Thyroid Issues

[Lw1311]

Good Morning! So glad to see some of you being able to resume treatments and thinking of those still waiting. Just after some advice. We were due to have a baseline scan for a second FET yesterday but received a call from my GP to say my TSH levels had gone from 2.3 to 55.7 in 3 months.. I have been regularly taking levothyroxine so no reason for this to happen and they are now looking in to Hashimotos etc. Has anyone had any experience with this and their fertility or know any other ways to bring TSH levels down? TIA x

[Patches86]

Hi LW, I’m sorry to hear this, I know how disappointed you must have been with this news given you were about to have your baseline scan. I don’t have any answers I’m afraid, but would be interested to see what others have to say. Im also monitoring my thyroid levels at the moment, waiting to start my IVF cycle (hopefully next week) and hoping levothyroxine does the job of getting it under 2.5! My sister has hashimotos and fell pregnant (currently 29 weeks) while thyroid levels were sky high...

[Lw1311 in reply to Patches86]

Ah so happy for your sister and that’s reassuring to hear! Mine were about 4 to start but the levothyroxine worked within weeks initially and it was down to 2.3 so unsure why it has skyrocketed! I have an appointment tomorrow so will let you know if there’s anything they say. Good luck for your treatment!x

[Hidden]

Im so sorry to hear you have this so close to you appointment. Not much of help but i hope they get it under control asap. Havent heard if such high levels to be honest. Do you feel

Different lately? My highest was around 6 and always have had the symptoms. Hope you get treated asap cx

[Lw1311 in reply to Hidden]

Have put on weight which wasn’t shifting despite dieting exercise etc. But put it down to lockdown. Headaches and painful fingertips? But again don’t know if that’s related. Very frustrating! Thank you xx

[Hidden in reply to Lw1311]

I hope you get a treatment plan soon. Goodluck at the doctors xx

[sazzle2680]

Hi Lw1311

I have hashimotos, I managed to get my TSH under 1 (which was the preferred position for my clinic), the guidelines say that TSH should definitely be under 2.5, (mine did pop up to 2.14 in my last cycle). It needs to be under 2.5 as there is a risk it can damage the baby’s brain development and cause pregnancy complications if above that.

The only way I know to reduce TSH is by increasing your dose of Levothyroxine (which is what I did last cycle).

If you have hashimotos it is diagnosed by the presence of certain type of antibody in your blood being above normal range. In most cases it’s the high antibodies which push your thyroid to work harder (as the antibodies attack and destroy your thyroid gland) causing your TSH to rise.

If you have hashimotos, getting the antibodies under control will reduce the effort of the thyroid gland and cause your TSH to drop. It can be tough though. From my research vitamin e, selenium and inositol can help (I take all 3) alongside a gluten free, soya free and in some cases dairy free diet.

Hashimotos can also majorly disrupt your vitamin and mineral levels - particularly vit D, ferritin, folate and B12 and it’s worth checking these in a blood test. They won’t necessarily impact your TSH directly but they may help you feel better.

As well as getting your TSH tested the doctor should also test your FT3 and FT4. Levothyroxine is FT4 your body has to then convert it to the usable form FT3. If you’re not getting enough Levothyroxine your FT4 and FT3 will both be low and your TSH high (this is the most common problem). If you are getting enough Levothyroxine your FT4 would be fine, but you may have issues with your body converting it to FT3, the usable form, in which case your brain would signal the body to produce more TSH. If that’s the case your FT4 would be normal or high, TSH would be high and FT3 would be low and you’d need to see an endocrinologist (this happens rarely).

Good luck xx

[Lw1311 in reply to sazzle2680]

Thank you for this reply! Super helpful. I saw the Doctor yesterday who advised it is Hashimotos. He has increased my dose by 4 and said he expects to increase it again in 3 weeks. He is also testing me for celiacs as I have always been gluten sensitivity but have been eating more gluten since lockdown so he thinks this may have something to do with it. He said he can feel my neck is swollen and there is a lump as well which he said probably won’t go away... but I should lose any weight that I have put on due to my lack of metabolism. Just couldn’t believe my tsh had gone up in 3 months so drastically and thankful I didn’t restart treatment without having another blood test (which wasn’t even at the recommendation of the clinic)!xx

[sazzle2680 in reply to Lw1311]

Sounds very positive! How much Levothyroxine have they got you on now? I take 150mg one day and 175mg the other.

The lump in your neck is known as Goiter and basically it’s your thyroid glad. If it’s had to work super hard (like yours was with a TSH that high) it thickens and swells. It can reduce slightly but apparently never fully goes away.

Good news about cealiac test! I’ve found being gluten free helps my hashimotos massively. I’m definitely dairy sensitive too...but I cannot bring myself to cutting out dairy.

It’s worth noting that having a hashimotos diagnosis means you are entitled to free prescriptions.

If you need any help or advice, happy to share what I know. Drop me a message

[Lw1311 in reply to sazzle2680]

I’m on 100 at the moment but they’re going to put it up. Just wanted to not increase it too much as thought it would cause heart palpitations? Or so I was told.

Yeah I definitely need to be more strict with the gluten because it makes me ill generally so probably is a bit contributor to my thyroid too! I used to be no dairy or gluten for a number of years and it was tough!

I got an exemption card when I was first on levothyroxine so haven’t paid for any nhs prescriptions anyway but definitely helps!

Thank you 💜

[sazzle2680 in reply to Lw1311]

Oh the palpitations can be scary! I’ve had it when I’ve been “over replaced” . I also get the shakes really badly in my hands. Definitely worth increasing dose slowly.

Apparently gluten has a very similar cellular form to Thyroid tissue so your body sees the gluten as more thyroid tissue to attack so it increased your antibodies and associated inflammation causing it to destabilises your Hashimotos.xx