I am so confused. I went to my fertility doctor 31st October 2018 and she noticed on my bloods from a few months previous it showed that I had a slightly under active thyroid but she seemed concerned, she told me to go back to the doctors which I did and went for more bloods, I had doctors yesterday and she said they are still slightly under active but it’s not too bad for medication, which is what she’s been telling me for months now, I’m just worried I am not being taken serious enough by her, I have all the symptoms, such as tiredness, low/ no sex drive, weight gain, feeling down, the lists goes on and when I mentioned it to her she didn’t seem bothered gave me more blood test and come back at the end of Jan. Im just worried because my fertility doctor said it isn’t normal but my doctor isn’t doing anything!
Any advice on what I should do?? X
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ChloeL934
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Hi Chloe,sorry ur going thru that. I have been in the similar situation like u. Doctors didn't care abt my thyroid but fertility docs said it had to be sorted first before I started treatment. They did t put me on thyroid medical as they said it was mint that bad but they offered me weekly blood tests. It was normal after a few months. I started my fertility treatment then :). Chase it up with ur gp. I hope it gets sorted for u soon
My iron is low, so I’ve been put on iron tablets, 2 a day. But I am thinking of ringing my fertility clinic just to explain and see if they can help me xx and thank you xx
Hey
From a general medical perspective the doctor will not see an issue. However more and more for fertility where numbers were dismissed historically, they are actually now taking this more seriously - even seemingly small numbers.
Did you explain to your Dr that your fertility clinic are concerned by the numbers? Xx
I have been to see the same doctor every month nearly since April this year, and she just keeps saying it’s only slightly abnormal, do more bloods test next month. She said she doesn’t want to start medication because I will have to stay on it for life, so she says, I told her I’ve been very down for the past 4 weeks she didn’t even acknowledge it - I’m so fed up with nobody listening to me! But thank you for your reply xx
Your TSH for trying to conceive should ideally be under 2. I'm with a clinic in Greece and they wrote to my GP to ask them to prescribe me levothyroxine....mine was only 4.69. Feel free to look back at my old posts.....my thyroid was also affecting my prolactin which was raised too. Thankfully my GP was fully aware my thyroid was not bad enough to be treated in "normal" circumstances but as I'm trying to conceive he knew it should be lowered!! As Orla9298 said definitely challenge this! You'll notice a big difference in how you feel tired wise too!xx
Thank you ladies all so much! I was getting to a point where I was questioning myself, I just generally haven’t felt myself for a while now! I’m ringing my fert doctor tomorrow and going to see what she can do! And I’m booking a doctors appt with a different doctor who hopefully understands xx
You could even ask if the clinic will write to your GP? Even quote to them about the NICE guidlines if you need to. I felt so much better & mine wasn't as bad as yours!xx
This has been going on since April, but I wasn’t aware, the past 4/6 weeks I haven’t felt myself at all! And I feel like nobody is listening to me! So I am defo going to do that. Thank you so much xx
Your symptoms can certainly be thyroid related but may mostly be connected to your low iron so definitely get that sorted out asap.
Iron stores can take couple months to recover.
For good thyroid function you need good levels of vit D, b12, folate (folic acid) and iron
Vit D esp in the winter months is imperative for us all.
If your thyroid levels were slightly high then the vitamin deficiencies once corrected may help to normalise it.
If your TSH is indeed 7(!) Then that is not 'slightly high' even for a normal person.
Range for normal TSH is about (0.25-4.5)
7 is far and above the range and you would indeed feel very poorly!
It is worth asking to have your thyroid antibodies tested also to make sure you don't have autoimmune thyroid issues as this will need taking care of during fertility treatment also.
As others have said NICE guidelines (you can print off if need be) say for fertility your TSH needs to be below 2.5 to increase chance of conception and reduce miscarriage and other developmental risks.
Most people only feel well when their TSH is below 2.0 anyway.
Try to get your actual results printed out so you know the real values and definitely challenge the doctors.
Alternatively you can say you just want a therapeutic trial of thyroxine meds to lower TSH for fertility.
If you then feel a whole lot better you can push to say it's working for you.
There's a LOT of info on the thyroid UK forum on healthunlocked but it can be overwhelming to read through.
Definitely ask your fertility clinic to write to your GP also to add weight to your arvument.
If your TSH really is 7 and has been for a few months then your GP really doesn't know what they're talking about. Go to a different doctor
Ask for TSH, free t4, free T3( if they will test it), TPO antibodies and TgAB antibodies
Also does anyone in your family have thyroid issues as it usually runs in families
Thank you so much for replying. She also said my B12 is satisfactory. She has asked me to repeat my blood at the end of Jan and has put on there for antibodies to be tested; I feel really let down; I told her a few issues and how I felt very down and low lately, she didn’t even acknowledge me just told me to come back in a month! She is also one of the doctors that printed me out period pain paperwork when I was trying to get diagnosed with endo, she also said that my levels has been going up and down, she knows I’m under the fert clinic as she referred me, (not that she was keen to) thank you so much for al your advice I will be calling my doctor tomorrow and will mention this! Xx
Hey! My FET cycle got cancelled because my TSH was 4.9. Normal is up to 4.5 but my doctor told me the NHS don’t prescribe thyroxine until it’s over 10. My Consultant gave me a private prescription to start with (cost £9.50) and then my GP prescribed as she knew I was having fertility treatment and understood it needed to be between 1-2.
NHS will also only do a thyroid blood test every 3 months so I’ve had to pay for some private ones too.
I’m currently on 50mg/75mg alternate days and my TSH is 1.3.
Now it makes so much sense! She also told me she wouldn’t give me anything until it was over 10. Yes because my last blood test was November, so she told me to do another one end of Jan, I even explained how unwell I felt but it seemed like she didn’t care. I have left a message with the fertility nurses so fingers crossed they can help me xx
Hi, this I can help with as I have a slightly underactive thyroid as well. For fertility they like you to be 2.5 or below. Previously I was 4.3 normal range is up to 4.5. Sofor fertility reasons I'm on one levothyroxine a day which brings me to 1.9 . I hope this makes sense and good luck x
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