I have raised Thyroid Antibodies - What Now?

What are Thyroid Antibodies?

If you've recently had a comprehensive blood panel done, it might have included Thyroid peroxidase antibodies and Thyroglobulin antibodies - which are two auto antibodies for the thyroid. We shorten them to TPO and Tg.

If one or the other of these markers/analytes are raised - what does it mean? Well essentially it means that there is an autoimmune process happening in your body, that your body is developing antibodies against it's own thyroid tissue, and there is the potential for those antibodies to cause damage to the tissue and to the organ itself.

The out of range markers don't tell us whether damage has yet occured, and if so how much damage, and they don't tell us how long they've been there - unless you have regular blood panels and can measure.

Am I alone?

You're definitely not alone. Autoimmunity is the primary cause of underactive or low thyroid function and its prevalence is growing year on year. Women are far more susceptible than men, and women are the most susceptible at times of great hormonal fluctuation e.g. puberty, pregnancy, child birth, peri menopause and menopause. So this is very common. But common does not mean normal. And common does also not been that you can't do anything about it.

My antibody level is over 2000!

In addition, the extent to which the markers are out of range, don't indicate the level of potential damage. For example, if the top of the range is 115, and 1 patient's markers are 350 and another's are 650, it's not true that the person with the higher number of antibodies has a "worse" situation. And if you're reading this with markers higher than that, please don't worry, I've had clients with markers at 3000+.

It all depends on the activity of the immune system. I like to think of the antibodies as those office post-it / sticky notes. As if they've been stuck all over the thyroid gland, in order to tell the immune system that something's not right and to engage certain immune cells into action. However, the speed, severity and efficiency of that immune cell action varies person to person and in different situations and over time.

What should I check next?

Well, first thing is to check your other thyroid markers. Your TSH, T4 and T3 - do they all look in range? If not, then it's possible that you would benefit from some thyroid support as well as immune support. If yes, then it's possible that you would need to focus primarily on immune support.

You see, thyroid antibodies can be raised for up to 10 years before enough damage has been done to the thyroid gland, to make its production of hormones be less and for markers to look out of range. With raised antibodies you can have symptoms however. So you could be suffering from low thyroid symptoms for example, going to see your Doctor, only testing TSH or T4 or both if you're lucky, being told that you're in range and fine and being sent away. All the while, there is an autoimmune process going on, you have symptons, and if antibodies were tested, you'd be able to see that and support your body appropriately.

What are symptoms I might be feeling?

The most common Low Thyroid Symptoms are:

• Constipation

• Fatigue all day

• Unrefreshing sleep / hard to get out of bed

• Feeling cold especially hands and feet

• Putting on weight or very hard to lose weight

• Low blood pressure

• Losing outer third of eyebrows

• Low mood / depression

• Mentally sluggish

• Headaches in the morning

• Dry hair, skin and nails

So what is Immune Support? How can I help myself?

We need to reduce inflammation. Autoimmune diseases create inflammation and thrive on inflammation. So following an anti inflammatory diet full of whole foods, reducing processed foods and sugar and alcohol and eating the rainbow is all important. Turmeric, herbs and spices and oily fish are great food based anti inflamatory agents.

We need to manage stress. Stress triggers a cascade of inflammatory chemical messengers and processes in the body. Doing regular and daily: yoga, mediation, stretching, journaling, time in nature, grounding, singing, exercise, visualisation, breathwork - is all great for reducing stress and building your resilience to stress. We can't avoid it, so it's about teaching the mind and body how to react "less".

Reducing toxins. This is a big one and there's a separate blog post on it. We live in a toxic world and the thyroid is very vulnerable and the most common autoimmune disease and growing annually. So re-evaluating the products you use for cleaning in the home, your self care products. Re-evaluating your diet (aiming for whole foods over chemical-laden processed foods) and your water (perhaps time to get a filter?). And even considering toxic relationships: is there anyone who is bringing you down, stealing your power, angering you, undermining you? Reducing toxins as much as possible would be very positive.

Uncover infections - some cases of autoimmune thyroid disease can be caused by pathogens. We can test for this in clinic and embark on protocols to remove any unwanted guests, modulate your immune system and alleviate your symptoms.

Next Steps?

I would love to support you in clinic. To interpret your blood markers for you, evaluate your symptoms, explain what's going on and offer remedies. I have well managed Hashimoto's myself and have many years experience with thyroid clients and lots of great feedback. Please book a 1:1 today for a personalised protocol.