Hypothyroidism And Gluten

[mysecretcurse]

Does anyone know anything about hypothyroidism going along with gluten intolerance?

Something has happened to me this past month where my thyroid seems to have failed.

I have all the symptoms of hashimoto(sp?) disease. Especially I get horrible chills and basically I have to be sitting in a boiling hot bath otherwise I'm shivering even with 3 sweatshirts on (like Im wearing right now). It feels like there are ice cubes on my skin all the time. Also depression, constant fatigue, joint pain, and I get rashes on my skin. I also get Dh in direct relation to injesting gluten but these rashes are different, they are all over my forehead, little bumps.

The hypothyroid is so terrible that I sometimes feel like just ending my life. I literally shiver until every muscle in my body is tense and sore.

I am taking iodine for my thyroid and have been for about a year now. It helped a lot before. It still seems to help but then I keep getting glutened accidentally (seriously, I cannot seem to STOP being glutened I dont know what to do) and with each time I get glutened, it seems the reaction I have is violently worse than before. I was glutened 2 days ago from Tyson chicken, and I notice it drastically increased my hypothyroid symptoms!

So I'm wondering, because I saw in another thread that there is a connection between celiac and the antibodies destroying the thyroid, if I can remain gluten free will that help heal this other condition? I don't think I was ever hypothyroid before having celiac, if I was it wasn't THIS noticable before. But like I said, before even when I ate gluten I wasn't so hyper sensitive to it. I was sick, always, but now when I have gluten there is this horrible reaction.

I'm just scared and have nowhere to turn. My low thyroid seems to have stopped me from functioning in life. I have no insurance and no money so I cannot see a doctor. I haven't been able to afford a doctor in years. So any tips on helping with my thyroid I'd greatly appreciate. Or any knowledge of how this relates to celiac might help me understand better too.

I'd rather die than live like this.

[Mtndog]

I am so sorry to hear you are feeling so badly- physically and emotionally. I think that you'll find many of us here have thyroid issues. My thyroid became hypo with celiac but I never tested as abnormal and no matter how much I complained about chills and other related symptoms, no one would do anything about it. I would sit on the beach in July and have goosebumps.

Finally, my doctor put me on Armour for subclinical hypothyroid. I feel MUCH better. I know you said you don't have insurance but you have to take care of yourself. You said you are really depressed but please remember- your thyroid problems can contribute to that.

Do you have an ER or free clinic near where you live? If so, go. Tell them exactly what you told us. Please hang in there and let us know how you are. Feel free to PM me anytime. Beverly

[ShayFL]

The scary thing is that if your thyroid hormone gets too low....you could die.

Google: Myxedema Coma

This isnt something to play with or ignore or hope it gets better. A small number of people recover their thyroid function after gluten-free, but many dont. Me included.

Armour thyroid saved my life!! I was like you....suicidal. It was miserable and I didnt want to live.

You MUST get help for this. PLEASE go to the ER if you have to. And BTW...iodine makes Hashi's worse.

[Mother of Jibril]

And BTW...iodine makes Hashi's worse.

This is a tiny point, but yes... At first, iodine might help kick your thyroid up a notch, but as it burns out (from the continuing autoimmune attack) it doesn't have anything left to give! If your thyroid has been destroyed, no vitamin or mineral supplement is going to help.

The good news... thyroid medication is CHEAP. It's not like having diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis. Find a public health clinic and get your TSH tested.

[nutrifoodie]

This is a tiny point, but yes... At first, iodine might help kick your thyroid up a notch, but as it burns out (from the continuing autoimmune attack) it doesn't have anything left to give! If your thyroid has been destroyed, no vitamin or mineral supplement is going to help.

Finally, my doctor put me on Armour for subclinical hypothyroid. I feel MUCH better. You said you are really depressed but please remember- your thyroid problems can contribute to that.

Mother of Jibril- it is important to designate between autoimmune hypothyroidism, and just plain hypothyroidism. She could have the autoimmune kind (like Hashimotos) or she could have the hypothyroidism without autoimmune part.

I am on Armour too for subclinical hypothryoid. I have not yet reached the right dosage.. but I know where you are coming from, I GET EXTREMELY cold sometimes too. Your's sounds very extreme. Find a doctor, get your blood tests (and if if you don't come up) then GET ON ARMOUR. Having untreated hypothyroidism reeks HAVOC on your body.

Get fixed soon I hope this helps.

[mysecretcurse]

Thank you all for your replies.

I've been getting * a little * better. It seems the farther away from a glutening I get, the better I get, thyroid/body warmth wise. It was weird, I woke up one morning and it was as if I could feel my thyroid working again, or maybe it was just the gluten leaving my system. I felt different. And all day my body temperature seemed to regulate better and I only got like one case of the shivers. Today I haven't had the bad shivers at all yet, although I still definitely feel cold in my extremeties. I think I have very bad circulation, it's something I need to work on.

If I ever have money I will consider getting my thyroid tested and getting some medication. But I literally am pretty homeless right now, I'm just bumming off some relatives for the holidays, so it's not really an option. But if I feel my thyroid drop really low again I'll consider the ER, I didn't know you could die from that! Hopefully it wont happen again.

Thank you all!

[Mtndog]

Just know we are thinking of you and when we all put our heads together, we can find a way to help you!

[nasalady]

Does anyone know anything about hypothyroidism going along with gluten intolerance?

I'm just scared and have nowhere to turn. My low thyroid seems to have stopped me from functioning in life. I have no insurance and no money so I cannot see a doctor. I haven't been able to afford a doctor in years. So any tips on helping with my thyroid I'd greatly appreciate. Or any knowledge of how this relates to celiac might help me understand better too.

I'd rather die than live like this.

As others have said, this is serious....please get some sort of medical help, even if it's from a free clinic or an emergency room! You could go into a coma. I was nearly at that point when my Hashimoto's was diagnosed, and my thyroid had swelled up to the point where it was pressing on my windpipe making it hard to breathe. I ended up at the ER where they told me that my TSH was over 90! (Most people feel best when TSH <1)

Regarding the link between celiac disease and autoimmune thyroid diseases such as Hashimoto's and Graves disease, please check out some of the medical articles I have posted at the following website:

Open Original Shared Link

The berti2004, volta2001, and hadithi2007 are some papers which specifically address this issue. Research has shown that following a gluten free diet can actually reduce the number of organ-specific antibodies in the bloodstream. My daughter Robin started on a gluten free diet after I shared this info with her because she has tested positive for the Hashimoto's antibodies even though her thyroid is not yet damaged to any significant degree. Perhaps going gluten-free will actually prevent damage!

In any case, I hope you find some way to see a doctor....take care,

JoAnn

[Mother of Jibril]

Mother of Jibril- it is important to designate between autoimmune hypothyroidism, and just plain hypothyroidism. She could have the autoimmune kind (like Hashimotos) or she could have the hypothyroidism without autoimmune part.

That's true, but let's consider the reasons that someone would have hypothyroidism that was not autoimmune... treatment for Graves disease that went too far, thyroid cancer, removal of the thyroid, being born without a thyroid, or being exposed to massive amounts of radiation. In any of these cases... I think you'd be aware of the problem! It's the autoimmune version that sneaks up on you.

I didn't mean to be misleading... autoimmune hypothyroidism is the most common type.

mysecretcurse - I'm sorry you're in such tough circumstances right now Having a thyroid that's not working properly can really diminish the quality of your life. Do try to find a free clinic (public health clinic) if you haven't found one already. Also... what state do you live in? Some states (Minnesota, for example) provide free or subsidized health insurance to people living below certain income levels.

[digmom1014]

Don't know if you have a CVS nearby but, ours acts as a nurse practitioner does. They can perscribe meds and do some testing. It might be a cheaper alternative to look into.

[GlutenGuy36]

Does anyone know anything about hypothyroidism going along with gluten intolerance?

Something has happened to me this past month where my thyroid seems to have failed.

I have all the symptoms of hashimoto(sp?) disease. Especially I get horrible chills and basically I have to be sitting in a boiling hot bath otherwise I'm shivering even with 3 sweatshirts on (like Im wearing right now). It feels like there are ice cubes on my skin all the time. Also depression, constant fatigue, joint pain, and I get rashes on my skin. I also get Dh in direct relation to injesting gluten but these rashes are different, they are all over my forehead, little bumps.

The hypothyroid is so terrible that I sometimes feel like just ending my life. I literally shiver until every muscle in my body is tense and sore.

I am taking iodine for my thyroid and have been for about a year now. It helped a lot before. It still seems to help but then I keep getting glutened accidentally (seriously, I cannot seem to STOP being glutened I dont know what to do) and with each time I get glutened, it seems the reaction I have is violently worse than before. I was glutened 2 days ago from Tyson chicken, and I notice it drastically increased my hypothyroid symptoms!

So I'm wondering, because I saw in another thread that there is a connection between celiac and the antibodies destroying the thyroid, if I can remain gluten free will that help heal this other condition? I don't think I was ever hypothyroid before having celiac, if I was it wasn't THIS noticable before. But like I said, before even when I ate gluten I wasn't so hyper sensitive to it. I was sick, always, but now when I have gluten there is this horrible reaction.

I'm just scared and have nowhere to turn. My low thyroid seems to have stopped me from functioning in life. I have no insurance and no money so I cannot see a doctor. I haven't been able to afford a doctor in years. So any tips on helping with my thyroid I'd greatly appreciate. Or any knowledge of how this relates to celiac might help me understand better too.

I'd rather die than live like this.

I'm right there with ya. I also have hypothyroidism. I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism a few months before they diagnosed me with Celiac Disease. I'm sure you will hear alot about " your normal range" that your Tsh should be. I have heard that this is a black and white issue. Not everyones body is the same so you may need to be on the lower end of the scale.

I have tons of body pains, aches etc and it totally sucks everyday. I don't know if its from the Celiac or the thyroid. Thyroid controls metablolism so when it slows down things get messed up. I hope they figure things out for you. I'm still struggling with my thyroid. I had my medicine changed three times. I don't think it was absorbing well at first because of the Celiacs Disease. Take care, Ted.

[Hummingbird4]

From what I understand, it's statistically more likely than average for a person to who has hypothyroidism to also have Celiac disease and vice-versa. I was diagnosed hypothyroid about 11 years ago and have been on Synthroid ever since. It was never officially diagnosed as Hashimoto's, but I don't think it really matters - the treatment (thyroid hormone replacement) is the same. Just for my own knowledge, I had my thyroid antibodies tested a few months ago and they are higher than the normal range. I was diagnosed Celiac 6 months ago. Are they related? Probably.

In any case, as the others said, it's important to not treat yourself for thyroid issues. Find yourself a doctor somehow and get on thyroid medication. I hope it helps you feel better very soon!

[mysecretcurse]

Hi everyone. My thyroid feels fine now. Maybe it wasn't really hypothyroidism but just symptoms of a glutening? I'm not cold anymore. I am still really sick from the gluten though. It's so frustrating. So so frustrating.

I'm in California, there are no free clinics that I know of, ER's would be the worst option because they are thousands of dollars. The reason I'm so against all that is I've been down this road before, me and my ex fiance had no money and no insurance and he had to visit the ER many times, once for a broken hand, once for a busted lip, a bunch of different things happened to him. He ended up over 10 grand in debt and can't even rent apartments and get loans because of it. I also have gone to the ER because of things before, and they didn't even offer me any help, or listen to me when I described my symptoms, as soon as they saw I couldn't pay they pretty much just made sure I was alive and then booted me out.

Maybe it's the area I live in but health care sucks around here. My ex also had to go to a low income clinic before because his back was hurting and the doctor refused to give him treatment when she found out he couldn't pay. We were just sent away. Another time a low income doctor physically abused him, and the only witnesses were me and my ex, and no one believed us! It was such crap. She HIT him, hard in the back when she found out he couldn't pay. It was some middle eastern lady who barely spoke english. We were so upset.

No one gives a sh*t about anything but money. After many many of these incidents I turned away from western medicine and haven't been to a doctor in many years. I simply don't trust them. I'm sure there are great doctors out there too, which sucks, but they are not the ones working at the low income clinics, trust me. These clinics treat people like cattle, barely even speaking to them before sending them on, and they still are too expensive for me to afford.

It's okay though because I am getting better. I am thinking about trying a no grain diet for awhile (not just gluten free but no grains at all). I think the only reason my thyroid shut down was because the glutening was so very severe. Of course it's all just a guessing game but that's how you have to live when there is no one to take care of you but yourself. No one seems to understand that just getting on thyroid medication isn't an option. That costs money! A lot of money I don't have. Since I have none, 2 dollars is a lot. And before you ask no I don't pay for this computer, this internet, this house, I'm bumming off relatives for the holidays. I don't have a house of my own or anything. It's a long long unpleasant story, I won't get into it.