Hashimotos And Gluten Free Diet

[Jayde]

Hi there,

I have been diagnosed with Hashimotos for 2 years now. Have stummbled accross research lately that links gluten intolorence with Hashimotos. With this evidence I am considering adopting a gluten free diet.

I am currious to hear from anyone who has Hashimotos and if going gluten free has improved symptoms? If so, how long did it take you to notice a difference? Can you eat gluten occasionally without symptoms returning, or will I have to stick to a strick gluten-free diet??

[pricklypear1971]

Yes.

1 week.

I can't, but then again I apparently have DH and Celiac.

[rosetapper23]

I actually developed Hashimoto's three years after going gluten-free (because I found out I had celiac). Are you asking about Hashimoto's symptoms going away? Or celiac symptoms going away?

I continue to follow a very strict gluten-free diet....but my Hashimoto's will probably never go away.

[Roda]

Diagnosed with hashi's in 2000 and celiac in 2008. In hindsite I do believe I had subtle celiac symptoms as early as 1996. My bad symptoms of celiac started in 2006. As for the hashi's It was evident on ultrasound in 1997(unofficial scan..was a guinea pig for our dept. I did get blood work after and was "normal")so at that time I was still euthroid. The hashi's wasn't discovered until I was about 3-4 months pregnant with my oldest son. I had already been on thryorid meds three months prior to getting pregnant with him due to abnormal labs and two miscarriages. Gluten free hasn't done anything for my hashi's. The damage is already done. My antibodies have been normal for years though. I was able to decrease my dose of T4 about 6 months after going gluten free. I was absorbing it better, not healing my thyroid. I have been stable on the same dose since. I'm now starting to have symptoms again and my doc and I are trying to get my dosage right. It is recommended for anyone with autoimmune thyroid issues to be screened for celiac. You might want to consider testing before going gluten free. As far as eating gluten occasionally, NEVER. I react horribly to accidents so I would never eat it on purpose.

[CandCrew]

I'm gluten-free for a second time (and intending to stay that way) & can say that right now the main benefit I've seen is being able to lose weight. I had my meds adjusted in August and will be going this week to have a redraw to see if my levels are okay on the new dose. I started gluten-free again around the same time I had my meds adjusted. Back in March, 2009 I went gluten-free when I found something on the internet that suggested the same thing you found--a possible link between gluten intolerance and Hashi's. For the first 6 weeks I was miserable, like I was having withdrawl symptoms (shakes, sweats, irritability, insomnia, etc.) but it got better and I felt better. Of course, around the time I felt better I was also walking 5 miles a day 4-5 days a week so I thought that how I felt was more related to the walking. I managed to lose almost 40 lbs from March-August 2009 and attributed it to the walking. At the end of August2009, I gave up the gluten-free diet as I felt that it really wasn't necessary. Around that same time I wasn't able to walk as much. When I started gaining weight and just feeling *blah* I attributed that to not being able to walk as much, not stopping being gluten-free. I've only been gluten-free again for 2 months and I generally feel better + I've lost 15 lbs and not really made any significant change in my lifestyle other than going gluten-free.

I can't have ANY gluten or I feel terrible--bloating, diarrhea, headaches, irritability, etc. + I wake with night sweats, racing heart & have insomnia when I consume gluten. (I thought this was due to my age and "the change" starting but I haven't had this issue in 2 mos except when I have accidentally/unknowingly eaten gluten.)

BTW--What lead me to start again was a consult with the wellness director of my insurance program. He pointed me in the direction of more info on the link between gluten intolerance and Hashi's. When I asked if I need to have periodic monitoring of my TG and TPO antibodies to see if they're going down, he told me no. Even if they do go down, the damage is done to my thyroid and I may very well have to be on meds for the rest of my life. (I was dx'd with Hashi's in May, 2003.) I'll have to continue the bloodwork to monitor thyroid function. The goal of the gluten-free diet is to prevent further damage to the gland, and it may never function fully/correctly again, but being gluten-free won't necessarily "fix" my Hashi's as my gland has been attacked off & on for the last 8+ years.

[Jaimiejo]

I'm gluten-free for a second time (and intending to stay that way) & can say that right now the main benefit I've seen is being able to lose weight. I had my meds adjusted in August and will be going this week to have a redraw to see if my levels are okay on the new dose. I started gluten-free again around the same time I had my meds adjusted. Back in March, 2009 I went gluten-free when I found something on the internet that suggested the same thing you found--a possible link between gluten intolerance and Hashi's. For the first 6 weeks I was miserable, like I was having withdrawl symptoms (shakes, sweats, irritability, insomnia, etc.) but it got better and I felt better. Of course, around the time I felt better I was also walking 5 miles a day 4-5 days a week so I thought that how I felt was more related to the walking. I managed to lose almost 40 lbs from March-August 2009 and attributed it to the walking. At the end of August2009, I gave up the gluten-free diet as I felt that it really wasn't necessary. Around that same time I wasn't able to walk as much. When I started gaining weight and just feeling *blah* I attributed that to not being able to walk as much, not stopping being gluten-free. I've only been gluten-free again for 2 months and I generally feel better + I've lost 15 lbs and not really made any significant change in my lifestyle other than going gluten-free.

I can't have ANY gluten or I feel terrible--bloating, diarrhea, headaches, irritability, etc. + I wake with night sweats, racing heart & have insomnia when I consume gluten. (I thought this was due to my age and "the change" starting but I haven't had this issue in 2 mos except when I have accidentally/unknowingly eaten gluten.)

BTW--What lead me to start again was a consult with the wellness director of my insurance program. He pointed me in the direction of more info on the link between gluten intolerance and Hashi's. When I asked if I need to have periodic monitoring of my TG and TPO antibodies to see if they're going down, he told me no. Even if they do go down, the damage is done to my thyroid and I may very well have to be on meds for the rest of my life. (I was dx'd with Hashi's in May, 2003.) I'll have to continue the bloodwork to monitor thyroid function. The goal of the gluten-free diet is to prevent further damage to the gland, and it may never function fully/correctly again, but being gluten-free won't necessarily "fix" my Hashi's as my gland has been attacked off & on for the last 8+ years.

I'm 22 and I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism about a year and a half ago after 4-6 years of feeling terrible and being misdiagnosed with everything imaginable. Then a few months ago I convinced my dr. to finally do more in depth tests and was diagnosed with Hashi. Even on my thyroid meds I still have thyroid symptoms (well the general ones that could apply to a lot of things). I can sometimes sleep for days at a time and I feel very tired and achy. I get nervous really easily for no reason and have heart palpitations a lot (I know these are usually hyper symptoms). I recently found information about the connection between Hashi and gluten. My dr. tested me for gluten intolerance and the tests came back okay but he said it couldn't hurt to try a gluten-free diet anyway and see if it helps. I've been on the diet for a week now and I feel a little better but I'm not sure if it's the gluten-free diet or recovering from my last attack of symptoms. I'm finding it hard tell because I don't have any of the digestive symptoms like a lot of people mention. Did you show gluten symptoms before starting the diet? How long did it take before you actually began to notice the benefits? Any advice on dealing with the Hashi/Gluten-free combo? I'm really hoping this helps... I'm at the point that I'll do just about anything to feel better.

[burdee]

I'm 22 and I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism about a year and a half ago after 4-6 years of feeling terrible and being misdiagnosed with everything imaginable. Then a few months ago I convinced my dr. to finally do more in depth tests and was diagnosed with Hashi. Even on my thyroid meds I still have thyroid symptoms (well the general ones that could apply to a lot of things). I can sometimes sleep for days at a time and I feel very tired and achy. I get nervous really easily for no reason and have heart palpitations a lot (I know these are usually hyper symptoms). I recently found information about the connection between Hashi and gluten. My dr. tested me for gluten intolerance and the tests came back okay but he said it couldn't hurt to try a gluten-free diet anyway and see if it helps. I've been on the diet for a week now and I feel a little better but I'm not sure if it's the gluten-free diet or recovering from my last attack of symptoms. I'm finding it hard tell because I don't have any of the digestive symptoms like a lot of people mention. Did you show gluten symptoms before starting the diet? How long did it take before you actually began to notice the benefits? Any advice on dealing with the Hashi/Gluten-free combo? I'm really hoping this helps... I'm at the point that I'll do just about anything to feel better.

If you're taking thyroid supplements and still have hypo symptoms (fatigue, etc.), you may not be getting the right amount or kind of supplement. Some people (like me) have difficulty converting T4 (the hormone which carries T3) to T3 (the hormone which affects your metabolism). So if you're taking a T4 only supplement, you may need a T3/T4 supplement treatment. Has your doc tested your thyroid indices (TSH, free t3, free t4, etc.) since you've been on your thyroid supplement? If not, request more tests.

What you consider "heart palpitations" (or feeling your heart beat) are common for hypothyroid patients who begin taking thyroid supplements which are strong enough to affect metabolism. With low thyroid levels, you probably never felt your heart beat unless you were scared, very anxious or running for a bus. Normal people feel their heart beat more easily after exercise. That normally continues for a few minutes. Also newly diagnosed (and treated) hypothyroid patients often feel their heart beat more strongly at night, because they're laying and not distracted by other sensations. Unless you had heart problems before you started treatment or your heart is racing (exceeding your normal heart beat rate), which is true tachycardia, you probably are adjusting to having normal heart beat sensations. For more info, see Open Original Shared Link

[pricklypear1971]

Lots of Hashis and gluten symptoms overlap.

At first t3/4 helped alleviate 75% of my problems...but at year 4 or so I started getting them back, plus some new ones.

When I went gluten-free they started disappearing within a week. I had heart palpitations which started about the same time my other symptoms came back. When I added vitamin d and iron supplaments (which I was deficient on from blood tests) the palps stopped completely (going gluten-free stopped about 75% of them).

[Princessica]

I was diagnosed with IBS in the early 90's as a teen. After having my 2nd child my Nurse Practitioner noticed my enlarged Thyroid. Diagnosed with Hypothyroidism and put on Synthroid at 0.50 mcg. During 4th pregnancy they ramped up my Synthroid to 0.75 mcg. After my 4th child is born they keep me at 0.75 mcg. My levels are testing close enough to normal then and now. I still had extreme fatigue, an in ability to lose weight and joint pain through out. After my last thyroid US in July of 2010 my crack pot of an Endocrinologist happens to mention that I have Hashimoto's and to keep my Dec appt. as he attempts to hang up as he was on speaker phone. I stop him by saying,"I have WHAT?!" and "Wait, what is it and will it go away?" . Obviously, it doesn't go away, he told me I could Google it and I found a new Endocrinologist. So, when I googled it I found the possible Gluten link and gave up gluten. That was Sept 2010. Six weeks later I had a bad day and went gluten crazy, I ate pizza, cereal, bagels, you name it. If it had wheat flour I was eating it. For a whole day in a half. I was stopped abruptly by pain in my stomach from bloat and the WORST hangover I ever had in my life feeling. Haven't touched the stuff since. Unless it's by accident. In which case I can tell immediately. I get worst bloat and pain in my stomach and abdomen within 10-30 min. I will never be diagnosed with Celiacs because I am not willing to do a challenge. I do not have 3 months of my life to feel miserable. I am a very happy Hashimoto's girl without Gluten.