to even spend 5 minutes on the phone with you if you have questions later. "Just take the supplements." Yeah....$1,0000 in supplements! You read that right, one thousand dollars. I did not buy them. Are they crazy?!!!

Anyway, at the prompting of information from STTM, I got more blood tests and discovered that I am also anemic (low Ferritin, low saturation, high TIBC).

Then I saw the new doctor who said outright to me "You have an auto-immune disease. You should not be eating gluten!" He is the first doctor who ever mentioned this to me. (The expensive Holtorf doctor never mentioned gluten to me). Like I said, I've eating gluten my whole life. I didn't think it was a problem. But I've been gluten-free for 3 weeks now and in general I notice a lot less gas and bloating. And I'm not craving carbs or ANYTHING anymore. In fact, I barely have an appetite (is that bad?? I'm a little worried about that). So I assume that I must be sensitive to gluten....otherwise, why would these symptoms go away from eliminating gluten?

I have not done a challenge test yet. This weekend I plan to eat a few regular crackers and see how my body reacts.

I have an appointment with a Hematologist soon to discuss the coagulation thing and whether any of it is related to Celiac or gluten intolerance. I suspect that I may have some sort of malabsorption problem.

Everything in the body is related. The thyroid regulates a lot of things. Auto-immune diseases can really wreak havoc.

I hope that soon I will find the answers to my problems. Not sure whether I will need to continue staying gluten free or not. Not sure whether I will need Heparin injections for the coagulation problem. And I'm hoping that I can switch from Synthroid to Natural Desicated Thyroid, because I think that taking only Synthroid for 15 years has been a BIG part of my problem, causing these muscle problems, lingering depression, and other issues.

It is very hard to find a doctor who knows the proper tests to run, and even harder to find a doctor who interprets the tests properly and treats properly.

When it comes to thyroid issues, you need to educate yourself. I have found that most Endocrinologists are pompous idiots or slacker doctors who are not up on the latest research (such as Reverse T3, the importance of iron tests, B-12, or gluten/food issues relating to auto-immune problems). Educate yourself. Otherwise you will be at the mercy of sub-par doctors who will keep you sick.

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