Importance Thyroid antibodies can be used for diagnostic purposes and monitored to track remission. As I mentioned, thyroid antibodies indicate an active destruction going on against your thyroid. This destruction often comes with a lot of symptoms that may cause, or be misdiagnosed as depression, panic attacks, anxiety, miscarriage/infertility, carpal tunnel, hair loss, weight gain, fatigue/laziness, and, of course, the most disempowering diagnosis of them all… hypochondria. Hypochondria is a diagnosis I take great offense to because it ignores the patient’s intuition that there is something wrong. It often leads to shame, disempowerment, helplessness, and the destruction of trust we have in our own mind and body connection, as well as in the healthcare model and of ever getting well. The good news is that in many cases, when you have elevated antibodies and a normal TSH, you can not only reverse all of your symptoms, but you can also prevent damage to your thyroid gland using a root cause approach. I found out I had thyroid antibodies in the 2000 IU/mL range, one year before doing a thyroid function retest, when my thyroid function deteriorated to the point where my doctor thought I would benefit from medications. Unfortunately, the doctor that initially ran the antibody test told me not to worry about them, and that there was nothing I could do anyway. I am often saddened that I trusted another person with my health and didn’t do additional research on my own. I was also highly symptomatic at that time, likely due to the elevated TPO antibodies. I had new onset panic attacks, social anxiety, hair loss, digestive issues, and fatigue — common early symptoms of elevated thyroid antibodies.