Hashimotos -genetic link

[itwasthegintalking]

Tonight, I've gone down a bit of a rabbit hole research wise and was wondering if I should get my daughter tested for Hashimotos. I suspect my GP will be resistant or not interested in my thought process.

May be clutching at straws but trying to understand and rule out reversible causes of OCD and what I've managed to find tonight has interested me. Some research articles have highlighted suspected links between hashi and OCD.

My 16 year old Daughter has recently been diagnosed with OCD.

I was diagnosed with Hashimotos a few years ago after years of symptoms and since I have been on levothyroxine my experience of anxiety has reduced plus other physical symptoms.

My understanding is there is an increased risk that my children are at risk of having this autoimmune condition as a consequence of me having it.

Wondering if anyone has any experience or helpful thoughts.

As I said, I'm likely clutching at straws but feel I need to be proactive in helping my child (going going down the route of ER CBT).

Thanks in advance

No one in my family has hypothyroidism, that I know of. I did a genetics test and had inherited it from one side, was amazed. Shows that it’s a predisposition but not inevitable. Great you’re keeping a watch on it, keeping a check on TPO and Tg antibodies may be worth it. NHS only test for TPO ab. I didn’t use to be this anxious about everything before diagnosis.

If you want a new rabit hole to explore try the new and eye opening feild of nutritional psychiatry. A good place to start is Georgi Ede.
Short version, modern diet leads to mental health issues. Low carb can help with mental health and autoimmune.

Yes autoimmune diseases do tend to run in families. They do in mine. It could be that your daughter will be more likely to develop an autoimmune dissease than if there was nothing like that in the family, but it's very early days as she's young and it's certainly not inevitable.

I do think testing for thyroid labs is a good idea so you have a record of a baseline to look back on in the future. NHS is likely to do only TSH which isn't very helpful, if she is able to do a home prick finger blood test you can get a whole panel of results. I use Medichecks but there are other companies.

Remember that diet is so important, even with genes for autoimmunity they may never activate. I was diagnosed with Hashi's at 60, I felt dreadful with the fatigue and had a lot of anxiety and some behaviour when I look back on it is perplexing to me now.

Thank you for your responses. Going to watch that YouTube video now.

I think it must be. My paternal grandmother, Dad, me and two sisters all have it.

What is the association with mental health issues?

Thyroid disease can definitely give anxiety, depression and other mental health issues. My mother had Graves' and she was a mess, paranoid, anxious about every little thing. Eventually she developed dementia because it went untreated for so long. I have Hashi's and just prior to diagnosis I was definitely not 'right' mentally.

The thyroid affects all parts of your body if it goes out of whack. In olden days before treatment was available people with thyroid disease ended up in asylums with 'myxedema madness'. I think a lot of people have no idea just how serious thyroid disease is.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9938951/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC419396/

I have found diagnosis and treatment is very hit and miss, mainly miss. If you haven’t already seen this petition, an endocrinologist is trying to improve things-

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/642233

Interesting links, I just wish the NHS would acknowledge the role FT3 plays as the active hormone. Living with low FT3 can be debilitating yet it’s completely unnecessary in most cases as it can be supplemented for.

My DD has Hashimotos. I believe there's also quite a strong co morbidity of Autism (off the top of my head I think about 40% of people with Hashimotos are also Autistic) DD was diagnosed with Hashimotos at the age of 11 this January and Autism this May (just gone) To be honest, it's a nightmare trying to pick apart wether her tiredness is to do with her Thyroid or from masking her Autism at school (it's most likely 50 / 50)

To make matters further complicated, she was diagnosed with Pernicious Anaemia 3 months ago. The cumulative affect of three or four conditions (she also has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) all causing fatigue is horrendous. Of course, this then impacts any anxiety related issues... it's a bloody merry go round!!

Thanks for starting this thread, OP. Going to have a read of some of the links.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35443249/

Here's another interesting article that gives pause for thought.

I know that age old thing of if you look hard enough, you will find something to confirm your suspicions or align to your suspicions but I genuinely feel there is something in this.

Digging deeper into my family medical history, my father has most definitely displays OCD traits, not diagnosed as he doesn't believe in helping himself or more importantly, doesn't want to help himself but he has autoimmune thyroiditis and B-12 deficiency.

Thanks for the other articles. X