I didn’t have my first child until I was 43 and my second child when I was 44. Up to this time, I had no symptoms of hypothyroidism.

Soon after having my second child, I experienced the menopause. I then started to feel low in mood and increasingly tired. Initially, I thought, ‘pull yourself together,’ and that it was just having young children and a  fairly busy life in other ways. I also tried hormone replacement therapy, but it didn’t help.

The tiredness, coupled with memory loss, just got worse. I was calling people I knew by wrong names and I had  also put on weight. It got so bad that I started to wonder if I had early Alzheimer’s. I then developed a virus and  wouldn’t even go downstairs to make my then six-year-old daughter a sandwich. Thankfully, she made it herself!

I wasn’t one for going to see the doctor, as I didn’t want to be a nuisance. But this time I did. They immediately  did a blood test which confirmed my diagnosis of hypothyroidism.

It took a few months getting the dosage right, but ever since, I have been so thankful for those little levothyroxine pills, which gave me my life back. Some years later, I also developed digestive problems. I initially put it down to diverticulitis/IBS and stress as I had been diagnosed with diverticular disease*. Work was also very busy. When I had a very upset tummy and lost 7lb in weight in a week, I went to the doctor and was put on various medications to help with these symptoms.

Eventually after many years, and lots more upset stomachs, once after eating fish and chips, I went to see another doctor.

His unhelpful comment was ‘no more fish and chips.’ Finally with the aid of food diaries, I found I was gluten, wheat and lactose intolerant. I came off all the tablets I had been on which contained lactose and my symptoms improved dramatically.

Another helpful doctor sent me for a blood test and to see a gastroenterologist, I knew I should eat some gluten, so did for a day or two before, but nobody mentioned I had to eat it for six weeks. I had been off gluten, wheat  and lactose for months. So the blood test showed some change but not enough to convince the gastroenterologist that it was coeliac disease. I am becoming more convinced that it is and would love to know definitely.

I understand there can be a link between hypothyroidism and coeliac, as both are autoimmune diseases.  however, I don’t want to risk being so ill again from reintroducing gluten to my diet so I can get tested for coeliac disease.

*Diverticular disease and diverticulitis affect the large intestine (bowel), causing tummy (abdominal) pain and other symptoms.

Medical advisor comment

Thank you for sharing your story, Ann.

It is not unusual for hypothyroidism to be confused with the menopause as the age of onset and symptoms can  be broadly similar. In most cases, simple blood tests should be able to differentiate between the two, as it  happened in your case.

It is known that someone with an autoimmune thyroid condition has a slightly higher chance of developing  another thyroid condition. It is thought that around 5% of people with coeliac disease also have an underactive thyroid.

For this reason, the NICE guideline for coeliac disease recommends that anyone with an autoimmune thyroid condition is also offered testing for coeliac disease at the time of diagnosis. We understand that it can be uncomfortable to reintroduce gluten once you have excluded it. The recommendation is to eat some gluten  in more than one meal every day for at least six weeks before testing. This will ensure you get the most accurate test results and will benefit your long-term health.

While lactose intolerance is not an autoimmune disease, it can be associated with undiagnosed coeliac disease and is usually temporary. Most people with coeliac disease do not have a problem with lactose intolerance once  they have been following a gluten-free diet.

Most standard levothyroxine tablets contain lactose. There are lactose-free formulas available for people with
lactose intolerance. Your GP or pharmacist can help you further with this. Most people with hypothyroidism, however, do not need to exclude gluten or lactose from their diets unless they have been diagnosed with coeliac disease or lactose intolerance respectively.

Further information

Coeliac UK provides evidence-based information about coeliac disease testing and lactose intolerance associated with this condition.