High risk thyroid pregnancy lack of care?

[wannabemum1989]

Hi all, looking for thoughts. I'm 7+4 weeks pregnant and have hypothyroidism, for which I take levothyroxine. I had a blood test to check my levels when I found out I was pregnant (early on, about 4 weeks). The doctor then said they'd check my levels again 2 months later. To me, this is a huge gap of time given I'll be out of the first trimester by that point. Surely they should pay closer attention during the highest risk phase?

The doctor referred me to the hospital so I'll be under the care of a specialist but I've yet to hear anything from them - not sure what appointments/tests they will do when this comes through.

I don't know if I'm just overworrying but to me it all feels there's not enough urgency given I'm high risk. By the time I get any more care I feel like a bad outcome could have happened. Would love to hear from any other thyroid mums to be and what your situation has been.

That sounds about right, the pathway local to me is Thyroid levels at booking (usually 8-10 weeks), then at 16 and 24 weeks by which point you should have been seen by a consultant. Then they get checked a bit more frequently in the last trimester. Has your GP adjusted your dose at all?

@thirty2andBlue thank you so much for your reply. That's really helpful to know. My dosage stayed the same as it was just before falling pregnant as I was under the recommended 2.5 TSH threshold but I've heard it can spike quite quickly in pregnancy. So glad I'm probably worrying unnecessarily rather than something being amiss!

I thought it was a bit more frequent than that. On this website it says every 4-6 weeks, possibly less often late in pregnancy if your thyroid is stable. I would be inclined to trya nd get in contact and ask if it should be a bit more frequent and say the British thyroid foundation recommends every 4-6 weeks. If you can't reach the specialist you could speak to the GP. At least make them explain why that's not necessary.

www.btf-thyroid.org/pregnancy-and-thyroid-disorders-guidance-for-patients

@RosettaR thank you - that's really interesting. I think I will be doing just that. Great to be armed with some BTF guidelines 👍

I would push for a test sooner. I'm not pregnant but trying and my endo consultant advised me to up my dosage by 25mcg as soon as I get a positive test then regular blood tests after that. GPs are crap at thyroid stuff. Ask for a test sooner