Prednisolone for Thyroid Antibodies during IVF

[Nixwix]

Hi everyone,

I am new on this. I am currently going through my first IVF cycle.
A bit of history:
I was naturally pregnant 1.5 years ago and MMC at around 9 weeks. All tests came back normal, with no sign of thyroid or antibodies. I got pregnant again 3 months later, ectopic and resulted in emergency removal of left tube.
We started TTC after 3 months of my surgery and had no luck for 5 months. I had some recurrent miscarriage tests done 3 months after my surgery and my thyroid antibodies came back high and positive (Tg 232 and TPO 0) and normal TSH. Last month, as part of the IVF procedure, had my thyroid panel tested again and I had Tg at 490 and TPO 150, TSH also 3.11.
Doctor put me on Levothyroxine that reduced in my TSH to 1.11. And after commencing my IVF, he recommended Prednisolone (steroids) 20mg from the day of EC and intra Lipids infusion before my ET.

My question is - has anyone been on prednisone and/or intra Lipids with high thyroid anti bodies? How long were you on it for? Did you do anything in particular to combat the side effects of Pred? I am getting really worked up by the oral cleft defects and other issues. What is safe and when to ideally wean off? And what dosage is regarded too high?

Any feedback from anyone would be highly appreciated! Thank you in advance. :)

I have hashimotos - the cause of thyroid antibodies, and had several failed rounds of IVF and some MCs

The clinic I went to for my final and successful round believes there is a link between autoimmune conditions such as Hashimotos, and fertility issues. There is a growing body of evidence that some people who have ‘unexplained infertility’ actually have a mis-firing immune system which is causing the problem

I was on pred and IVIG, which is a stronger intralipid, after various blood tests showed my immune system was overactive, and I got and then stayed pregnant
My perfect 1 year old is asleep upstairs

The other thing which is shown to reduce your antibodies is a strict gluten free diet
I’ve also taken various supplements including magnesium, selinium and iron, and it’s definitely lessened my thyroid symptoms.

Regarding the potential side effects, you’re on a low dose for a short time, so I didn’t have any of the physical side effects

And of all the people on here and Fertility Friends prescribed Pred, I don’t remember reading about anyone who had a cleft issue so I wouldn’t worry too much about that - the link seems to be weak

Good luck

Sparechange: thank you so much for your reply. Really appreciate it. How much was your dose of Pred and how long were you on it, if you don't mind me asking. Yes, I am on a strictly gluten free diet now. And now I am trying to incorporate the vitamins you mentioned. What was your dosage of vitamins? Bless your 1 year old! xxx

I’ll check my notes but from memory, the Pred dose was 20mg a day - 10mg morning and night

For vitamins, I’m taking a general Thyroid support multivitamin from Veridian (sp?), the gentle iron tablet (also veridian), magnesium from Holland & Barrett, and vitamin d spray
I take 2 of each per day, which is the dose recommended to me by a nutritionist with specific thyroid knowledge
There is also a website called The Thyroid Pharmacist which lists the supplements you need to take to counteract/support thyroid issues, and the supplements I take covered off all those

I’ll google some links and post them in a bit...

These are what I take... I take 2 of each per day

www.viridian-nutrition.com/Shop/Thyroid-Complex-P747.aspx
www.viridian-nutrition.com/shop/Balanced-Iron-Complex-P550.aspx
www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/holland-barrett-magnesium-tablets-250mg-60005830?skuid=005830
www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/holland-barrett-vitamin-d3-spray-60011133?skuid=011133

thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/6-important-nutrient-deficiencies-hashimotos/

Thank you for taking the time to list them all, so helpful! xxx