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 .

Thanks for answering. I have felt very tired over the last few years and have aches and pains when I wake up and I seem to have a lot of hair fall out so it did make me wonder. I also don't feel as mentally 'sharp' as before and I also suffer from anxiety sometimes and feel down but I think that is more to do with the secondary infertility. A lot of my symptoms I can explain away with either running round after a toddler or feeling down about not being able to conceive.

14 sounds low to me. It is certainly in the lower end of the range. Now if you weren't experiencing any symptoms I'd say that doesn't matter but you clearly ARE. One way to find out if the tiredness etc are due to thyroid or some other cause would be for the doctor to try you on thyroxine - if your symptoms decrease, then that would rather suggest that was the cause!
It's hard to go back to doctors again but I know if those were my levels (and symptoms) I would be asking for an increase in my current thyroxine dose.

I got my levels tested yesterday so I'll be very interested to see if they've gone backwards a bit, as am certainly feeling more tired etc!

hi points - ditto everything ladyggg said. If you are worried it might still be an issue, then why not ask your GP if your tests can be repeated? I Had "borderline" results first time round (TSH 6.61 & T4 11.5) and had to wait 3 months before I could get mine re-tested.

FYI the "normal" (not TTC) ranges are TSH 0.25-5.0, & free T4 9-23

Opinions seem to vary about what your levels should be when TTC or pg, but the NHS guidance says TSH should be between 0.4-2 when TTC. The consultant I saw last week told me that (now I am pg) I should aim to get mine around 2-3, but as long as it was under 5 it was nothing to worry about.

tinky I realised I have only been on the pills for just over a week (not 2 as I said earlier) - I've got the week off work and seem to have lost all track of time I also really hope to loose some weight, but unfortunately I am having pg cravings for bread & butter (not my usual diet at all) so I am not holding out much hope in the short-term!

to everyone else

thanks for your help, i will try and see if the gp will give me anything as i do have symptoms. In the meantime i got some kelp and tyrosine supplements from the health shop to see if they will help. i'm so desperate for some kind of diagnosis at the moment.

hi supersunny I'm almost 11wks! Hope the SWI goes well for you this cycle!

I have an appointment with my GP on monday to discuss my dosage (just started on 25mcg about 10 days ago).

Do any of you ladies who have been through pg while medicated remember what your levels were or what your GPs did to your dosage? I read somewhere that baby is reliant on your thyroxin until it reaches 12 weeks, so presumably my TSH should go down around then?

Hi all. I'm back from IOW. I am amazed to announce that we managed to do 'it' 4 times in the caravan and 3 of those were consecutive days (life in the old dog yet )

I feel confident that we covered all the important days and would soooo love a little isle of wight baby (please please begging face icon).

I'm due to get another blood test done in 3 weeks and really hope my GP starts me on the tabs - I slept so much on holiday and wasn't sure if it was the sea air or the thyroid??

Congrats to mummysleep. Also, great to see that bessie is nearly 11 weeks.

Big hello to lady - hope you're feeling ok - my 7 year old started talking about the baby we lost in feb tonight. He got very upset and said he would be more upset if I had 2 MC's in a row (thank god he doesn't know about the second early loss!)

I really want to get this thyroid sorted out - just incase all that caravan shagging has worked.

Someone asked how we all found out about our thyroids. Mine was - I had weird pin prick pains in my legs and felt sick in the mornings after my last MC and the doc did a few general blood tests.

Really pleased to see the thread so busy. Hope you all missed me

Hi Hippy. Not too bad, was a bit upset yesterday as was meant to be my booking in appt with midwife. But got some SWIing over the weekend - not sure what cycle is up to really, waiting for egg laying at mo - no idea when to exect it after mc. My little boy oly 2 and i hadn'r even told him i was pg direct but he knows that the baby died and he was very upset as well. Hopefully we will both get our babies soon, Hippy!

Bessie can't remember what levels were like when I was pg but before pregnancy I was on 50mcg and after had gone up to 125mcg over course of the pregnancy - even though the baby will start making it's own eventually your metabolism will be so much higher because you are pregnant you will generally need more Thyroxine in any case. They also put me on consultant led care because of it - have they done that with you?

lady it's early days - give yourself time to grieve. You lost out on a dream and that is a hard loss to cope with. You will get another chance though, I'm sure.

I still get upset about my losses and feel bitter and cheated at times.

Take care, honey. xx

Have a question well questions. With your hypothyroid how long did it take (TTC) til you were pregnant? Did you know where your TSH was and does it really mess with ovulation?

Colleen, my Hypo was under control. First pregnancy was accidental, not trying (but got my gorgeous DS, although lost his Father . Second pregnancy was second month of serious trying, but mc'ed that one. so Hypo doesn't nec. effect ovulation per se. I'm 32 by the way for context. Just started trying again for third, hopefully a sticky one.

Hey all - just popping in to say hi and also LadyG hope you are ok - can imagine it must feel awful having to re-live the loss all the time.

Hello's to everyone else who is new!

Colleen are you temping to determine whether you are ovulating? I have been TTC for nearly a year now and found out in June I was hypo - so just trying out different doses until we get it right. I was however still ovulating - but noticed that my temp was quite low (which is picking up now).

Bessie hope the pregnancy is going well -bet you can't wait for the scan?!

Well done hippy for caravan shagging! Pleased you had a nice time in IOW.

I am just waiting for my test to get back to see whether my TSH has dropped - fingers crossed, should find out in a couple of days otherwise it will be an increase in dose again!

hi hippy am VERY impressed with your caravan exploits! fingers crossed it did the trick! and of course we missed you!

ladyggg reminders pop up everywhere . I think sadness & grieving are all part of the process & are good as long as they don't become all-consuming IYKWIM.

Is so sad to hear both your DSs talk about your MCs . Am so glad DD (just under 2) has no idea about ours.

colleen I can't really give you an easy answer about how long TTC took as I don't know when my thyroid started playing up! DD arrived 6.5wks early in 2008 - could I have had it then? We started TTC summer 2009 & I have been pg 3 times since then. I have ovulated every "normal" cycle (excluding the 2 post MC ones & when I had a virus), so it didn't seem to affect me in that way - do you think it is affecting your ovulation? (do you chart?)

lanky yes, am looking fwd to the 12wk scan next week, although I suspect that will change to nerves and possibly terror the closer it gets! Hope your TSH settles down quickly, I have heard it can sometimes take a long time to get the dosage right?

Saw my GP this morning, we've decided to re-test when I am 13wks (5wks after I started meds) and go from there. I am expecting to need my meds increasing though as I am only on 25mcg atm.

Hello. Going to my GP on Wed to get latest blood tests back for thyroid, but also to ask if there is anything, anything she is able to do for me regarding miscarriage testing.
Feel stupidly nervous about it all, just think she will send me away (have had 2 "only", but am 40) and that will be my big hope down the drain

iggi have you had blood tests around CD3 & 21? that's what I got done after my 2nd MC (how I found out about my thyroid) I played the "I'm getting old & can't afford to wait-and-see" card and it seemed to do the trick! If your GP refuses, go see a different one next week!

Hi iggi I just wanted to say that I too have had 2 MC's this year. I am older than you (44). My GP was pretty convinced that the reason for both MC was just a problem with that particular embryo - due to my eggs being so old.

In my book by Lesley Regan about MC she says that 80% of MC's in the over 40 age group are down to chromosone abnormalities.

I'm on a really good thread for over 40's trying to conceive and unfortunately there are a few of us who are experiencing MC's who didn't have problems when younger.

I'm not saying don't ask your GP what tests can be done and of course your situation may be wholly different to mine. I'm just saying that your GP might just put the MC's down to your age.

Do you have children already? I think because I had 2 successful pregnancies when younger and the only thing that has changed from then is the age of my eggs I am happy to accept that as the reason for my MC's.

Good luck at the GP.

Do come and join us on the over 40 thread (you'd be one of the youngest ) There are many happy endings for women in their 40's - honest.

Hello, thank you both for replies :)
I had a 21 day test but not a 3 day one - I'll ask why. It was "normal".
I know, I know chances are there is nothing specific wrong - but there MIGHT be. 20% seems a big enough number to me! Since I had DS only two things are different about me - being older, obviously, but also having the thyroid condition.I don't think it is causing mcs but I think it might mean I'm more susceptible to other immune disorders?

Wish I knew why GPs make me so nervous!

Oh and meant to say thanks for the thread invitation Hippychick. I will check it out -though I'm a bit too much of a bitch at the moment to cope well with other peoples's good news! Much as I wish them well etc

Oh and meant to say thanks for the thread invitation Hippychick. I will check it out -though I'm a bit too much of a bitch at the moment to cope well with other peoples's good news! Much as I wish them well etc

Some of them are grumpy old bags - they're not all happy

Anyway, the invitation is there if you ever wanna pop in.

Let me know what your GP says (they are only human so try not to be scared). I'm so lucky with my GP - she is lovely but before her i had a horrid man who was rubbish!

What you say is true actually. There are two things different about me as well, my age and the thyroid thing.

super sorry to hear about the thrush - that really is a pain in the .... isn't it.

Sorry to hear that your due date is coming up. My first loss would have been due on 30/8 and I was dreading that date. It wasn't actually as bad as I had expected - I think it depends a lot on where you are in your current cycle when the date arrives. I was on the 2 ww so was able to feel hopeful for that cycle - I do know someone on my over 40 thread who had AF arrive on the date when her lost one would have been due and that is like a double wammy and so much harder I would think.

My second loss would have been due early Feb so i am just hoping I'll be preggers again by then.

Hope the day goes by ok for you.

Hello, had a positive visit to doctors today. My tsh is actually lower than the amount they say for ttc. Not sure if that's a worry or not. But the main thing is that GP is writing to obstetrician for me. So, a referral to look forward to when AF rolls round next week! Just wish I'd asked her weeks ago.

Super my 1st due date was last week, and it was strangely quite a good day for me (some tears obv) - I mean the thought of it was actually worse than the day, iyswim.

Well done for getting what you wanted out of the GP iggi. I totally agree, the thought of getting to your due date is worse than the day. But it's all still shit really!

Take care all.
xxx