How to prove if you are autoimmune?

[drob31]

I always test negative for thyroid antibodies, yet one doctor suggests i'm seronegative for Hashimoto's, meaning I have it, but I test negative for the antibodies. This could be because I produce IgA antibodies and the tests only cover IgE and IgG.

Is anyone familar with the Cyrex autoimmune panel? Also, are there any other ways to verify autoimmune, such as tissue biopsy?

 

[ahmo]

I've listened to many speakers in the recent summit webinars. Cyrex labs is mentioned over and over. Do you really want a tissue biopsy?? I don't think I've ever heard any reference to biopsy to prove autoimmunity.

 

[drob31]

I've listened to many speakers in the recent summit webinars. Cyrex labs is mentioned over and over. Do you really want a tissue biopsy?? I don't think I've ever heard any reference to biopsy to prove autoimmunity.

Can you tell me at which webinars you've heard this? The test is around 500$ from what I've heard. I'm thinking of getting it done.

 

[ahmo]

None of the summits I've linked below is active anymore. You can see that Cyrex is listed as a sponsor in the first two. A number of speakers refer to Cyrex. Of them, some have been involved in establishing the Cyrex lab, I believe. I'd have to review all the notes I made from the talks to be any more specific. There are a number of Cyrex panels for different things. I haven't paid any money for lab testing to this point.

One of the things that has attracted me to a current offer in the context of gut health is gutthrive, also linked below. I posted a thread about this vid. The claim is that they've devoloped assessment tools that are as good as lab tests for evaluating your status. Does this test specifically for autoimmune? I don't know, it might say in the vid. Then the money you're paying out goes to being in a supervised program, with additional $ for supps. I'm considering it, but am mostly drawn to their use of enzymes to clean spleen, pancreas, other organs.

The explanatory vid is: (I haven't been able to get this to link w/o embedding. sorry,)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=MrI1pXkAm90
http://gutthrive.com/

http://autoimmunesummit.com/; http://thethyroidsummit.com/day-1/ http://hashimotosinstitute.com/

 

[Jonathan Edwards]

I always test negative for thyroid antibodies, yet one doctor suggests i'm seronegative for Hashimoto's, meaning I have it, but I test negative for the antibodies. This could be because I produce IgA antibodies and the tests only cover IgE and IgG.

Is anyone familar with the Cyrex autoimmune panel? Also, are there any other ways to verify autoimmune, such as tissue biopsy?

I think it is possible to make a reasonably reliable diagnosis of Hashimoto's disease on the basis of a raised TSH level and an ultrasound of the thyroid showing enlargement with an appropriate tissue structure (i.e. not just a huge cyst but evidence of diffuse thyroiditis). I suspect a lot of physicians would make the diagnosis without bothering with antibodies. The exact pattern of antibodies varies in thyroid disease so it is reasonable to think that there will be some cases 'seronegative' on a standard test.

I would be doubtful about the value of looking for other tests. Thyroid antibodies show up in something like 20% of healthy people on any given test panel. Different panels will all give slightly different results so if you shop around you are quite likely to find a positive test even if you do not have Hashimoto's. My guess is that labs that advertise to the public for these sorts of tests make their money out of positive tests so you are even more likely to find somebody who will give you a positive result.

I guess that maybe the bottom line is that the antibody test result does not generally affect how a physician treats a thyroid problem so is it helpful to know? Since we know that people without disease can have antibodies and people with autoimmune disease may show no antibodies it does not really even clinch that question.