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Original poster

Underactive Thyroid

156 replies

Pupness · 25/05/2005 09:27

Hi Mumsnet - I had been feeling extremely tired and just put it down to being a new mum. But DS was six months! So had some blood test done and was told last week that my thyroid is running very low and that I must start Thyroxin straight away. It started last Thursday and initially felt a lot better but today I have been feeling v down which is just not me and I am beginning to get v anxious about not giving the little one my best. My memory is awful too. Has anyone experienced this - feel like I'm on an emotional roller coaster and trying too hard to be the perfect mum but just feel like sleeping all the time.

OP posts:
almostanangel · 25/05/2005 13:55

why?

suzywong · 25/05/2005 13:57

what why duh
because you forgot your tablets ( I'm teasing you)
and why do Ilove it?
because it enables me to function as a human and Ispent three and a half long awful grindingly sad years as a zombie and now I don't have to be like that anymore

almostanangel · 25/05/2005 14:21

i know im duh!! thing is i do my mums tablets and phone her every day and say "you took them?" i meant why do you love em?

dot1 · 25/05/2005 16:17

I'm on 250mcg a day - have had an underactive thyroid for years - best things = free prescriptions forever!! I'm also useless at remembering to take my tablets - particularly re-ordering them - there's even a comment on my notes about me being not very compliant I don't do it on purpose - I suppose it's one of those things that you don't realise how much you need them until you stop taking them...

Try not to worry about it and try to take the tablets regularly!!!

Original poster
Pupness · 25/05/2005 23:24

sorry - just got to bed - hubby away for the week so only just finished sterilising bottles and the like. You are so right suzywong about people telling you you look tired - just had MIL over for the day to help as I really was knackered. But she did the same and looked at me as if I was bonkers and that I couldn't cope with the new grand child. So can - he is so easy and happy, its just he smiles at me and I feel guilty for being SO knackerd to smile back and really mean it. I do mean it but if feels like you are putting on a performance in a way. I am going to the docs tomorrow - see if I can up the dose. Can't be wandering around the local shops like a right zombie buying any old thing from M&S and thinking it would be funny just to buy every pair of shoe in a size 7 from the local posh shoe shop!!! MATERNITY PAY STOPPED AGES AGO!

OP posts:
SleepyJess · 26/05/2005 16:12

My little DS is on throxine. He has congential hypothyroidism.. I think some babies a born without the gland present. DS has one.. but it doesn't function. He is on a 3 day rotating cycle of tablets.. 4 tabs.. 4 tabs.. 3 tabs. Can't remember the micrograms off hand.

Just a piece of trivia! Does anyone elses child have it hypothyroidism? I am convinved Ds's is part of a larger syndrome as he has soo many different things wrong with him.. no diagnosis, except the thyroid thing. CP is used to desvribe his overall condition.. which is not related (at least directly) the the thyroid problem I know.

SJ x

PrincessPeaHead · 26/05/2005 16:35

hi sleepyjess. my ds1 has congenital hypothyroidism too, as does muminlondon's dd. My ds is 4.5. He doesn't have anything else wrong with him at all, and is completely indistinguishable from his sister in all respects really (actually, probably even brighter than her). He is currently on 75micrograms 4 times a week and 50mg 3 times a week. Mind you we have just had a scare with him, bec\ause his last lot of 50mg tablets were some generic brand I hadn't seen before and we think they were completely dud - his tsh went through the roof and is t4 and t3 are practically nonexistent. He has effectively been unmedicated for 40 days despite swallowing the pills. I can't tell you how angry I am.

We are now ONLY accepting scrips for GSK Eltroxine.

tamum · 26/05/2005 16:54

The two can be linked, SleepyJess, in that the thyroid problems can increase the risk of CP. There's some stuff about it here .

SleepyJess · 26/05/2005 22:10

Cor that last post of mine was illiterate wasn't it!! (I was rushing!)

Thanks PPH and Tamum. Tanum, I've never seen that research before.. very interesting. DS was not premature though.. he was 4 days late and 9lb 12oz! Although, in many ways, his early days were v.much like that of a very prem baby. I may look into it further.. I have phases of looking for 'answers' re why DS is the way he is.. and then I get quite laid back about it again and start thinking like DH who says 'he is what he is.. and we love what he is!' (Which obviously I think too but I do still wonder WHY sometimes..)

SJ x

spacecadet · 26/05/2005 22:41

i have underactive thyroid, had been border line for years, then went underactive after ds2 was born, felt dreadful for months until i stasrted the thyroxine, it took a couple of months for me to noticea diff, but the foggy, hazy feeling lifted fora start. when preg with dd2 had to be monitored very closely, every month had tsh, t3 and t4 ended up on 200mcg at the end of my preg and went overactive for a week after shewas born! im on 150 mcg now and back to 3 monthly checks, i can tell when its dipped though as feel lethargic, tired and depressed.

tamum · 26/05/2005 22:45

Ah, doesn't look like a very likely connection then SJ, sorry

spacecadet · 26/05/2005 22:46

sj, once when hypothyroidism in babies wasnt detected it caused brain damage or cretinism as it was called, now its picked up in the heel prick so treatment can start straight away so there should be no ill effects, i dont know if your little ds has thyroid probs as part of an overall prob or whether its totally unconnected,it would be hard to tell really.i know that if you have hypothyroidism yourself, you are more likely to have a child with it.

KristinaM · 26/05/2005 22:51

Pupness - I developed this too after my last baby.I felt just crap for ages. As i understand it, it takes about 6 weeks for the drugs to start working ( in the sense that your T3, T4 and TSH levels start getting better). It can then take time after that before you start to feel better and longer til you feel normal.I'm sorry, i know this isnt what you want to hear but its what the consultant told me. She said that if you develop post partum thyroiditis then its a double whammy, coz you are trying to recover from the birth and care for your baby as well as dealing with the thyroid disease.

In my experience its normal to gain weight (or have trouble losing it), feel depressed and that you are a terrible mother and useless person who is gradually losing their mind

suzywong · 27/05/2005 09:12

double whammy indeed, double being run over by articulated truck

suzywong · 27/05/2005 09:20

actually this has got me worried now, that are the symptoms of congential hypothyroid in children? Mine are 4 and 20 months, and I was undiagnosed when pg with both. Would I have noticed something by now do you think?

SoupDragon · 27/05/2005 09:26

I went to my doctors because I'm still knackered 4 years after DS2s birth and had a full range of blood tests (including thyroid) which unfortunately proved that, to use Tiffini's words, "I am just a lazy arse who can't cope with motherhood." Although my GP didn't put it quite like that.

tamum · 27/05/2005 09:26

suzywong, where they born in the UK? I think they both were weren't they? If so there's no need to worry as they'll have had the heel prick test which would have identified a problem straight away. Dont worry, please!

suzywong · 27/05/2005 09:29

yes they were, thanks tamum.
Didn't think they had a problem but you know how dangerous is to read anything about health on the internet.
Soupy you poor old love, have you tried a complimentary therapist? I heard of someone getting sorted through iridology and chinese medicine

tamum · 27/05/2005 09:30

Yes, absolutely. Sorry, that "Don't worry!" sounded v. bossy

suzywong · 27/05/2005 09:35

no bossiness detected

bloody wish someone had pricked my heel and tested me years ago

SoupDragon · 27/05/2005 09:36

GP suggested selling the children and putting the money towards a holiday, Suzy! Hoping I'll recover when DS2 starts school full time in September. Then I'll have time for complimentary treatments

spacecadet · 01/06/2005 18:16

soupy it is possible to suffer from constant tiredness which can be down to a whole host of things, stress etc, also you may not be sleeping aswell as you think, if you have too much rem sleep you will feel shattered in the day, im assuming you were checked for anamia? did the gp tell you what youre thyroid level was because if its borderlins they often wont treat it but if you are symptamatic you should be treated.i went untreated for years because i was only borderline.

Original poster
Pupness · 04/06/2005 07:57

This is far more common than I thought - did you find that your moods go from being quite happy to feeling v low and fed up? Still waiting for doc to double the dose and feeling so low - feel so bad as I can't be much fun and trying too hard, which makes me feel worse!

OP posts:
mummyhill · 09/06/2005 20:22

Hi, not had time to read the whole thread but here is my twopeneth worth. At age 16 I went from a size 12 to a size 16 without changing my diet or exercise programme. I went from being a vibrant happy person to a very tierd depressed person. I went to the GP and they treated me for depression and accused me of comfort eating. By the age of 24 I was a size 20 and hardly eating constantly dieting and wondering why i bothered to go on. We got a new GP at the practice and by chance I got to go in and see him, one blood test latter and I was placed on Thyroxine. I was not told why exactly nor was i warned the effects of not taking the medication. I have a beautifull little girl aged three but sadly miscarried last year as my dosage was too low it was promptly trebbled, I am now on 150mcg per day and 27/40 preggers yipee. I have a box with days of the week on and put my tablets in each sunday night. DH can then help me beacuse I am useless at taking tablets he checks the box every once in a while and reminds me if there are tablets in there that shouldn't be. Touch wood since we started this system I have not forgotten my tablets as for re ordering them we work out how long the prescription is going to last and then put the date to re oreder them on the wall chart. I have now lost 2 stone and have come down to a size 18 admittedley in a maternity dress but that has to be better than a size 22 which i had crept up to last year.

Sorry it is such a long post.

Good luck and keep taking the meds and you will feel so much better.

babysteffee · 04/08/2005 19:05

I've got an underactive thyroid too. Memory is so poor I forget to take the tablets (200mcg per day) and when they run out I forget to go to the docs for days, so am always getting into trouble... tablets make me feel anxious, shaky and not sleep, so I stop them, then lethargy/poor memory etc gets worse. Weight increases whatever I do, and I stay as active as possible. But sometimes I could cry because I'm so tired, and my legs and arms hurt. I get really nervous talking to people and sometimes wonder if people thing I'm on drugs because I can't concentrate on what they are saying and forget what I am doing.

Seriously considering trying Thyax, I've heard it's very good and quite reasonable. Has anyone else tried this?