pregnant and under active thyroid

[ruby07]

Hi, just wanted to know if anyone has been through a similar situation as me and if everything was alright with baby.

Basically, I found out I had an under active thyroid after birth of dd1. It was very bad but finally found the right level of thyroxine (150mg)to keep things normal. Have been on 150mg for just under a year.

Found out I was pg in Nov and straight away asked Dr for blood test. Results came back as low but the Dr didn't want to increase thyroxine for a few weeks to see if it settles back to normal itself! Few weeks later I met the Midwife who referred me to Endocrinology dept in Ante-natal clinic. Waited for an appt but due to xmas period didn't get any thing.

To cut long story short ( or is it too late?!)
I have been on 150mg since Nov and finally spoke to nurse in clinic who said i should have had levels increased and told me to up dosage by 25mg from today.

My concern is... I am 14 weeks pg and have been under active all this time. I have read this can effect baby in several ways. Has anyone else experienced this?

Hi Ruby07, I have had similar problems as I am hypothyroid and was on 175mcg when I got pregnant. I checked with GP and consultant endocrinologist who both said they didn't think I would need more thyroxine for a while and to leave having a test til week 12. I made the midwife test me at week 9 and as I suspected I was not on enough as my TSH level was high.

I am now taking 225mcg but was worried about those first 9 weeks when I clearly wasn't taking enough thyroxine.

I have since spoken to several other consultants and have had some comforting advice. Most real problems due to hypothyroidism and pregnancy are when the illness has not been detected at all and you are pregnant without taking any thyroxine. 150mcg is a good high dose to start with so the chances are there was a lot of the hormone travelling around. Also pregnancy usually increases your TSH, even in women with normal thyroid function, so the tests can make it seem worse than it is. I am 22 weeks now so I cannot tell you the final outcome for me but I have stopped worrying about it.

Several midwifes have mentioned to me that it is best to increase your dose by 25mcg when you find out you are pregnant. This is obviously conflicting advice from what my GP told me but something to think about if you have another pregnancy.

I think your both lucky to have great drs and midwifes. I have been underactive for 8 years and have gone through 3 pregnancies and neither of my doc or midwife realy gave a hoot about my thyroid levels.

I had the blood tests and everytime i ticked the boxes to test my thyroid.But tests came back my levels were fine?

Recently i didnt take my thyroxine for 2 weeks before a blood test to see what it would say.And quess what my levels were same as always?
I'm on 100mg per day

Also incase your docs havent informed you with an underactive thyroid your entiltled to a medical exemption card.So all your prescriptions for whatever are free for life.

Thank you! starting to feel a little reassured. Yes, the positive side to having this is that we get prescriptions free for life.

Bluetopaz - more than half way there!! Good luck!

Anyone else had problems?

I was also underactive through 2 pgs which for me meant lots of blood tests and regular scanning of baby to make sure they were growing ok (both were) & it was nice to see so much of them!

Also make sure they monitor you regularly AFTER having the baby - my gp tried to put me back on my pre-pg dosage of thyroxine far too early & in fact I have stayed on the higher dose since.

thanks Ruby07 and good luck with everything. Best thing is to try not to worry too much but to be a bit pushy about having your levels checked quite often (as mine have yoyoed even though they keep saying they'll prob stay the same from now on etc...) and be quite informed yourself. I know they prefer you to be in the upper half of the range for the thyroxine (T3 and T4) levels throughout pregnancy for example.

Also if your thyroid problem is autoimmune, as mine is, they may want to scan you further to check the baby's thyroid gland isn't swollen. I am having this done at 28 and 32 weeks. To find out if this might be a problem the midwives can give you a blood test to see if you have antithyroid antibodies. If you don't then forget about it and if you do, ask about having the extra scan. No harm taking another phial of blood if they're taking some already!