Not just women either. After going through a profound burnout in 2019 which caused me to develop chronic digestive issues, I worry that I injured my thyroid be

Not just women either. After going through a profound burnout in 2019 which caused me to develop chronic digestive issues, I worry that I injured my thyroid because I've had chills since even before having COVID. The proteins in gluten are similar to ones in the thyroid, so when the body becomes sensitized to something like wheat, it can also start attacking the thyroid (see autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto's). The problem is that flareups can by cyclical and not get detected by thyroid tests for years, until the damage is permanent. Also I've been researching how gluten sensitivity can destroy the lining of the small intestine in Crohn's disease. That damage can cause permanent loss of ability to absorb nutrients. It's unclear if the rise of the severe non-Crohn's gluten sensitivity we're seeing causes similar but smaller injuries, lumped into pseudo-science terms like leaky gut. The western high-sugar diet is highly inflammatory, disrupting the endocrine system and eventually leading to metabolic syndrome, neuropathy, possibly even multiple sclerosis (MS). The epidemiological studies aren't there to show that definitively, but I feel that's due to factory farm industry/pharmaceutical lobby suppression of government funding for those studies. I believe my issues started due to self-medicating my stress and depression with a finger of rye whiskey or cheap beer way too many nights of the week, chronic dehydration from working out, and not knowing how hard casein protein supplements and whole wheat/barley/rye are on the gut. Switching to half a glass of red wine with dinner each night, eating rice/corn instead of wheat, and avoiding all FODMAPs/milk/tree nuts for a year drastically improved my health to the point where I'm back at my old strength in the gym and consider my issues to be in remission as long as I avoid certain triggers. Anyway, I wasn't sure where to chime in on this, because the corruption of our food supply and rise of severe mental health issues are all connected. When I burned out, I lost the ability to take care of myself for about 6 months as bills started piling up. Burnout from anxiety can be devastating to neurodivergent thinkers like me who already struggle with ADHD and/or autistic symptoms. I didn't truly begin my healing journey until the pandemic. So simple tasks like getting insurance, going to the doctor or seeking counseling feel can feel insurmountable. I'm still trying to get ahead of the curve enough to take more tests and get some definitive answers. But I'm grateful beyond words to have gotten this far and be able to write this now. If anyone has experienced anything similar to what I'm saying, do you remember what year your symptoms started, or when your friends and family started reporting them? Edit: deleted my rant about globalization's affect on our food supply/climate/health.