Thyroid and Pregnancy

[dm86]

Hi all

I'm currently 7 weeks pg with my 3rd little monkey!

I was diagnosed with hashimoto's after my 2nd was born and am under active all the time now. I believe I developed it after my 1st as I went on to have 6 miscarriages and all the symptoms. Currently on 250mg of thyroxine.

Has anyone who's been pregnant with a thyroid problem any insight as too how it'll be handled as the pregnancy (hopefully!) progresses?

I'm feeling like crap right now more so than with my other children. I'm so emotional,feel angry and really depressed again and I feel really tired again! I feel like I did before I was on medication :-(

Just any tips or advice would be great thank you

[Christelle2207]

Hi. Im underactive and was throughout my pregnancy. Be sure to mention it to the mw- you are likely to be assigned a consultant and have to go to the hospital once or twice. Your thyroxin dose should probably go up as a precaution and you should also get your bloods checked every month or so. I had an easy ride though, tsh was high when i got pg but thyroxin was doubled and by 20 weeks or so was well within normal levels. In fact having seen the consultant for the second time at about 24 weeks I was "discharged" to midwife-led which meant I could labour in the MLU rather than the delivery suite. Other than a couple of extra appointments and lots of blood tests (mostly instigated by me) it didn't really affect my pregnancy at all and DS was perfect. Assuming you already have the right thyroxin dose you needn't worry. What could be dangerous is not being diagnosed and not taking the meds.

[Lucy955]

I'm having a load of problems stabilizing my thyroid hormones at the moment (see earlier posts). My only advice is get your blood checked as often as possible / as soon as you feel weird / tired. I am now being tested weekly as my TSH has been all over the shop. I understand your needs increase as the preg goes on so expect your dose to go up. I was profoundly hypothyroid for the whole of my first trimester, but for a number of reasons didn't find out till 13 week. I was completely terrified by the scary things I was told this could mean. Luckily things seem to be better now so lets hope no damage has been done but i wish I have chased up my blood earlier and insisted on more tests I wouldn't have these worries. Oh and they don't do t4 tests during pregnancy because pregnancy effects this anyway.

[livingzuid]

I have hypothyroidism and I saw an endocrinologist throughout pregnancy who monitored my thyroid levels every 4 weeks. You'll probably be referred to a consultant too. It's just lots of blood tests and tweaking your medication to suit your levels. Your dose normally goes up but depends on bloods. Your GP should give you the initial check but you should be referred on.

I was on 137.5 for the whole of my pregnancy. Gave birth to a 3.6kg whopper with a big head!

[Lucy955]

First trimester is the most important one as by 12 weeks baby can make there own t4 so if worried ft checked ASAP.

[Pobblewhohasnotoes]

I'm hypo and 32 weeks now. I'm under the endocrine team and get bloods done regularly. I'm under consultant care and currently have to give birth on the delivery suite rather than the MLU. I was diagnosed after having DS. You should have your meds increased and regular bloods. They like your TSH to be low, less than 2 generally.

[MrsMac1397]

Hi, I've been underactive since birth and have been stable my entire adult life.

When I found out I was pregnant I asked the GP to do a blood test to check my levels and it all came back fine. Then at my booking appointment (approx week 11) they checked them again and they now seem to be low. I have an appointment with the consultant tomorrow (two weeks from getting the blood test taken) with another appointment booked in for when i'm 16 weeks pregnant.

When I met the midwife I was told that I would have my bloods take every few months, at least every trimester, to make sure my levels are ok and would also get an extra scan or two to check the baby's growth. She said if my levels are fine then there shouldn't be anything to worry about.