Treatment for slightly underactive thyroid?

[elprup33]

Hi. I have unexplained infertility 3.5 years and am just on microgynon at the beginning of our second fresh IVF cycle. I have just had a thyroid function test back and my TSH level is 3.1. I know that there are studies that query treating infertile women with levels over 2.5 and I was wondering if anyone's doctor has recommended this? I am planning to talk to my GP next week. TIA

[lucylob]

Hi, on my fresh cycle my level was 3.6, my clinic suggested increasing my dose before my frozen cycle and my levels went down to 1.6 and now I’m 8 weeks 5 days pregnant so it’s definately worth speaking to your gp xxx

[elprup33 in reply to lucylob]

Thanks very much Lucylob! I didn't know if I was being a bit over demanding.

[Hidden in reply to elprup33]

Not at all. We had 6 years unexplained infertility/male factor and my fertility consultant started me on Levo and we fell on. ❤️ It’s not over demanding at all 🙂

[elprup33 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks so much both and congratulations!

[lucylob in reply to elprup33]

Not at all it’s a massive thing! They want it under a certain level for a reason! I was told today il be consultant led due to my thyroid ! I didn’t ask my go to increase my dose, the clinic told me to and I went to my gp and told them I needed a new script and they did it ! They want your treatment to work and understand the levels need to be the lower end of normal for ivf and to help to conceive x

[ICSI2018]

Hey lovely,

I’m on levothyroxine 100mg a day to maintain my levels below 2.5. My fertility clinic said that they need to be below 2.5 for implantation reasons. You should definitely talk to your GP.

Xx

[Shil11]

I had to get my thyroid to 2.5 before IVF too

[Cookiemonster5]

I was up around 5 for TSH but GP was happy with thyroid function. First thing fertility clinic did was put me on a tiny dose of levo (20mg) and 8 weeks later I was at 2.5 which clinic were happy with and we are now about to start our IVF journey. All the best xx

[Foodie23]

Hi elprup33,

I'm at 2.7 with unexplained infertility and plan to start IVF in November. No one ever mentioned THS levels under 2.5 being important. Should I look into this? Thank you.

[elprup33 in reply to Foodie23]

I read something a while ago and was just worried about it as starting second cycle. Then I read this:

webmd.com/infertility-and-r...

so that's why I was asking for advice and plan to see the GP x

[Foodie23 in reply to elprup33]

Thank you for your quick reply and the link to the article. I phoned my GP immediately and they're following up with an endocrinologist to see if it's something to pursue. In the meantime, I have an appointment to get another TSH test plus a T4 test. Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention.

[Foodie23 in reply to elprup33]

Thank you so much for posting this! Because of you, I'm now on thyroid medication to bring my levels down before I start my first IVF cycle at the end of next month. My new THS was at 3.1. I had to be my own advocate and see a private endocrinologist, but I got the help I needed. Thank you so much for your response and sharing that article with me!

[elprup33 in reply to Foodie23]

Good luck with your cycle 🤞

[Cl473]

I had slightly elevated levels of TSH. We also had some male factor issues and were at the point of being referred for treatment. However, I had been put on a low dose of levothyroxine, and we conceived naturally 2 months later. I have no idea if that's what made the difference or if it was just very good luck.

To note, we were not in the UK, so it may be more commonplace as a treatment there than it is here. But worth asking, i would say.

[Cinderella5]

My clinic wanted mine under 2 for treatment and they gave me a letter to give to me GP and thankfully he prescribed me 50 of levothyroxine. Its actually made a huge difference to how I feel too, not so tired all of the time! Good luck!xx