TTC or Pregnant with an under-active Thyroid.

[hippychick66]

Hi,

We were talking about this a lot on the charting thread and thought it would be good to start a separate thread.

There's about 3 of us at the moment but please do join us too if you are TTC with this added probem.

My results were 9.07 and then a few weeks later 5.5. I'm due another blood test in 5 weeks and hopefully my GP should be starting me on Thyroxin soon.

Quite worried cos the NHS guidelines say your numbers should be a lot lower when pregnant. still i haven't got that BFP yet so I guess I'll worry then.

ladygonegaga and Bessie26 - hurry up and join me here .

oooh - we're on "most active"! someone help me tidy up the place quick!

super it was sore indeed, I got bruises!

Symptoms wise it's tiredness, hair loss, cold extremities, dry skin, anxiety and panic attacks. Whilst some are bound to be related to my recent pg loss, they all also check out as underactive thyroid symptoms. Also loads of family history of this: my dad and my grandparents on both sides.

It's frustrating isn't it how the guidelines vary. My area says TSH 0.5-5.5 is normal, but the NHS guidelines (the ones Bessie linked to) say up to 4.5, and 2 if TTC/pg.

i would be really interested to know how high TSH can go - does anyone know?

I mean if TSH could go upto 1000, then it's prob not worth us worrying so much about whether we are 4.5 or 5.5! But if TSH can only go up to 30, then it is IYSWIM?

spilt - I had to wait 3 months for another set of tests before they would give me any meds - I think they just want to make really really sure of how bad you are before they give you anything - which is fair enough really as you will be taking them for the rest of your life!

You also mentioned family history, which is something I keep meaning to look into - is it very common for it to be inherited? I was wondering the other day if I should get DD tested...

As it is often caused by an autoimmune disorder anything else autoimmune can be related - Type 1 Diabetes, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Spondylitis, Lupus, Pernicious Anaemia and loads of other stuff.

My sister and brother both have it. But not my Mum although she has Lupus and my Nan had RA.

thanks Super and Bessie! I went to my GP armed with a print-out of the NHS guidance - she was surprised to read it amd very apologetic. She increased my thyroxine from 150 to 175 (I have a feeling it will need to go up even more) and did a blood test as well! Feel so much better now ive been!

Well done narco
I shall be playing exactly that game on the 17th

Go for it Spilt - good luck! Its a bit rubbish that we have to fight for basic care and advice, but hey ho!

Narco - good for you! Glad you got your dose increased.

Bessie - congrats on reaching half way!

symptoms - I also have very thin eyebrows. Another of my major warning signs that my dosage needs reviewing is constipation.

Hello everyone else :)

I have my next blood test on Wednesday...
I'm in 2ww now so fingers crossed for a BFP. I'm not overly hopeful though as we only managed ne well-timed GOF due to DH working.

Hello all.
Has anybody heard of thyroxine causing a false negative HPT result?

I think ordinary anaemia is not auto-immune Sunny. Pernicious Anaemia (what my sis has) is where your body attacks the cells in your gut that allow you to absorb vitB12. She has to have monthly injections for life.

Pregnancy going well so far I hope. Sore boobs, grown a cup size, bit nauseous sometimes, very tired - having really early nights. Lines on pee stcicks getting darker. So far, so good. Booked an early private scan at 8 weeks for reassurance but not til 20th December...

"I mean if TSH could go upto 1000, then it's prob not worth us worrying so much about whether we are 4.5 or 5.5! But if TSH can only go up to 30, then it is IYSWIM?"

It's not actually as simple as that. TSH is only an indicator, it signals for the thyroid to produce thyroid hormone. So the TSH level doesn't accurately indicate how hypothyroid someone is.

e.g. someone could have a TSH of 6 and a free T4 of 8 (where normal is 9-14) and someone else could have a TSH of 50 and a free T4 of 8.9 and the person with a lower T4 rate is likely to feel worse.

How is everyone today?

I'm snowed in without a car as I had to abandon my journey home from work last night and stop at my parents'. DH has a 4x4 so cam and rescued us! Fortunately Wednesday is my day of with DS but not sure what I'll be doing tomorrow!

It's also meant I couldn't get to my blood test so I've rebooked for next Wednesday!

Regarding TSH levels, it is definitely the case that a "normal" TSH is quite individual to each person. My T4 is normally borderline low but my TSH is often high so my consultant said that my body obviously requires more T4 than most as my TSH is always pushing for more production.

tinky - I've not come across a false negative due to thyroxine. False negatives do occasionally happen but could be a variety of reasons.

Lady - Hopefully you'll have a lovely Christmas present then with your scan on 20th!

Sorry you got trapped by snow essence

I have just had a weird experience. The nurse phoned to tell me my blood test results. Now 8 weeks ago I had a TSH of 6.7 (the day I delivered my DD at 20 weeks).

The results today show that now:
TSH: 2.3
Free T4: 16.1 (range 10-24.5)
Free T3: 5.1 (range 3.9-6.7)

No treatment in between. How strange. Obviously this is good, but makes me wonder what the dickens was going on when I was pregnant!

At least she says she recommends getting these bit tested frequently in a future pg to keep an eye on it all.

Anyone had anything like this?

Hello all. Sorry I've not checked in on everyone for ages .

Big hugs to the preggo ladies. lady sunny bessie and any preggos I've forgotten.

Quick question - how soon should i feel better when taking thyroxine? I've been on it a month and I'm still feeling very tired and very sick in the mornings (no I'm not preggers). The doctor said to get my levels checked every 4 months unless I get a BFP and she gave me a few print outs fo the hospital blood department. I'm seriously thinking about using one of the print outs earlier than 4 months cos I'm convinced my levels are still too high for TTC. My Gp is lovely and probably wont tell me off for wasting NHS time if I do get my levels checked sooner - what do you think - do it??

Special hug for split. Strange that your levels have gone back to normal but good that you have a heads up for next pregnancy. I think of you often, my sweet.

To the person who asked about a false positive on a HPT - I was told by a consultant when i got my BFP last december that it was very rare to get a false positive - I wouldn't have thought thyroxine could do it. Worth asking a GP I think. Could it be a true positive???

tyler I agree entirely about the need to have both TSH & T4 readings. You can't get the full picture without them both

tinky - I've not come across a false negative due to thyroxine either - why do you ask?

spilt pg puts a strain on your body in many ways, the higher TSH when you were pg shows that your body was having to work harder to produce thyroxin (how annoying is it that they didn't test your T4 then too!), but at least it wasn't ridiculously high & it's a good figure now.

How often are they going to test you?
And what does T3 tell you? (I know nothing about that!)

lady oooh - that scan sounds like a fab xmas pressie! Hope the MS is reassuring, but not too awful? I still get really bad nausea if I don't have a second breakfast around 9am! (a cereal bar usually does the trick) - I seem to remember I was the same all the way through my pg with DD.

super - sorry to hear you are being to sick (but well done for only doing it at night!) - make sure you stay nicely hydrated!

SES - have you managed to get your car back OK? We've had snow here, but nothing too bad really. It usually takes me 10-15mins to drive to work, but after sitting in a queue of traffic for an hour this morning I turned the car round & went back home!

huge post!

hi hippy! - I was told I should feel better within a couple of weeks, but actually felt a bit better (no longer needing an afternoon nap) within a few days.

I would defn get your bloods re-done - if your GP is nice, then you could always ask their approval first .

I seem to remember your previous results were quite varied? so I would think they should be checking them more frequently than 4 months anyway - what do the NHS guidelines say?
Before I was pg I was told I would have to get mine done every 3 months until my levels stabilized.

Hi bessie good to hear from you. What I might do is wait and see if I'm preggers this month (ov'ing about NOW). And obviously if I am I'll get the levels checked. If I'm not preggers i might get them checked when on AF and just tell the doctor that i was worried the dose wasn't high enough. yes, well remembered my levels were very varied before.

love to all.
XXX

sounds like a good plan hippy - I'd get an appointment booked now as you're going to need it either way!

Luckily for you Sod's law is on your side & you are bound to find out the week before Xmas that you can't drink any festive sherry/gin/port/wine! hahahaha FX

I posted this as a separate thread but have been advised to join you on this one - hello !

I was just wondering if anyone takes a T3/T4 combination of thyroid hormones for hypothyroidism and if so, have they been advised to carry on as is, or change to just T4 in pregnancy ? I am receiving conflicting advice and would appreciate any advice from others who have been in this position, thank you v much

bessie I got a BFP on 18th december last year and had a very sobber xmas. If I'd have had a crystal ball and known what i know now I'd probably not have bothered . Still onward and upward.

It's very de-ja-vue - last year I got preggers on the week-end of my works xmas do. This week-end is now the works do again (last night) and I am ov'ing again. How weird if I got preggers on the exact same week-end again Due date would be 2 days different to the one I lost. All very strange.