How often does your doctor check your antibodies?

[Mo]

My doctor tends to check my antibodies once a year but he is real good about letting me test them if I desire to. I have found them out of control within the last 2 years but I am gaining some wisdom by checking them more frequently. Most doctors don't think you should be checking them often since there's "nothing you can do about them". I can't believe that to be true. They just haven't figured out what to do about it so there is no reason to test for them. I think that's the real reason.

What do you think? Edith. I know you probably have thoughts on this.

Anyone else?

Mo

[minnie]

I have been reading that Selenium can help reduce antibody count in alot of people. I have been taking 100mg/ day. Has anyone else tried this and found it effective???

[grnmtnmama]

Minnie~ I have read that selenium only helps reduce Tpo (thyropyroxidase) antibodies. Is that the one that is elevated for you? Any success?

How about you, Mo? Which of the antibodies is high for you?

The Tg (thyroglobulin) antibodies is the high one for me. I did take selenium and iodine (pill forms, then switched to brazil nuts and kelp) for the first 8 mos or so after my Dx. Can't say for sure what worked. I did seem to get better but I was taking and doing a lot of different things at the time.  

~Janet~

[Mo]

Hi Janet,

The only antibody test I've had in years is the TPO which was skyrocketed up to over 3,000 last year! I am not very knowledgeable about which antibodies are which... I just know they have been very high.

When you say "high"... what is the number for you on the Tg antibodies? Did you antibody count go down after the selenium and iodine supplementing?

Sorry it took so long to respond. I have to travel for the day after two weeks to pick up groceries (I live in the mountains near Yosemite) so I was gone all day yesterday doing that wonderful chore!

Thank you for the input. All these "pieces" help put the puzzle together!

Mo

[grnmtnmama]

Hey Mo~

My anti-TPO antibodies have always been normal. I have been tested only twice. In May of 2006 my anti-TG antibodies were 122 (normal <40). At that time my TSH was 2.87 (normal <2.5).

I felt my best, physically, in the summer of 2007 and did not test at this time--I wish I did as I am very curious as to what the numbers would have been (this was after the selenium/iodine/T3 supplementation).

My recent test, Feb. 2008, showed an increase in anti-TGab of 173 and TSH 4.83. I know all lab testing and ranges are different so I guess it would be hard to compare ours unless we used the same lab (mine was through GDX/Genova). My Free T4 and Free T3 also went up. Can't remember what those two mean, though.

I hope I can just test the anti-TGab at some point and not all the rest, as the test is expensive. All of my testing comes out-of-MY-pocket...aaarrrggghh.

~Janet~