Infertility and Thyroid

[GiraffeMomma]

So someone suggested to me today that I might need to get my thyroid checked- she’s a good friend and has linked some other symptoms I complain about as she suffers from an underactive thyroid herself. Apparently it can affect fertility and so I was wondering if anyone on here had any experience with that?

Yup. I do. Lots of people have.

This is normally checked as standard when you ah e fertility bloods with your go after trying a year. Where are you up to in investigations?

hiya - I never did for my last cycle - but I have since changed clinics and have been asked told it is necessary before treatment can proceed...

Yep, I'm on thyroid meds due to ttc - my fertility clinic put me through 3 IVFs when my TSH was about 4.5 (it should be 1-2 when ttc), I questioned on it but they said it didn't matter.... I had a few losses over this time too.
My endocrinologist put me on levothyroxine....IVF4 worked (there were other factors too, but I'm sure this helped).
Once again my clinic have dismissed my slightly raised TSH for IVF5&6, so my endocrinologist put me on a slightly higher dose and although IVF7 was bfn, we've got frosties for the first time ever (again, other factors, but I'm sure getting my tsh into 'fertility range' has helped).
Good luck X

My thyroid was in a bad way when ttc and I found out. It answered a lot of questions when my TSH came back at 33 😱. Medication got my TSH in range for pregnancy (0-2) quite quickly. I continued TTC for a further 3 years and no joy. I went through IVF on the NHS and got a chemical pregnancy. I then went privately to an excellent clinic and they asked my GP to test my anti thyroid antibodies. These were >1500 and should be between 0-60. This means that I have Hashimotos which is an autoimmune thyroid disease. They put me on steroids for the next cycle and I got pregnant with my DD who is now 1. The theory behind this is that it suppresses the autoimmune attack on the embryo. I will be doing a FET shortly with steroids again. Thyroid disease is complex and multilayered and can really have an impact on fertility. However in the U.K. this is not fully acknowledged by many professionals. For years I had a diagnosis of ‘unexplained.’ I have had to do a lot of research myself. Don’t accept what doctors tell you, read and research and get the anti thyroid peroxidase antibodies test as this will tell you if you have Hashimotos. Horseaholic I can’t believe that your clinic let you do IVF with your TSH at that number, that is not even in line with NICE guidance for pregnancy!! I get very annoyed about it all...if you want any more info let me know, I have a few links to articles etc. Good luck!

Hello,can someone verify that the below results are ok for fertility?I know it is between the range but is it above 2 bad?

@Guio it's fine. Normal

This is all very interesting thanks guys! I have been reading up loads on causes of not ovulating but only came across thyroid as a reason on a thyroid info page. I have been referred to the hospital (appt on 10/09) and the nurse practioner did my thyroid blood test so hopefully should hear back from that soon. I’m just hoping that they don’t say that one of my tubes is damaged.... I had an ovarian torsion last year where one of my tubes tied itself in a knot and they don’t know the lasting effects from that. Sort of hoping the problem is my thyroid as then I can get the fatigue and inability to lose weight sorted as well!