“What can cause thyroiditis?”

It can be viral, bacterial, autoimmune, or idiopathic. Check with your endocrine to get it diagnosed.

Ali A. Achira, MD

I presume by thyroiditis you mean Hashimoto's thyroiditis that is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system goes off the tracks and attacks your normal tissue. You can blame this on your parents, especially your mother, since it is an inherited defect of the immune system & is much more common in women than in men. The immune system is there to kill viruses, bacteria, etc. but sometimes goes off & destroys normal tissue. Thyroiditis has a similar to many other auto-immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, Bright's disease, certain intestinal diseases, etc. There is no cure (the body cannot make replacement tissue for that which is destroyed except in the liver) so we have to replace the hormone with a pill. This is no big deal as it is one pill a day. I've had this for 27 yrs. & take my pill each day & get the value checked 2x/yr. to see if I need to adjust the dose. It's simple & easy to treat, unlike some other autoimmune diseases such as diabetes, rheumatoid, lupus, etc. But Don't miss your pill.

Several causes are there, we will need to know more of your story to help determine the reason behind the thyroiditis.
Some develop when thyroiditis after pregnancy, trauma, or, infection. Autoimmune thyroiditis (like Hashimoto's) are also relatively common.

Thyroiditis can be caused by a virus, but the etiology is sometimes not identifiable.

There are different kind of thyroiditis. Hashimoto thyroiditis / transient thyroiditis / thyrotoxicosis. You will need to be evaluated to determine the etiology and to plan management