Aspergers and Hypothyroidism?

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Yea I wasn't suggesting one or the other causes one or another. I just find it interesting how there seems to be a disproportionate number of AS with hypo/hyper thyroid issues.

My mother has this.

I really, really doubt that hypothyroidism is significantly higher in autism.

I had low thyroid when a child and was on some meds for a short time then, but I only know about it because I saw it in my childhood medical records. I've apparently always had low thyroid, and that may have had something to do with my low energy levels and chronic depression all my life.

The autistic traits can lead to depression by themselves of course. For me the sensory issues are the worst. Everything is too INTENSE all the time! It's easy to feel sad when you hurt all the time just by existing. The social issues suck too. I can't read other people's cues, and they sure don't get me. Rejection, isolation, loneliness...all my life. Then add low thyroid to the mix and BAM super depressed most of the time all my life.

I have been taking thyroid meds regularly for the past four or five years now, and it has made some difference not so much in how I feel (I am still tired and depressed most of the time) but somehow, even though I still feel as tired and as depressed as before somehow I manage to get more done in everyday tasks of routine living. I switched to a name brand thyroid med about a year ago because the generic ones made by different manufacturers can result in differing dosages because of different quality controls, different binding agents, etc. So for consistency I fought and fought with the doctors, the State, and the pharmacy and finally had my prescription changed to specify a name-brand med instead of generic ones.

I also try to take the med at night instead of morning. It is a hassle no matter what time of day because the stomach has to be empty for several hours before and for at least an hour afterwards. But some users report better results when taking it at bedtime. I told a helper about this who also takes these meds, and she says it does make a difference to her. I haven't noticed a difference in my case whether I take it at night or in the morning, but I still try to take it at night anyway.

hope this helps

So, dealing with hypothyroidism helped a bit? Did you have "muscle hypotonia" (slouching, poor muscle tone...)? Weight gain? Pale skin?

From what I gather here, treating hypothyroidism eases the symptoms but does not "cure" them...

Not just hypothyroidism, and not just within the individual, but here are some studies.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/article ... 18/?page=1 (This one didn't look at hypothyroidism, but looks at other autoimmune disorders and gives statistical significance for some of them, including type 1 diabetes (which is one which is more related to hypothyroidism)

http://www.springerlink.com/content/d00uq13668638500/ (Here are some numbers, I'm not sure if this has statistical significance)

http://www.springerlink.com/content/d00uq13668638500/ (This one talks about regression and its correlation to hypothyroidism)

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/c ... 2/687.full (This one is from 1970 and was theorizing that some autistic children are just hypothyroid)

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When I was medicated my weight got under control and it helped my mood stability were the too biggest things I noticed. There were probably other things too, but I need to head out now so can't think and need to just send my reply.

Nope, no relationship. I have nothing like this and most of us don't. Next.

I have hypothyroidism. The treatment hasn't really helped any of my symptoms

False.

Oh, okay, you're talking about autoimmune disease in general, which is more mainstream and well-known than the idea that hypothyroidism specifically is associated with autism.

Hypothyroidism is also an autoimmune disease and is also correlated with autism. Most of the studies I found were small sample sizes, but they exist. How strongly they correlate varies by the autoimmune disease. Not all of them correlate as strongly. In most of these studies, hypothyroidism is one of the strongest correlating ones, followed by type one diabetes, and then the rheumatoid type ones are weaker correlations.

And yes, I stated before, hypothyroidism like other autoimmune disorders, is correlated with autism.

Also, if you look at those studies, the autoimmune disorders in general didn't get a statistically significant result, it was individual ones that did get a statically signification result. The one that was looking for autoimmune diseases in general getting a statistically significant result wasn't looking at thyroid diseases as one they were looking at, but type one diabetes (which is closer related to hypothyroidism), was correlated in both parent at a statistically significant rate.

However, these are just a few studies. There's a lot of them. I've seen other thyroid specific ones in the past I remember. I just didn't find them this time. There are so many to look through that its hard to research unless I bother putting more keywords in.

Recently I realized that I am very positive that I have a hyperthyroid problem.

I have checked the Internet for diets that can help the situation. So far I haven't been able to find anything that can help. The articles contain contradictions. Or they only mention foods not to eat. I'm looking to find a list of foods that will help me feel better.

Can anyone offer any suggestions? I really could use help with this. Almost forgot to mention that most or all of the foods that I eat are on the list of what not to eat. Right now I am very hungry but I can't get myself to eat anything because I am afraid that it will be one of those foods that will fill my belly but will not help the thyroid situation.

There's a proven link between auto-immune hypothyroidism and gluten sensitivity or Coeliac disease. And many people on the spectrum say that they have issues with gluten and swear by the GFCF diet. In fact, the NAS in the UK has a page on the GFCF diet on its website, not making any claims, but saying that it is thought to be of benefit to some people with autism. So, yes, I think there might be a link, in some cases anyway.

I noticed some thyroid issues in myself and started looking things up. Seems hypothyroidism and autism are co-morbid:
"Of the individuals with autism, 35% had another comorbid psychiatric disorder. An overall prevalence rate of 10% for hypothyroidism was also identified" -is a quote from the literature

In wikipedia I found "In large population-based studies in Western countries with sufficient dietary iodine, 0.3–0.4% of the population have overt hypothyroidism. A larger proportion, 4.3–8.5%, have subclinical hypothyroidism"
If that above 10% number is 'overt' hypothyroidism then an autistic population has statistical significant enrichment for hypothyroidism.

That also agrees with some of the posts here - there's a few topics talking about thyroid issues.

I have a savant type ability for a mind-body link. That with some ultrasounds made me realize that shutting down my thyroid reduced my aspergers symptoms. But too much shutting down leads to trouble - skin infections and the like. It seems like it's a way to short circuit signals from the body. Sorry for the speculation, that's all hard to prove, but I needed to at least mention it.

Seems like there is also a depression <-> thyroid link in the literature. Which fits with a disconnection between brain and body.

I was diagnosed with low thyroid about 6 years ago and put on the lowest dose of thyroid supplement (25 mcg). Lately, I have been feeling more and more tired--even without a real external reason (such as days when I'm off from work, for example)--so I think I may need a higher dose. At my last gynecological exam, the doctor noted that she thinks that is likely and wrote out orders to get checked.

Weight gain, hair thinning--stuff like that happening, too. I know I need to get the full round of blood tests, but have literally not had the time to go do that early one morning while fasting (the orders include a cholesterol count, too).

Relation to AS? I suppose it's possible. I'm self-diagnosed, so bringing that up to any doctor is probably useless (most whom I've mentioned it to don't believe me ).

I've read a bit about Hashimoto's--do thyroid supplements help that too, or is it more serious than just "low thyroid"? (I've started wondering if that might be my problem now.... )

In my city, many people has hypothyroidism (beacause of the water), and the prevalence of ASD seems to be 1-2 per 2000