TTC with hypothyroidism or other hormonal disorders

[Frenchie86]

Hi everyone, I’m 35 and have hypothyroidism (under active thyroid). It was diagnosed early on in our TTC journey so under medication and blood tests usually fine. We’ve been trying for 3.5 years and got pregnant end of last year but sadly lost the baby at 13 weeks in March due to a heart malformation. That was hugely traumatic but we are trying again and nothing has happened. I guess I thought because we’d been pregnant once it would happen again easily. Anyway, just wondering if there is anyone else out there with hypothyroidism or similar who is TTC? Wondering if hormones could be affecting things in some way. Thank you.

I had hypothyroidism but all my levels were borderline and so the GP was reluctant to give me any medication. I went to see a private endocrinologist who specialised in thyroid and fertility problems and he prescribed levothyroxine, plus advised me to take different vitamins and supplements. I had my appointment with him around the time of AF

4 weeks later, I got my BFP!

My OH doesn't think that the thyroxine would have made that big of a difference so soon, but I'm convinced it was the thyroxine that helped things along, as we had been previously TTC for months without luck. I'm now 14 weeks with a healthy a wriggling babby!

Wishing you all the best and good luck!

I'm in the same boat, with Hashimotos.

Got pregnant last year but had to TFMR for a chromosomal abnormality they said was not age (37 then) or thyroid related. Not got pregnant since but only recently TTC

Before, I'd been trying for nearly a year with no luck, then thyroid dropped and I went on levo and got pg within 4 months. I also went gluten free which helped I think

My thyroid feels off at the moment. V sore and hormones all over the place, but my levels are in range, frustratingly

What's your TSH and are you Hashi's or other kind of hypo?

I am so sorry for your loss I too have found it all devastating and deeply traumatic

Me 😭
I have an under active thyroid. I'm on meds for it but finding it difficult ttc as nothing is happening so far, cycle 2 granted but I'm 36 and getting less positive by the period.

Thanks for all your replies!

@Pitstop1986 that's interesting, it might well have made a difference. I'm on 100mg levothyroxine but whether that helped or not I'm not sure as I was on it for a couple years before getting pregnant. Wondering if I should see a specialist too?

@GoingGently I'm so sorry for your loss, it's so so hard. I too was worried it was related to my thyroid issues but apparently it was just bad luck. Interesting re gluten free, is there a link with hormonal disorders or is it just that you feel better for it? I feel very anxious and down at the moment but hard to know if it's hormone related or just mild depression from the loss. My TSH is at 0.19 which is slightly low and my dr said to chat to our fertility specialist to see if they need to adjust the medication. T4 was a bit high a couple months ago but now back to normal. I must admit I have no idea what kind of hypo I am, they never specified?

@LJAKS I'm sorry to hear that, it's never easy. I'm 35 and also worrying about age, but so many of my friends have gotten pregnant at 36/37/38 that I'm trying to stay positive. The meds should hopefully help?

I guess it's never easy and uat just adds another lovely complication to the mix 😂
I'm the same I didn't worry about my age too much, bring on the "geriatric pregnancy" 😂🤪

Yes, there's loads of advice about going gluten free if you're autoimmune thyroid. There are diet protocols which help, I just find them a bit overwhelming but if we don't conceive soon I'll probably go back there.

I would ask your doc to check you for antibodies (TPO and Tg-ab). That will tell you whether it's an autoimmune condition causing your hypothyroidism (it usually is the culprit) and lifestyle changes do seem to help with that

Thanks @GoingGently I hadn't thought to ask them so will do that, and will also look into the gluten free options. Need to remember I did manage to get pregnant but not sure whether that was just a fluke. We are also looking to do IVF.

@LJAKS isn't it just? I wish they'd told us how difficult it is to get pregnant!

If it does transpire you have Hashimoto's (the autoimmune cause of hypothyroidism), Dr Isabella Wentz is regarded as the best resource for lifestyle interventions. She has two books called the Root Cause and Hashimoto's Protocol which may be worth a read.

Some useful information on her blog too:
thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/best-advice-hashimamas/

To be honest I think a lot of it is good advice even if you don't have antibodies

Fertility specialists and endos seem to disagree on optimal TSH levels for fertility, with endos thinking a higher level is more acceptable. There seems to be general consensus among fertility specialists that TSH should be under 2 for optimal fertility though, and I've just seen on the Dr Wentz site that antibodies are best under 100. I have some work to do there.

Vitamin D levels also worth keeping an eye on

I've done a lot of reading about this and know quite a lot of the advice, I'm just not great at following it!!! I am about to start acupuncture, which I think helped me get pregnant last time

@GoingGently wow so much to think about! They do seem to say that it's better to have a low TSH level rather than high for fertility but who knows. I have a healthy lifestyle and take the ovulation support and pre-conception tablets which contain fit D so hopefully that should help? I also did acupuncture before my pregnancy which I think helped (gaining a bit of weight and that were the only things I changed after 3 years TTC). Good luck with your journey, do keep me posted. I've just entered the 2WW and already going crazy.

Yes it seems like a catch 22 really and a vicious cycle
Thyroid issues very sensitive to stress, thyroid impacts fertility, fertility very stressful and on it goes. Throw in TTC after traumatic loss and it doesn't get any easier does it?

@GoingGently exactly! And of course the more you tell yourself not to stress, the more you stress. And don't get me started on all those helpful people that tell you it'll happen when you least think about it. I would love nothing more than to be able to not be so focused on it.

Hi both, Hope you are well.
Just reading about your thyroid and wondering how you're getting on as I've just been diagnosed with hypo and almost 1 year TTC x

@TTCThyroid2021 sorry for the late reply. I didn't manage to fall pregnant again naturally (whether that's related to my thyroid or not I don't know, but it did take a while for my levels to get back to normal) however I am currently 5 weeks pregnant after doing IVF.

I did see an endocrinologist before this who reassured me loads and explained everything to me so I do recommend that if you haven't seen anyone already, as I found my GP wasn't really knowledgable in terms of infertility and hypothyroidism. Levels that they deemed normal weren't quite right for getting pregnant if that makes sense?

Hello all, just wondering if anyone tried the conceive plus ovulation support vitamin and have you had any luck? We have been ttc almost 3 years now, last December was diagnosed with underactive thyroid and got pregnant in March wich ended in a mc unfortunately. Since then my thyroid levels and period had been all over the place, not ovulating regularly. I read somewhere that myo-inositol is good for lowering tsh and help regulate ovulation.