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 .

Sorry, I've been trying for 11 months, 9 cycles.

mini - sorry yes, it was 10 cycles, more like 9 months.

I think the reason it worked so quickly for me was that my TSH levels were very quickly restored to their norm. If I'd had to come down from 10 (!) to under two, I presume that would have taken longer.

My T3/T4 levels were also supposedly "normal".

How are you feeling since you started taking the levothyroxine?

My endocrinologist said it might take 6-9 months to feel better, but actually I started to feel noticeably better 1-2 weeks after starting medication.

I guess my case is simple, because I don't have thyroid disease, just less gland. 50mcg seems to have adequately replaced what I lost through surgery. My levels have been pretty stable through pregnancy, despite no increase in dosage at all.

I really hope things work for you :)

nappy - I had a benign tumour (follicular adenoma) on one side, so had to have it removed.

Actually the levothyroxine has worked very quickly for me. I had another blood test after a few weeks on it and my TSH was 2.75 - much better than 10! Still got the pre menstrual spotting and BFN that month though. I've been taking it for another month or so since then, so hopefully it is now under 2. let's see what happens!

I haven't noticed a huge difference in how I feel, but tbh I'm not very good at noticing that kind of change!

thanks for your wishes and best of luck with the rest of your pg

Wow, that's an amazing change in a short time!

I was also taking very high dose vitamin B complex (B100) to try to help with progesterone levels.

I was on B50 the cycle before I conceived, and it really helped with the spotting.

Fingers crossed for you :)

I kept thinking "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results" :o

It's hard to keep your composure.

Yup, my family has a history of hyperthyroid so the worry now is I'll go too far the other way

That's interesting about B vits. I'm on a conception supplement, will see what that's got in it.

You are so right about the definition of insanity! Made me laugh out loud (in the office...)

thanks nappy. Hope your tsh comes down quickly, maybe it's just a temporary reaction from your body to having the operation.

apologies as i haven't read all the thread but i have an underactive thyroid - diagnosed at 24 following a miscarriage. When talking to my specialist he was strongly of the opinion you must get your levels right before ttc as an untreated underactive thyroid is linked with much higher miscarriage rates. My thyroid was diagnosed within weeks of m/c and the consultant believes high TSH caused it.

Low thyroid levels are also linked with development issues in newborns (hence the extra blood tests taken during pregnancy) - most gps would say you should get thyroid sorted well before pregnancy as levels change again during pregnancy.

It may have been mentioned but something to think about?

On a positive note - once my thyroid was sorted i got pregnant much quicker!

Hello everyone! Nappy found me hanging about on the health board & sent me this way. Thanks. :)
I have just been diagnosed as hypo TSH 8.5, T4 12.3. Had a baby nearly a year ago, following 5 MC. Apart from all the other questions about being HT, I am now concerned it will have affected my baby. What are the common defects?

Hello everyone! Nappy found me hanging about on the health board & sent me this way. Thanks. :)
I have just been diagnosed as hypo TSH 8.5, T4 12.3. Had a baby nearly a year ago, following 5 MC. Apart from all the other questions about being HT, I am now concerned it will have affected my baby. What are the common defects?

Thanks nappy, made me feel much better already. Hello to everyone else, sorry for the jump in feet first! Was having a little panic!
I'll now take time to read the thread & get up to speed!

Hi Positive :)

I'm sure you would know by now if your baby had been affected by your hypothyroidism. It may have only started post-partum - pregnancy puts a lot of pressure on the thyroid gland. A lot of women (myself included) only had problems after a pregnancy.

nappy
"A thing I have just had a benign tumour removed as well (mine from my parathyroid - apparently absolutely nothing to do with the thyroid.) They didn't touch my thyroid but my tsh has gone right back up since the op having been stable since November. I was told the op can affect your metabolism, so presumably this is why my tsh is up."

Hopefully your TSH will come back down on its own.

How are you feeling, though?

If you are symptomatic, with such a high TSH, it's not really good enough to refuse to treat you with speculation about the effect of the op.

They tried that with me post-op too (although there was obviously damage to the thyroid gland) - kept saying I was tired because of the operation, ignoring the fact that I should be getting less, not more, tired if it were just related to my natural recovery.

I'm so sorry you had a MC you think was caused by your TSH being too high :(

The way women with hypothyroid problems are dismissed and ignored when they seek treatment really makes me cross

Hi all, so glad I found this thread!

I've been going nuts about what to do after reading all the recommendations on the bta and btf and also the clinical guidance.

I am 35, had underactive thyroid since 21 (ironically the pill) and its been.variously well and not well managed. I've grown to spot my main symptoms of malaise, constipation, brain fog and eventually extreme anxiety and depression and now hammer the docs door down if I feel I need to! The symptoms are really horrid and others don't get your daily fight to operate and coordinate in life.

I'm quite small but lost a little more weight due to a prewedding health kick last year which then became too much thyroxine, so went quite skinny, and needed to drop down from 125/150 alternate days, to 125. At this time my tsh wask 0.13 and t4 just over the top range (22?), tsh was 0.57 at Xmas and then 1.57 nearly 3 weeks ago when I demanded a check prior to a concerted effort ttc! (still no t4 though) Whilst I know this is the better end of the scale for early Preg I have still been concerned about whether to raise a bit immediately when pregnant (i have put on a little more weight during the winter but had continued my exercise stuff as it hugely helped with work stress - chronic anxiety which can trigger depression, and general energy levels were better). basically, I'm aware that small changes may affect me more than people who are larger for better or worse (my mother has also been told this)

I was very surprised to get a faint line last Sunday at 11dpo and on weds a digital test said 4-5 wks, so I was surprised the urine test at docs was inconclusive. I test again on Monday and then I should be referred to the consultant but in my poas / thyroidpuzzle induced madness decided to start taking an extra 25. Even the radio 4 prog inside health recently had a consultant who said to raise by 20 to 50 % (not mg, percent!)

I feel incredibly bad and confused about taking the extra 25mg on top of my 125 (only last
E days) and wonder whether to stop the extra or not. My hubby thinks, based on our reading I must!

Sorry long post, and I haven't read the whole thread yet apologies! Any one any thoughts?

I teach sen kids so I know this is fueling my fuss!

Xxxxxxx

Hiya, just been on another thread about our fave subject and have just been told that if I have milk on my cereal the levothyroxine won't work as well, do we know if this is correct? Bit worried now, always take mine in the morning with breakfast. Please help oh wise MNrs of the thyroid thread!

I didn't know that! I have been doing this years, should I stick or try taking it with no dairy?

My thyroid has been gradually getting worse over the last 5 years or so, I have gone from taking 50mg to 175, so not a stable condition, and I have only seen an endo when pg!

Yeah I was thinking that it is about time I did see one, I thought I would wait until my next blood test (about 4 weeks) has been done then ask for the referral as I don't get the impression my GP will support me in trying to get the TSH down to 1 (well between 1/2) Still can't believe it, I was always a little smug about my drug routine, every morning (almost) without fail, have my levo, pentasa (also have crohns) and my folic acid (ever the optimist), and now after all this time....well.... I will sort this out!!

ok so as of today I will try taking levothyroxine at night, DH said he will remind me, lets see what difference it makes. was slightly confused on the endo sites I looked at, people were reporting instant improvements, how could this be when it takes so long for these drugs to get in to the system? anyone have experience of this?