TTC after thyroidectomy

[batfish]

My husband and I were planning to TTC over a year ago and then I was diagnosed with thyroid disease, I had my thyroid removed in Jan and now I am waiting until I get the all clear from my endocrinologist before we can try.

Immediately after surgery my TSH was 11.96 and I was put onto 75mcg thyroxine per day - it then dropped to 7.37 after 2 months, it has now been increased to 85mcg and I have to have more blood tests in 2 months. He said my TSH should be under 2.5 for me to get the green light to TTC.

Just wondering whether anyone else is in the same boat and waiting to TTC due to thyroid issues?

Hi Batfish

I just wanted to let you know that although not the exact same situation I fell pg with my daughter 4 months after having my thyroid removed in 2008, admittedly she wasn't planned but very much wanted... my endo said it wasnt ideal but it was all fine... my pregnancy was text book and so was the birth I was monitored closely by both the ante-natal consultant and my endocrinologist as well as my normal midwife so quite alot of people but it was all to make sure she was growing properly etc... there were alot of blood tests but again all were fine I was on a very high dose of Thyroxine and still am to this day (250mcg) but felt great all throughout the pregnancy and my daughter was perfect, she had her bloods taken at 48hrs, 7 days & 14 days and again all was fine. So fx you will can get on with TTC asap but if it was to happen before you were given the "official" go ahead I just wanted to let you know you will be fine...

Hi Batfish

Just wanted to reply that, although I'm not in the same situation I am sure that if you do conceive before things are ideal the docs will keep a very close eye on you to ensure your baby is OK.

More so that I was - I was in remission from my Graves before conceiving DS so they didn't check his levels at birth however he had very high TSH levels which unfortunately were not detected until we were readmitted for failure to maintain birth weight 5 days after he was born. This led to some significant health issues in the first few years of his life. You are in a much better situation.

After many years I am now considering thyroidectomy due to continuing graves/TED etc and wish I'd done it before.

Good luck!

Thanks for the replies, it is tempting to just get on with it now but I've waited this long so I may as well wait another couple of months or so I guess. But thank you for the reassurance that things would be OK if anything were to happen. I didn't know that babies would need to be tested at birth so I will definitely remember that.

BirdyBedtime I hope your DS is free from problems now, that must have been a scary time for you. I know everyone is different so not everyone would have a good experience but I would highly recommend the thyroidectomy, the op itself was absolutely fine, recovery was quick and I was worried about the scar but it is very neat and fading fast, it doesn't bother me at all and I am quite a self conscious person, I thought I would be covering it up a lot but I never have. For me it was a choice between radioactive iodine or surgery and I almost went for the RAI but then got freaked out by the number of negative stories I read so opted for surgery.

Birdy

Just to second what batfish said after many years of struggling with my Graves ( I have had everything including the radioactive iodine, which was not pleasant!) having a thyroidectomy was the best thing for me, the procedure was a complete sucess and recovery was fine I was slightly hindered by a rare complication of surgery but again it was overcome and my health improved drastically after having the op, my scar is barely visable unless I am on holiday and get a tan, many people dont realise it is there! I now am only having blood tests anually and as long as I stay on top of my medication I am very rarely poorly, so again to echo batfish its not for everyone but if you have on going issues due to the Graves it may help you considerably.