Author: L S-L (Page 1 of 3)

Reducing antibodies

I believe, many thyroid patients are aware that one can do things to bring thyroid antibodies down. And that high levels of antibodies is not a good thing. You can read my post on antiodies and symptoms here. Many know that gluten is not good for us, and that selenium is good and that what we eat matters. In this post I will share with you, what science has shown really works. 

It’s important to be aware, that  people who have true Hashimotos have higher antibody levels than us with Atrophic Ord’s. Doctors call everything Hashimotos, but there are in reality many different autoimmune thyroiditis. The two most common are Hashimotos and Ord’s. Hashimotos starts with a goiter (one doesn’t need to be aware of it) and Ord’s not. In Hashimotos the gland stays large, only infiltrated by B and T lymphocytes. Whereas in Ord’s, the gland shrivels up over time.

Why do I talk about this? Because  all thyroid antibodies are produced inside the gland. By the said B lymphocytes. So as the gland atrophies in Ord’s, less and less antibodies are produced.  This means, we with Ord’s will have lower antibody levels. Often people don’t know what kind of AITD they have. But if you find it difficult to reduce your antibodies, you might have Hashimotos. Remember, we can only do our best. I have hardly any antibodies anymore, I have very little thyroid tissue left.

is absolutely necessary for hormone production. Both the TPO enzyme and the deiodinase enzymes are selenium enzymes. 

But selenium is also important for the antibody levels. I am not sure where exactely is a good selenium level. There are three Norwegian doctors who argue, that we need much higher selenium levels than what is currently advised (1). Upper reference is often 1.8 or 1.9 umol/L. These doctors argue, that upper reference should be at 3 umol /L. Toxic level is at 3.5 umol/L. I have read somewhere that high levels of Selenium can inhibit the conversion of T4 to T3, but I can’t find that study again. At least, you don’t need to worry about being a little over range. 

A safe dose is 200 mcg/day. As much as 400 mcg is considered safe. Some people eat brazil nuts for selenium. But you should be aware, that the selenium content can vary from very little to very much. I have a study on it under odds-and-ends

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Goitrogenic food

This isn’t meant as an in dept review of goitrogens. It’s just very important for me to clear up some misunderstandings about hypothyroidism and goitronic food.  It seems like very few have realized what I have realized. I see bloggers and doctors and people on Facebook claiming, people suffering from hypothyroidism should avoid goitrogenic food. But that is wrong, people with thyroid disease can absolutely eat goitrogenic food. I will expain why:

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Iodine for pets and children

I see people asking about iodine for their children and animals in iodine groups on FB. And I see a lot of crazy advice. That is why I write this post, I hope I can make people think again. If they already give their children or pets high doses of iodine. Or make them not start if they are thinking about it. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying, children and pets don’t need iodine. Of course they do. I am not saying, don’t supplement iodine either. What I am saying is, don’t give them HIGH doses. 

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Antibodies and symptom load

This is a post on the science on thyroid antibodies and symptoms. It was not until I had been thyroid sick for  7 years, that a doctor mentioned antibodies to me. That my high anti-TPO levels could affect my well being. This was in 2007. That is quite early for a doctor to be aware of this. Most doctors TODAY refuse to believe that antibodies can affect quality of life.  At least here in Denmark. Many doctors won’t even test for antibodies. The Danish endocrinologists  claim, antibodies are only important in terms of diagnosing. And they don’t even know, that some people with autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) don’t have antibodies at all. You can read more about that here.  

I have no doubts, that antibodies affect us. Our immune system is not in balance. It’s my conviction, that a lot of fatigue is caused by imbalances in our immune systems. I also believe, our gut health plays into it, and some people have what’s called a leaky gut. I am not going into that in this post though. 

Everybody with AITD knows, we are not who we were. But it’s difficult to say what’s what. Is it all the years with mistreatment? All the years with too low FT3 even though we were on thyroid medication? Or can the antibodies also contribute to the fatigue we often feel? 

It’s usually after years of being sick that we start understanding our disease. At that point we learn about optimal thyroid levels, which you can read about here,  here.

And we get the right medication that will give us these levels. But we often still feel tired. It could be antibodies, though us with Ord’s atrophic have low antibody levels after our thyroid has shrunk. It is not my impression, we are feeling better than  the people with true Hashimotos, who often have high antibody levels even after years of disease. It could be, it’s our compromised immune system that is the problem. I know for myself, after I started with Low dose naltroxene (LDN) link, the fatigue improved immensely. And what LDN does, is regulate the T regulator cells. Which play a big role in our AITD. 

I will look at the science in this post.  To wake people up to the fact, that it’s important. Here in Denmark, people have enormously high antibody levels. I am talking 20/30 000 IU/L. And they are being told by their doctors, it does not matter. It does matter!

You can show your doctor some of these studies, if he or she doesn’t let you test for antibodies.  

I am very disappointed though, or I would have been were it not for the fact that I have reads heaps of studies on thyroid issues. The participants are very often low on their thyroid levels. And it is the same in most of these studies. So we can’t really say what’s what, hypothyroid or antibodies.

I almost didn’t bother writing this post after I had looked at the science. But even if we understand, the participants are hypo thyroid, your doctor won’t understand it. So to have a case for antibody testing, these studies work fine.

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Iodine for nerds

This is a post with more advanced info on iodine. It’s not the right post for you, if you just need some basic info on supplementing with iodine. I have a post for beginners, that I actually think everybody taking iodine should read, Iodine for beginners.  That is on how to supplement iodine safely, and special precautions in terms of the thyroid and thyroid antibodies.

I have a post on the iodine protocol as well, that is, the protocol for taking high doses of iodine, The iodine protocol

Abstract

This is long post, so I have put in some links. So that you can scroll to what might be of particular interest. This is a post I will probably revise and add to as time goes on. I haven’t included THAT much on iodine and cancer. But some. There are a lot of positive findings on iodine and cancer. But the post would just become too long. There is a lot of info on cancer in some of the studies I link to though. 

The Wolff-Chaikoff effect

Is iodine converted to iodide in the GI tract?

The differences between iodide(I-) and  molecular iodine (I2) in the body

Povidone iodine (and Covid)

Antioxidant effects of iodine

How does iodine enter the cells?

Mammary glands and iodide vs iodine

Iodine and the immune system

Can thyroid hormones be produced outside of the thyroid?

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Antibodies, part 3, TSHR abs, TRAb

Many believe, that TRAb is an antibody only people with Graves have.  Many also call them Graves’ antibodies. And that high levels of TRAb is the same as hyper thyroid.  This is not the case. As there are 3 types of TRAb, stimulating, blocking and cleavage. People with hypo thyroid can also have high levels of TRAb, So this antibody is of interest to all with thyroid disease.

Abstract

There are 3 kinds of TRAb or TSHR abs, stimulating, blocking and cleavage; previously called neutral.

Both hypothyroid and hyper thyroid can have high levels of TRAb.

Some Graves’ patients have both blocking and stimulating TRAb. They will fluctuate between hyper thyroid and hypo thyroid.  

One believed earlier, that the third kind of TRAb one had found, was neutral. But now one has realized, this third TRAb can actually cause cell death in the thyroid. That is, it kills thyrocytes.

People with atophic Ord’s (athropic AITD) have much higher levels of TRAb than people with Hashimotos. We mistakenly call both atropic AITD and  AIDT that starts with a goiter, for Hashimotos. But these are two different diseases. You may not have been aware that you had a goiter, but the gland has been somewhat enlarged in true Hashimotos. And the gland keeps it’s size throughout the disease. But in Ord’s, the gland fades away, atrophies. This might be due in part  to these cleavage TRAb s.

When the gland is gone or mostly gone, there will not be high TRAb levels anymore. As all thyroid antibodies are made in the gland.

There is also a section on iodine supplementation and Graves.

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Antibodies, part 2, Anti-thyroglobulin

Thyroid patients are very focused on anti-TPO, but anti-TG is also important. If we have high levels, it can mean, that there is some damage to our thyroid. And did you know that 10% of Hashimotos patients don’t even have anti-TPO, only anti-TG?

Abstact

Thyroglobulin is a large molecule. It’s involved in the manufacturing and storage of thyroid hormones. It’s supposed to stay primarily INSIDE the thyroid. But it’s normal to have tiny amounts floating around in the circulation. We can get anti bodies to the thyro-globulin when levels become high, anti-TG.  

Thyroglobulin can release into the circulation in various ways: 

When the thyroid is being destroyed.

When the thyroglobulin contains very little iodine.

When they suddenly contain much more iodine (when one has been iodine deficient and suddenly increase iodine intake by a lot). 

And lastly, in thyroid cancer, TG can get released in connection with the synthetization of hormone. 

One did think, that anti-TG was pretty harmless in terms of damage to the thyroid. But this is changing. It looks to be potentially more harmful than anti-TPO.  

It’s important to test  anti-TG when one suspects AITD, because some people have only elevated levels of anti-TG, and not anti-TPO. I don’t think many doctors are aware of that fact. 

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Iodine for beginners

This is a post for you who maybe know, or suspect, you suffer from iodine deficiency. But at the same time, you may be scared of supplementing with iodine. In this post, I won’t be referring to heaps of studies, as I want to keep it easy and assessible.  But everything I write, I have read in books or studies. Except when I write “I believe” or “I think”.

Iodine deficiency

A lot of people suffer from iodine deficiency. And even more so us with thyroid disorders. Iodine deficiency is the number one reason for thyroid disease. I am not saying it’s the only reason. There is an almost phobia of iodine in the world, you can read more about that here

At the same time as we often get too little iodine, we have big issues with other halogens occupying the iodine receptors. Iodine is a halogen, and toxins like fluoride, bromide and chloride can occupy the iodine receptors. This happens less if we have ample iodine in our bodies. 

We get a lot of fluoride in our tooth paste. Bromide from our furniture as flame retardant. In the US, they apparently even add bromide to bread! Which is very difficult to understand. In some countries, chloride is added to drinking water, and of course, it’s in our pools. 

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Antibodies, part 1, Anti-TPO

This is part 1 in a series on anti bodies and auto immune thyreoditis. In this first part I will take a look at anti bodies in general and Anti-TPO in particular. I think you will be a little surprised at some of the findings. It’s maybe a little nerdy for some. But the main points are listed in the summary. 

This is a complex topic, and there is a lot of research going on. I will probably revise these posts as I learn more. 

Abstract

All anti bodies look the same, Y shaped. They differ only on the tips of the Y. That is where they bind onto specific anti genes. People without thyroid disease can also have low levels of anti bodies, particularly Anti-TPO and Anti-TG. But whether they GET a thyroid disease later, we don’t know. A study showed, that many women had anti bodies up to 7 years before they got symptoms (1).

All antibodies are produced within the thyroid itself by B lymphocytes. So if on has little or no thyroid, one does not have high levels of anti bodies.

TPO is an enzyme that takes part in the process where Iodide gets converted into Iodine. Iodine is the form the thyroid uses in it’s hormone production. TPO can get damaged by oxidative stress. Anti-TPO then gets produced against the damaged enzyme. Oxidative stress can  start as a result of Iodine deficiency. The process has started. 

Anti-TPO is not what causes the greatest damage to the thyroid. It’s B and T lymphocytes that do that. Plus a form of the TRAb anti body, the cleavage TRAb. That can cause cell death as well. I will write about that in part 3.

One can have high levels of Anti-TPO without the thyroid decreasing in size. We call everything Hashimotos, but that is not correct. Hashimotos is the AIDT that starts with a goiter. The thyroid gets infiltrated by B and T lymphocytes, and cannot function as it should. But it doesn’t atrophy. Whereas Ord’s does not start with a goiter, and the thyroid atrophies. I will write more about that in a later part in the series.

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Mother Meera

Some people will think, what has this post to do with thyroid issues? It has a lot to do with it. The body is only for a little while, the soul is for ever. And how we feel impacts our bodies in a major way.

Also, AIDT has to do with trauma in many people. I am not saying all. I will get back to this in a future post.

But anyway, I write on my home page, I will share things that have helped or help me. Mother Meera has helped me A LOT. She has helped heal some deep wounds in me. I had a dream many years ago, in the beginning when I first started visiting her in Germany. 

I dreamt I was in an enormous crater that had been dug out. Big enough for a sky scraper. There were these huge construction vehicles. In the middle, in a car on top of a mound sat Mother Meera giving me darshan through the window. That says something about the scope of my process. 

I am writing this now, in February 2021. I am thinking maybe you are a little down, maybe you feel lonely. Maybe you have had a hard time in these Covid times?  I was thinking, maybe you need some comfort. Maybe Mother can help you as she as helped me.

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