Under active thyroid

[indecisivewoman81]

Hello I wonder if any one is in the same position?

I have recently found out I am 5 weeks pregnant and have requested to my doctor for an increase in my Levothyroxine by 25mcg as this is what they did in my last pregnancy.

I can't get in to see the doctor and instead he has sent me out a blood test form instead of simply increasing it.

I am worried if I don't get it increased now I will be more at risk of a miscarriage.

Has anyone else experienced this?

@MariaDingbat thanks for your insight. I'm so confused now. Do I increase my dose now which presumably will reflect in my bloods next week and if they're normal then I'll have to say I increased my dose even though they told me not to. Or do I wait until I've had the bloods done next week?

Thank you all.

I'm hoping the results will come back quickly and that the doctors will know that the levels are different in pregnant women. I have my booking in appointment next Wednesday so will tel the MW then if things are not sorted.

Here is the American Thyroid Association advice:

www.thyroid.org/patient-thyroid-information/ct-for-patients/october-2016/vol-9-issue-10-p-5-6/

This is the UK thyroid advice, also photo attached:

www.btf-thyroid.org/pregnancy-and-fertility-in-thyroid-disorders

I think it's very tricky to know what to do if you are pregnant but have a test booked because of you up your dose now you'll skew the results.

Is there anyway you can speak to a different GP? I would also want to know why the GP is going against standard advice? Do they have some other standards or advice they are working from?!

@indecisivewoman81

Thank you all.

I'm hoping the results will come back quickly and that the doctors will know that the levels are different in pregnant women. I have my booking in appointment next Wednesday so will tel the MW then if things are not sorted.

In my area they come back the same day and the dr phones me with them (only during pregnancy).

I would ring and ask for your exact numbers for this and the last test. I echo the pp who said don't just let them say"yes it's all fine and normal".

Pregnant women have different normal ranges for each trimester.

There will no doubt be other women pregnant with the same gp who is also not getting the correct treatment

@footprintsintheslow I can't really get another GP, it's so hard to even get one appointment. I'm so conflicted. And now I'm very worried that I'm harming the baby! My bloods are Monday next week but that's 2 weeks after I got my positive test. But I'm worried I'll skew the bloods 🤯 I could just up the dose and explain that's the advice I got from thyroid UK and N.I.C.E

@grandmasterstitch I'm not trying to scare you and many women may not even know they are pregnant by now.

I've had a whole healthy pregnancy where my dose was never upped even though I was consultant led.

I did a lot of reading around thyroid and pregnancy as after that successful pregnancy I had a loss at 20 weeks.
This made me look for answers and I put together anything relevant in a document so I could ask my consultant.
Her words were "you'll have to ask you GP about all this as I don't really know about thyroids". Even though she was my consultant through pregnancy because of my underactive thyroid.

My GP who is also not an expert on thyroids was fantastic though and had a much better general knowledge about it all and I came away very reassured. However my GP has been all over my latest pregnancy with thyroid tests and ringing my results through to me the same day.

The fact you are diagnosed and are having thyroid replacement means you are already in a good position. The real danger is for women who are undiagnosed but then in reality they are unlikely to conceive in the first place. So I hope that reassures tou whilst still makes you hold your GP accountable b

My GP has just rung back to say he's checked all the guidelines and I should be upping my dose by 50mcg so he's sending the prescription through. Really pleased he took me seriously

@grandmasterstitch thank goodness for that!!!