Is Your Hypothyroidism An Immune System Problem?
If you have ever been diagnosed with hypothyroidism, or have some hypothyroid symptoms, it is important to determine if your immune system is involved.
Why you may ask?
There’s a 90% chance that an autoimmune condition called Hashimoto’s caused your low-functioning thyroid. Furthermore, new research has proven that you are at a higher risk of developing some other autoimmune problem on top of Hashimoto’s. Think Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, or other problems. I’m not trying to scare you – but someone needs to sound the alarm. Don’t worry too much: there are ways to avoid these things!
Fortunately, all the things that help prevent your immune system from attacking any other tissues are also things that will help you better manage your hypothyroid condition and feel better overall.
What Is Hashimoto’s And What Do “They” Do About It?
Autoimmunity is when your immune system targets and attacks your own tissue. Hakura Hashimoto first described how this happens to the thyroid in 1912. The result of this attack is low thyroid function and often a diagnosis of simply hypothyroid.
Traditional treatment is to take thyroid medication to increase the low level of thyroid hormones in the blood. Although this approach is often helpful, it is catastrophically incomplete. Even though the immune system clearly caused the problem, it goes unaddressed. Also, research shows that the smoldering fire of immune inflammation often ignites another autoimmune problem in other tissue.
How Do You know If It’s Hashimoto’s?
To discover if your hypothyroid diagnosis was caused by autoimmune Hashimoto’s, certain blood tests must be done. There are two main areas that your immune system will attack: one is an enzyme, and the other is a protein. Thyroid peroxidase (TPO) antibodies will be high if your immune system is attacking the TPO enzyme. Thyroglobulin (TGB) antibodies will be elevated if it’s the TGB protein.
It is important to note that how high out of range the results are does not indicate the severity of the disease. You can simply view it as in range or not. If you have all the symptoms or a hypothyroid diagnosis and your antibodies are normal, then you may want to repeat the test several weeks later. Levels are known to fluctuate. Also, there is the scenario where your immune system is so exhausted it can’t muster an immune response. Therefore, antibody levels may be in the normal range, even though your immune system is indeed targeting your thyroid.
Causes And Solutions
Autoimmune triggers need to be identified and eliminated. Gluten is at the top of the list for Hashimoto’s. Strictly avoid it for three weeks and see if you feel better. Other possibilities are dairy (lactose or casein), and nightshades (potato, tomato, eggplant, paprika, and peppers). Avoiding sugar, refined carbohydrates, and hydrogenated oils goes without saying.
Next, you need to make sure you have enough regulatory T cells to keep your immune system better regulated. Healthy fats from grass-fed beef, “clean” fish, nuts, grass-fed butter, and farm-fresh eggs can all help. Vitamins A and D along with the powerful antioxidant glutathione can also help.
Now, it can get complicated. You really need to find a good functional medicine doctor to navigate this. There’s too much at stake to guess or take tons of supplements. You need to determine if supporting interleukin 10, which dampens a hypervigilant immune system, is beneficial, as well as what supplements would help. A few possibilities are Vitamin A, Skullcap, CoQ10, Garlic, Ginger, Quercetin, or OPC’s.
Next, you may need to rid your body of subclinical infections from fungus, bacteria, viruses, or parasites, then determine if other general immune substances could help. Examples would be Morinda, Astragalus, and Manjistha.
Finally
It is critical to nail down all the other aspects of healthy living. Sleep, exercise, avoid chemicals, avoid toxic relationships, etc. It can get complicated, but knowing the reality of the problem can help you to stay the course and keep making healthy decisions. Honestly, I’ve seen lots of patients that take really good care of an autoimmune disease live better more active lives than someone without it.
If you have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism or have many of the symptoms, call our office or schedule an appointment today!