Thyroid and pregnancy

[sand27]

Hi everyone
really hoping for some advice

I have an overactive thyroid due to Graves’ disease and are on 300mg PTU due to carbimazole not working enough. I’m 36 weeks pregnant and are due for an elective c section in 3 weeks. i have been told baby is now high risk.

just wondering whether anyone has any experience of this, what to expect after birth etc as I honestly don’t have a clue what the steps are in checking baby for hyperthyroid/ graves etc.

Hi, I am 16 weeks pregnant. I also have Graves and I'm on 300mg of PTU. I have been seeing a private endocrinologist on and off for years (rubbish care in my local NHS trust) and I've now been transferred to an endocrine consultant at the maternity hospital I'm under. This new guy has offered me the option of going on carbimazole. I've said why would I when I know PTU controls it well. He raised the risk of liver damage from PTU - but my private guy has always said this is so rare that he's never had a case of it in 25 years and is not a major concern. The new guy has said it's up to me, fine to stay on PTU, it's perfectly safe throughout pregnancy and breast feeding. I am also planning an elective C section. I've been told they will test the baby once born but I've not been told that the baby or I are high risk. Why have they said baby is high risk? Are you still under an endocrinologist? I'm having blood tests every ,4 weeks and all ok so far.

Hi @CarSeatCofusion thanks so much for your reply!

I wasn’t aware of any thyroid issues etc with myself until I was around 23 weeks pregnant when they found that I had an overactive thyroid. Following more tests they found out it was Graves’ disease and I had an urgent appointment with the endocrinology consultant to start medication. They started me on 10mg carbimazole and took my bloods every 2 weeks as i was having thyrotoxicosis. They gradually increased until I was on 25mg as my thyroid levels just weren’t coming down and last week they decided to just change the medication to PTU 300mg as the carbimazole just isn’t working at all. It’s definitely reassured me that you also take PTU/ prefer to, as I was clueless about the risks of PTU and why they wouldn’t give me that before!

I am now having my bloods done every 3-4 weeks and see the joint endocrine and antenatal clinic, however everyone I’ve spoken to (I end up seeing different consultants every appointment) have gave me a different answer. One has said they will take bloods, another have said they will just do a physical examination and see how DD is. Then another has said they don’t know as it’s down to the neonatal doctors what the plan of care is after birth so I guess I’m just really confused.

they said baby is high risk due to my TfT’s still being really high, being on medication this late in 3rd trimester and because my trabs are positive / high :( just don’t really know what’s to come!

Oh dear, it's not great that you are seeing different consultants/getting different answers. I've been told they will try and schedule me with the same consultant, and if not, it will only ever be one other. I'm sorry I can't advise on how they test the baby or what they do after birth - they've not gone into that detail with me yet. I do know that PTU is perfectly safe and I 100% trust the endocrinologist who prescribed PTU (I first saw him in 2017 and have been on and off it since). He prescribed that over carbimazole as I was TTC back then, and PTU was his recommendation for pregnancy. So, I wouldn't worry about your meds. Good luck and let me know how you get on

@CarSeatCofusion thank you!

it’s definitely not ideal, I do have a doctor who I come under however they seem to mix and match on clinic days. So it’s all a bit in the air. I’m guessing I’m not going to know what’s going on really until it comes to it unfortunately, I’m just a stress head so I like to be organised and prepared.

hopefully the neonatal doctors will give me some more insight on the day of my c section if I get to see them!

I’m glad I can put my mind at ease now about the medication, so thanks for that:)

I’ll definitely keep updating.🥰