Anyone know anything about thyroids?

[Whiteshoes]

Hi. I'd really appreciate a but of reassurance after a run in with Dr Google. I am seven weeks pregnant. I was put on 50mcg of thyroxine by my ivf clinic but then got pregnant naturally. Back in august, I had two thyroid tests. One showed tsh of 2.8, another 5 something. Just had it re done (privately) and T4 was 19 and tsh 3.18. I see from other discussions on here that out should be under 2.5, and I'm going to see an endocrinologist next weekend. But have I done the baby any harm by not having been monitored before this, and not getting it below 2.5 before? Panicing a bit now after reading Dr Google about neural development and brain damage and low IQ. Am upping thyroxine to 75 on advice from gp, and obviously will be on top of it now, but worried if the harm is done.

Thank you so much.

Hi, i am not sure if my advice will help you. I was on medication for an underactive thyroid whilst pregnant. I was only diagnosed at 12 wks pg after a locum doctor who spotted something at 10 wks pg, that my own GP missed. I was undergoing acupuncture at the time and was told I was lucky I had managed to hold on to the pregnancy, cue panic stations for the rest of pregnancy. So what I mean to say is that just because there may be risks because of your thyroid issues does not mean it will cause any ill effects on your baby. Mine in now a lovable, hyper 18 month old who did need checks when born to see if my thyroid problem caused problems in him, all came back clear.

Thank you so much for replying pinklady and welove. I am feeling better than I was about it, but am hoping that the endo can also offer some reassurance. I'm really hoping that as my T4 is quite high, there won't have been any harm done so far. I feel like such an idiot for not researching this the minute I got pregnant. I can't bear the idea of doing this poor innocent baby any harm.

Thanks again

Prob a bit late but when I was ttc I was told (by endo consultant) to increase by 50% as soon as I got preg, they still messed about with my dose throughout pregnancy so I guess my levels were never optimal! My DS is fine although I wish he'd sleep through the night! try not to worry too much, I'm sure everything will be fine

Thanks so much, Mrs SR and welove. Yes, I keep telling myself it isn't massively over, and hopefully there will have been a decent amount of thyroxine swishing about. So glad mumsnet is here! I asked my gp on getting pregnant and she told me I probably didn't need thyroxine. And I paid to see an obstetrician yesterday and he said it was fine. Argh!!

I will defs update after next weekend's appointment. And will harass the nhs now to take over properly.

Thank you ladies.

whiteshoes please dont worry. My TSH was 3+ in my last pregnancy, gp refused to up my thyroxine while ttc as the levels were normal and by the time I got to see my consultant I must have been around the same time as you before my dose was upped. Ds is now 9 months old and meeting all his milestones ahead of time, he is thriving and absolutely fine. You are right to stay on top of it and be aware but there is only so much you can do and we all know nothing is instant in the nhs. 3.1 is not optimal but it really isn't far off, your levels would have to be much higher to cause a problem, I too have found though that even some obstetricians won't up with a level of 3 so it really can't be that bad.

Hi whiteshoes, I have had an underactive thyroid for years and it was very badly managed (I was terrible at remembering to take my thyroxine) I didn't find out I was pregnant til nearly 12 weeks with my son. My TSH was 12 and I had been drinking too much almost all of the first trimester! He's now a very wonderful 1yr old, he's hit all his milestones and was walking by 9 months so I don't think it has had too much of an adverse affect on him. I am sure your little one will be fine :)

Oh ladies, I want to cry! Thank you so much for these. It's so reassuring. Bless you.

Walking by 9 months! Gosh.

Thanks again.

Hallo ladies. Hope you all had a lovely christmas day.
I promised to update. I saw lovely endo privately who said it would all be alright, but I think was writing a cross note to his fertility colleagues while he said so! He said I didn't need to worry about brain damage etc. he seemed more concerned about miscarriage. I am waiting to hear back from him following blood test to see whether I should move to 75 and 50mcg on alternate days.

I am also going for my booking in appointment this week. Uch maternity were adamant that I could not see their endo until after my booking in. ridiculous.

Am feeling better about it but still have a permanent quiet worry percolating at the very back of my mind. I guess that's the beauty of being pregnant.

Ah, welove, you are already right. I had a blood test at that appointment with the endo and TSH now down to 1.2, and T4 at 20.1. Hurrah! (And thank you so much for asking for an update.)

And that is very useful to know about uch. I spent what seemed to be every other day at Tommies with my last one as I have blood clotting issues as well. Good to know I won't have to move in to uch to manage my appointments!

Now, if anyone could help with the morning sickness...