Gluten Free for Hypo Management?
sraffel
Posts: 66 Member
A lot of the various thyroid nutrition books suggest going gluten free as a way to alleviate some thyroid disease symptoms, since gluten intolerance can also trigger an autoimmune response. I know it's a kind of trendy "diet" now, but I'm not interested in it as a way to lose weight. I'm wondering if any of you have had any success controlling hypo symptoms through limiting gluten in your diet. If so, what symptoms did it seem to help? Did you cut out all gluten for good, cut it out temporarily to give your digestion a break, or do you restrict it only to certain meals/days?
(possible TMI below if you don't want to read about menstruation
Most of my symptoms are getting better with medication, and I don't have any specific digestive problems, so I don't necessarily think I have a severe intolerance or anything like that, but I haven't been menstruating regularly (2x in the last 12 months, and very brief periods--like 2 days as opposed to my usual 4). Neither my OBGYN nor endo are convinced this is linked to the thyroid and they have both suggested I just "keep an eye on it" since I do cycle on my own, just not regularly, but it bugs me (and I will bring it up again at my next appt). Some of my own reading has indicated it can be a symptom, and a few sources have suggested that limiting gluten can help.
(possible TMI below if you don't want to read about menstruation
Most of my symptoms are getting better with medication, and I don't have any specific digestive problems, so I don't necessarily think I have a severe intolerance or anything like that, but I haven't been menstruating regularly (2x in the last 12 months, and very brief periods--like 2 days as opposed to my usual 4). Neither my OBGYN nor endo are convinced this is linked to the thyroid and they have both suggested I just "keep an eye on it" since I do cycle on my own, just not regularly, but it bugs me (and I will bring it up again at my next appt). Some of my own reading has indicated it can be a symptom, and a few sources have suggested that limiting gluten can help.
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I've read and heard about that too. My husband has digestive issues and was told he would probably have to start a gluten free diet. I was planning to do it with him since I'm hypo, just to see if it helps the symptoms really. My levels are near normal, but the symptoms are all still there. I'm not quite sure why it works out that way, but at this point, after years of fighting with this disorder, I'd try just about anything.0
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Let me know how it goes! I hope it works out for your husband. I'd love to have someone to try it with, but my fiance would not be down with going gluten free.0
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When I told my doc about irregular cycles, he suggested that I get checked for PCOS. Since I don't want to have kids, but I also don't want to be on birth control pills, I told him that most of the treatments for PCOS were not going to apply to me, and I didn't really care. Of course, now I find out that it has a lot to do with other metabolic hormones, like insulin, so maybe I should have looked into it a little further.
I don't know much about the benefits of GF diets for thyroid patients other than the fact that my aunt tried it for about a year and it didn't do anything for her. I don't care to try it because I get most of my fiber from whole grains.0 -
A lot of the various thyroid nutrition books suggest going gluten free as a way to alleviate some thyroid disease symptoms, since gluten intolerance can also trigger an autoimmune response. I know it's a kind of trendy "diet" now, but I'm not interested in it as a way to lose weight. I'm wondering if any of you have had any success controlling hypo symptoms through limiting gluten in your diet. If so, what symptoms did it seem to help? Did you cut out all gluten for good, cut it out temporarily to give your digestion a break, or do you restrict it only to certain meals/days?
Have you been diagnosed with Hashi's? (tested positive for anti-TPO antibodies). That's generally where going gluten free helps with hypo.
Hashi's antibodies attack your thyroid and cause you to go hypo. Gluten can often cause a chain of events that lead to increased antibodies. Many, many people with Hashi's find symptom relief quite quickly after cutting out gluten.
I don't have a thyroid, so it wouldn't help in my case - just in people with Hashi's. You can also look at cutting back on any soy products, and reducing or eliminating raw goitegrogenic foods (broccoli, cauliflower, etc).Most of my symptoms are getting better with medication, and I don't have any specific digestive problems, so I don't necessarily think I have a severe intolerance or anything like that, but I haven't been menstruating regularly (2x in the last 12 months, and very brief periods--like 2 days as opposed to my usual 4). Neither my OBGYN nor endo are convinced this is linked to the thyroid and they have both suggested I just "keep an eye on it" since I do cycle on my own, just not regularly, but it bugs me (and I will bring it up again at my next appt). Some of my own reading has indicated it can be a symptom, and a few sources have suggested that limiting gluten can help.
Your OB and endo are quite wrong. Many women find their cycles very sensitive to thyroid hormone changes - I am most definitely one of them.
Hypo is generally associated with longer, heavier cycles but it can manifest differently in different people.
Does your endo test your free T3 and free T4, or just your TSH? TSH isn't a thyroid hormone, it's a pituitary one, and doesn't tell the full story - especially for someone already on thyroid meds.
Are you on thyroid meds? Which kind and how much?0 -
I don't know much about the benefits of GF diets for thyroid patients other than the fact that my aunt tried it for about a year and it didn't do anything for her. I don't care to try it because I get most of my fiber from whole grains.
If your aunt is hypo but not positive for Hashimoto's (autoimmune form of hypo) then it wouldn't help her at all.0 -
Your OB and endo are quite wrong. Many women find their cycles very sensitive to thyroid hormone changes - I am most definitely one of them.
Hypo is generally associated with longer, heavier cycles but it can manifest differently in different people.
I was going to comment the same. When I had my thyroid removed I had one heavy cycle after another for close to 6 months till my thyroid levels straightened out. My endo said he didn't think it had anything to do with it but my OBGYN said it had everything to do with it. Now that my levels are evened out (and are at a slightly hypo level) I have light and infrequent cycles.0 -
Have you been diagnosed with Hashi's? (tested positive for anti-TPO antibodies). That's generally where going gluten free helps with hypo.
Hashi's antibodies attack your thyroid and cause you to go hypo. Gluten can often cause a chain of events that lead to increased antibodies. Many, many people with Hashi's find symptom relief quite quickly after cutting out gluten.
I don't have a thyroid, so it wouldn't help in my case - just in people with Hashi's. You can also look at cutting back on any soy products, and reducing or eliminating raw goitegrogenic foods (broccoli, cauliflower, etc).
Your OB and endo are quite wrong. Many women find their cycles very sensitive to thyroid hormone changes - I am most definitely one of them.
Hypo is generally associated with longer, heavier cycles but it can manifest differently in different people.
Does your endo test your free T3 and free T4, or just your TSH? TSH isn't a thyroid hormone, it's a pituitary one, and doesn't tell the full story - especially for someone already on thyroid meds.
Are you on thyroid meds? Which kind and how much?
Thanks for all the replies! Sorry in advance for the wall of text below.
islandmonkey, to answer your questions...
Yes--I've been diagnosed with Hashi's. I'm on 75 mcg levothyroxin since December. When I was in my teens, I was on 50 mcg synthroid, then I seemed to even out, but I think that was just a bad diagnosis.
My cycles started going wonky last year, in conjunction with a move overseas to complete my Master's. So, I originally thought (as did my OB) that it was just a case of lifestyle change/increased stress. When I finished the degree, moved back, and it didn't go back to normal, he did tests. I'm not sure what the OB tested for, but he suggested I go on synthroid. Wanting another opinion, I went to see my mother's endo in December, he did his own tests (I should have asked exactly which tests, but didn't know any better, thinking when someone tests for thyroid function, they test the thyroid hormones...) and put me on 50 mcg to start based on the OB's charts, then bumped it up to 75 when his own results came back a few days later. He had me go get my TSH tested in January (the lab test was "reflex TSH"), and he told me those levels are now normal. After doing a bunch of research, I see that I should also be having T3/T4 tested. I have to see him again in a few weeks, so I've been researching as much as I can and making a list of things to ask re: tests, desiccated meds, diet. I also know, from my OB's tests, that my testosterone levels were high.
fiberartist21, PCOS has never come up. Thanks to my own history and family history of thyroid issues, everyone seems to be keen on addressing that and seeing if it helps... looking at the symptoms, I don't have acne or extra body hair, but I do have very thin hair on top and increased moodiness, especially around the days that I'm supposed to get my period.
I had no idea about the raw veggies/soy thing until I started researching this more, which alarmed me because I eat a LOT of veggies and I love salads, so a great deal of them are raw. I'm working on making more cooked salads. Then I read about gluten also being a possible issue for Hashi's patients. I don't eat a ton of gluten, and lots of gluten free grains are already in my diet, so I thought maybe this would be a relatively easy thing to cut back on initially. There's just so much information, and I want to try to change small things in a way that's manageable, so I can gauge what works and what doesn't.0
