Underactive thyroid

[cat9]

At my 10 week checkup a few days ago, l mentioned to my dr that l have been experiencing significant hair loss since around week 6. She got the midwife to take blood so they could run tests on my thyroid. Yesterday, my dr left a voicemail saying l need to start taking levothyroxine 50mg, as my thyroid is underactive, and left a prescription at the practice. She won’t be available again till monday, when l plan to call her and get the exact levels. In the meantime, l took my first dose this morning but have googled (couldn’t help myself) and it seems having an underactive thyroid in the first trimester can put the baby at developmental risk and increase the chance of miscarriage.

Looking for reassurance, experiences, anyone who can tell me something to put my mind at ease? Does anyone know how soon the medication starts being effective for the baby's needs?

If you are in England you should be able to have a look at blood test results on the nhs app and see the levels I think.

from the NHS website
Levothyroxine starts working straight away, but it may be several weeks before your symptoms start to improve.. Try not to worry, easier said than done I know, but I’m sure if the GP had considered there to be a serious issues she would have arranged to speak to you at some point rather than just have left a voicemail for you to pick up a prescription.

Exactly like me with dc1. She was absolutely fine so was I. Came off meds after she was born. Back on after dc2, off again but back on now.

I have an underactive thyroid, it was only diagnosed after 2 consecutive miscarriages. With my last and current pregnancy I am under shared midwife/consultant care and they check bloods every 4-6 weeks and adjust medication as needed.
It kicks in really quickly so don't worry at all they will keep a close eye on your levels.
It must have been fairly bad if your hair has been falling out!! Hopefully you will feel the effects quickly and have more energy in the coming weeks.

Should also say last pregnancy I had a healthy baby and all fine so far with this one

Hi @cat9 try not to worry! 50mg is quite a small dose so it’s probably more ‘borderline’ under active. Thats the dose they started me on when I was borderline and ttc April 22 baby. I am currently on 125mg a day and 20+3 weeks pregnant with my 2nd and dd is healthy as is this pregnancy so far :)

I have an under active thyroid too, which due to the symptoms I think I've always had, was only diagnosed after my third baby. I currently take 150mg but go up to 175 during pregnancy and I've had five healthy dc. I know it's a bit scary to have anything like this when you're pregnant but you're taking the levo now so it's being dealt with. They will keep a closer eye on you too. Hope all goes well.

Please don’t worry you are on the medication now and it’s really great they picked up on it straight away. I have an underactive thyroid and it wasn’t under control when I first got pregnant - I think my levels were at about 9! I am now 20 weeks and baby is absolutely fine :). Make sure your midwife arranges an appointment with an endocrinologist and until then really put pressure on your doctors to have frequent blood tests as in my experience they really don’t understand how important it is in pregnancy and are very slow. I am now on 125mg Levothyroxine and my levels are at 3 but still being constantly reviewed.

I have an under active thyroid since pre-pregnancy. I usually get blood tests every 6-12 months to make sure I'm on the right dose. I asked for a test at 6 weeks pregnant to make sure, and it turns out I was not on the right dose as my levels were all out of whack. My TSH which is supposed to be under 2.5 was about 10. They increased the dose and it was back to normal at my next blood test at 12 weeks. I am 30 weeks now and all looking ok 👌

I found out that I had an overactive thyroid the day before I found out I was pregnant with my second baby. I found a private endocrinologist who also happened to be a specialist in pregnancies with thyroid issues and he was very reassuring.

Thanks for all your messages ❤

I spoke to my gynecologist again today. I am not in the UK, so my pregnancy checkups are always with her, not a midwife. She told me my TSH is 3.6, but they didn't get readings for my T3 or T4. I understand that for pregnancy the level should be 0.1–2.5 mIU/L for the first trimester and up to 3.0 mIU/L for the second trimester. She told me my level would be ok if l weren't pregnant, and my hair loss is unlikely due to my thyroid, which was a bit reassuring. I need to go to my GP to get it monitored more closely, and she will check again in 4 weeks.

However, l am experiencing awful side effects since l started taking the levothyroxine. Persistent headache, chest tightness, anxiety. She told me l can reduce the dose from 50 to 25. Did any of you experience side effects and how long did they last? On top of general pregnancy exhaustion and nausea it feels a lot :(

Both my pregnancies my tsh was over 3.5 at the beginning and quickly came down with medication - DS was born and has no issues, just had my 12 week scan for DC2 and no abnormalities picked up at this point

It's been a long time since I started on thyroxine, about 10yrs! But I do remember having headaches at first. As far as I can remember they lasted around 1-2 weeks and then stopped once I got used to it. Hope you feel better soon 🙂

I was diagnosed with underactive thyroid during my first pregnancy. I went to hospital with reduced movement and baby had a low feral heart rate. I had no symptoms so it’s entirely possible I’d had it before becoming pregnant and I’d not had any miscarriages. I’ve since had another baby and there were no problems at all from it.

I had heart palpitations after I started taking it in my first pregnancy and in my second but I’ve never had it in between. Everything was ok so I was just advised to continue taking it. It was annoying though!