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 .

Hello, thought I'd stop by and summarise my particular experience, bit more info for anyone with thyroid and PG issues. My story falls very much into the camp of problems with my immune system.

I'm really sorry to hear what troubles and losses some of you are dealing with, and wish you all better fortune in the future.

I had ds1 at 38, felt very tired for 6 months after he was born, took myself to GP as I knew I wouldn't cope with return to work. I was tested +ve for thyroid antibodies and diagnosed with autoimmune hypothyroiditis, had an asymmetrical goitre, ultrasound ruled out lesions. Responded fine to treatment at 125mcg for a year, got palpitations, had it reduced fine to 100mcg.

Decided to try for number 2, had no idea about the thyroid issues in preg and conception, and was lucky to fall pg first month of trying. Was referred to double trained consultant endocrinologist/obstetrician at UCLH for duration of pregnancy. Her enormous experience and knowledge she summed up as: "keep your TSH at 1.0 during pregnancy". We managed that easily on 150mcg, and I have since resettled on 100mcg.

I'm not having any more babies, as I had another of what she called 'immune storms' after ds2 was born, described as my immune system bouncing back from it's dialed-down PG state with too much enthusiasm. I developed rheumatoid arthritis the day after ds2 was born. And I also had the bonus of a syndrome of immune gut disorders from the first pregnancy. Wishing you MUCH better luck than me:)

HTH someone, sometime.

hippy thanks your post made me smile ;) which is nice because on the way home (I forced myself to get out of the house to buy groceries and treat myself to a nice manicure) I bumped into a lady with a newborn in a pram crying and it just set me off :(((((( I thought I was doing so well but I cried silently all the way home and then laughed when I read your post so THANK YOU :)

Thanks Random it's good to get an idea of how other people have fared. Congratulations on your two lovely boys.

I will remember that - TSH at 1.0 during pregnancy.

My last test came back at 6. something.

Can I ask - will it go down to the right amount if I continue to take the 50mg of Thyroxine daily? I'm not due for another blood test for 4 months and I can't afford to wait that long to TTC (what with me being ancient an all.) I just can't see it getting down to 1.0 .

beesok You're welcome. Glad I made you smile and sorry you were crying before, but it's natural and it will get easier.

It's a very individual thing hippychick. 50mg might be enough it might not.

The TSH value doesn't necessarily relate to how hypothyroid you are either. So for example, a level of 6 which is only just above range, doesn't necessarily mean you are less hypothyroid than someone with a TSH level of 60.

If you don't want to wait to TTC then I can't see it will cause any harm, but the idea is that you might struggle to conceive if you are not correctly medicated.

My sister's doctor told her that as she may have trouble conceiving because of the hypothyroidism she should start trying sooner rather than later even though she was still having dose adjustments at this stage. It is just important to see the doctor asap as soon as you find out you are pregnant as thyroid levels can be crucial in the early stages of pregnancy and need to be monitored and dosages adjusted as necessary

Many thanks tyler. I'm exta nervous due to the two MC's this year (but i think they are probably more due to my age than my thyroid - but you never know I guess).

I seem to be ovulating regularly and have gotten preggers twice this year so hopefully it isn't effecting my chances. As soon as i get the much covoted BFP I'll get my thyroid levels checked asap

Ok I have seen the GP. The blood test I had done about 1 hour after birth showed TSH level of 6.7. I am having another blood test in about 10 days for them to check again.

Apparently it should be below 5.5 the GP said? She said they wouldn't usually medicate for 6.7.

We are seeing the hospital consultant in 3 weeks to go over all the blood tests, placenta tests etc and also talk about future care, so this will be covered.

Any thoughts?

With TSH 6.7 would I need drugging through pregnancy? What about ttc?

They would normally only medicate based on one result of 6.7 if you had a lot of symptoms or also had antibodies. Do you know if they tested for antibodies?

If you do end up being prescribed thyroxine, please don't think of it as being drugged. It is a replacement hormone, so it's just taking something that your body isn't making enough of. Because it's a replacement and not a drug there are no side effects.

They advise keeping TSH under 2 for ttc, Spilt. I would want to get this sorted. My TSH was over this just before my mc - I'm not saying it was def related but made me feel uneasy so they have increased my thyroxine from 100mcg to 125mcg to be on safe side. As the doctor said, you'll need extra when you're pregnant anyway.

Should say, I've been Hypo and medicated for about 4 years now. Also have antibodies.

Thanks. I have no idea about if they looked for antibodies. I will ask the nurse at the blood test in case she can see what they did last time and influence what they do this time. I have to go back in 2 weeks to a doc anyway which will be a few days after the blood test so I will discuss it further then.

I thought 6.7 sounded high. Hopefully the consultant will also agree that it needs help to be lowered in order to ttc/be pregnant.

Just for info, nhs guidelines only recommend treating when tsh is over 10 in the absence of antibodies or symptoms.

Ok that's useful. What symptoms would cause concern?

I am very tired and sleeping a lot (but assumed it was due to grief & effect of a hard pregnancy and giving birth). My hair is falling out by the brushful. I have started having panic attacks and struggling with anxiety. My fertility charting shows I am colder than pre pregnancy.

(No idea if any of these things are in anyway relevant, but these are my non normal things at the moment)

A lot of those sound like thyroid symptoms but then the thyroid has an effect over the whole body so symptoms are pretty varied and there's no one symptom that is definitely thyroid.

Depending on your doctor they may see those as symptoms and decide to prescribe or may try and attribute them to other stuff like the pregnancy/mc/grief/stress. Hopefully you'll have a nice understanding doctor.

A lot of those sound like thyroid symptoms but then the thyroid has an effect over the whole body so symptoms are pretty varied and there's no one symptom that is definitely thyroid.

Depending on your doctor they may see those as symptoms and decide to prescribe or may try and attribute them to other stuff like the pregnancy/mc/grief/stress. Hopefully you'll have a nice understanding doctor.

The nhs guidance relates to people without hypothyroidism. There is further guidance for those who are already diagnosed and are ttc or pregnant which is the tsh under 2 bit you mention.

So a pregnant woman who has a tsh of 3.5 will not be treated but a women with hypothyroidism and a tsh of 3.5 will have her dose increased.

Apologies if I missed it, but I didn't think spilttheteaagain had been diagnosed.

Hi everyone - Supersunny I hope you are ok.
Well I've stopped taking my iron with my thyroxine! But there's no way I can take it ages before food, only thing that gets me out of bed in the morning is the thought of an instant breakfast!
My thermometer came in post tomorrow so I can start charting tomorrow. (Just need to read all of "taking charge of your fertility" tonight!)

Hi everyone - Supersunny I hope you are ok.
Well I've stopped taking my iron with my thyroxine! But there's no way I can take it ages before food, only thing that gets me out of bed in the morning is the thought of an instant breakfast!
My thermometer came in post tomorrow so I can start charting tomorrow. (Just need to read all of "taking charge of your fertility" tonight!)

Spilt those sound like pretty classic hypo symptoms to me. You need to get them to do a full investigation though, not just TSH. They should also check for Free T3/T4 and also antibodies to your thyroid. Arm yourself with the guidelines on ttc and TSH levels, explain all of your symptoms (write them down so you don't forget (because brain fog and forgetting what you are saying mid-sentence is another classic symptom ), and explain concerns because there is some link between second trimester loss and thyroid issues.

You will find that some Doctors are very conservative and will only treat when TSH is really high despite the person feeling like shit all the time. I lived with issues for 6 years before they decided to give me a trial of Thyroxine and have never looked back. If this happens ask to be referred to see a Specialist Endocrinologist.

Whatever happens though this is not your fault. It's very common. It may not have caused your loss but you will always feel that doubt I'm afraid, like I do and like Sunny does. I'm sure some countries screen for thyroid probs as soon as you get pregnant but the UK seems not to bother.

Lady I heard it is because once on thyroxine you get free prescriptions, so they are reluctant to start you...

Thanks for the pointers, I will do some research on the T3/T4, antibodies, ttc etc before my next appointment. Any reputable sites online that anyone would recommend?

Quick question ladies, how often should someone with an under active thyroid (albeit sub clinical level) be tested/monitored? My thyroid seems to fluctuate - in August levels were above normal then in September the balanced out by themselves, my endo has been taking blood roughly every 4 weeks but obviously I get my results a month "later".
What if the level changes significantly in less than 4 weeks (between one blood test and the other) and my meds don't get altered accordingly?

Not that I love having needles poked in my arms but I am wondering if this is enough?? ;)

I thought you should have them checked every 3 months while they're finding the right dosage, then once a year. Not sure where I got that from though, perhaps the NHS guidelines? Or the thyroid website?

beesok I only recently started on Thyroxine (a week ago) and my GP said to get my levels checked every 4 months for the moment. Unless I get preg and then I'm getting them checked immediately. I'm only on 50mg daily (I hope that's enough ).