Hi ladies. I had a failed FET in October and had done a few tests through my GP back in Sep.
My thyroid level was at 1.7 mU/L when tested in September and clinic did not make any comment when I emailed them the results.
I’ve started acupuncture today again due to high anxiety and sleeping issues and also unexplained fertility and my new acupuncturist made a comment which made me to worry.
She believes for achieving and holding a pregnancy my TSH should be at least 2 and it’s been a bit low.
I know she isn’t a doctor but she deals with fertility patients every day and seems very knowledgeable.
What are you thoughts on that? Could this possibly be a reason for recurring implantation failure and do I need to find a private clinic to test everything thyroid related?
My clinic is only interested in offering the same FET protocol after 3 failed cycles or doing a natural FET.
I’d appreciate your input if you have any experience with this,
Thank you
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Mahriya
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I don’t know a huge amount about TSH levels in all honesty but I saw your post and thought I’m sure that doesn’t sound right. I just checked what mine was when I started my last FET as my clinic always do bloods first and it was 0.56. I’m now 17 weeks pregnant so I really don’t know what your acupuncturist is on about!
I’m sure ladies who have higher TSH levels due to a thyroid issue normally have to get it under a certain number to start an IVF cycle so hopefully someone with experience can help with that.
I will say that on my second IVF cycle I saw a highly rated fertility acupuncturist and I honestly found her a bit too opinionated on things she wasn’t really qualified to give advice on (like she didn’t agree with my stims medication dose etc) and I found it stressed me out more and I actually had my worst cycle outcome. So for me it was adding more stress and no benefit and stopped going after that xx
Heyy, thank for checking your test results. I think I need to speak with a doctor about it. The acupuncturist lady said she can help me with needles to bring up my TSH levels but now I’m worried she shouldn’t really go there if I have perfectly normal levels. I get what you’re saying about the added stress they can cause. I honestly love acupuncture to help with my insomnia and stress but sometimes they go too far. We had a chat about food and she started to talk about how gluten is bad and dairy is not good for fertility but I really believe the opposite is right. I drink whole fat milk and whole meal food as they’re necessary for your body unless you have intolerance. Thanks again for your message xx
I agree with your above comments, my thyroid was 4.7 last summer but this year with changing how I take my thyroxine it is now hovering around 1 which is perfect for conception. Hope you get your GP to go over this with you and reassure you.☺️
Hi.TSH should be under 2 or 2.5 at a maximum for fertility/IVF. Maybe consider a consultation with another clinic if you are having doubts about continuing with your current clinic. Good luck x
I’m not sure I fully agree with that comment either, but I’m no doctor! I do however suffer with high TSH and have been treated with thyroxine for a few years now. My endocrinologist likes to see it below 2.5 and not much lower than 1 for “optimal” conception levels.
My first clinic weren’t worried when my TSH creeped to 4.5+ but my endocrinologist upped my thyroxine dose to bring it down. My second clinic were a bit hotter on it and when I fell pregnant with my fourth transfer, it shot to almost 8 and my dose was increased further to bring it down.
If you’re concerned, I’d get an opinion from an endocrinologist as that is their specialist. Have you tried exploring other tests for your unsuccessful transfers?
Hey, thanks for your message. It helps to know everyone is saying the same thing in here. I’m waiting for the letter from clinic to contact my GP for immune screening and some other tests if i can persuade them to help. If i get no luck I’m considering private tests or going abroad if next cycle fails too. mMy clinic doesn’t offer any investigation so I can only go through a GP. Congratulations on your pregnancy xx
Are you getting 3 cycles on the nhs? That’s amazing! I was only offered one. It is odd that they didn’t check your thyroid. The clinic I went to were very thorough and checked my thyroid before each transfer (I hadn’t even checked why I just trusted them). I wouldn’t necessarily change clinic but I’d definitely start asking them these questions. You said multiple fails but only mention one transfer. Have you done multiple transfers? Just to note my first one didn’t work (medicated) but my second one did (naturally modified) and sometimes they just don’t work and you have to have faith in the next
Hey hun, my postcode you get two fresh cycles but if you get any frosties, they offer three frozen cycles too. I hear how horrible it is in some postcodes where you get no funding or only one. It’s all a stupid postcode lottery thing that they need to sort. If I still lived at my old address I wouldn’t get any funding at all so it was all pure luck that we moved before we even started to try conceiving naturally. I had two fresh cycles and a Fet in October so I’m thinking about going for a natural FET with added cyclogest next. It’s great to hear your natural cycle worked. Did you take any medication at all? Mine only offer progesterone pessaries and no trigger. Congratulations on your second successful cycle xxx
I know! You’re lucky to get several cycles. I think my clinic do private and nhs treatment and in my view they treat everyone the same. Luckily my frozen embryos of 3 all count as one cycle. Thanks so much for the congrats! I just wanted to give some hope. Yeah so sorry you’ve had multiple failed attempts. I really hope it works for you next time. So I had faith my womb was good at growing lining as I regularly ovulate. I did track my cycle when they said twice a day with ovulation tests and when I got a surge I called them then I had an appointment anyway the next day to check my lining which was good. They gave me the trigger pen and told me to do it that day and start progesterone pessaries the next day. Transfer was 6 days later and bobs your uncle it worked. I also felt a lot better for not being on the oestrogen and I did acupuncture and cut out caffeine as well as alcohol. No real idea what worked but obviously if I use my last embryo (which I think I’ll have to pay for) then I’d do it all the same again.
It’s so good to hear your story. I’m not really keen on another medicated cycle so will definitely give natural a try and see how my body responds but I have no faith in my clinic and already planning a fresh round abroad for next year. Did you have endo scratch, embryo glue or assisted hatching ? I’m really two minded on whether to try a scratch or not. xx
No but I did have uterine polyps that occurred after the egg collection drugs. I had to have them removed because they were in the central place in the womb. They took a biopsy of the womb when they did that and it came back normal. We were offered to pay for an ERA when the first one didn’t work but it was expensive and wasn’t sure it would show anything so we didn’t do it.
Hey hun, I wish that was the case but she specifically said she needs to work on me to increase my levels to above 2 as a minimum acceptable range. I’ll have a chat with her next time xx
It is very interesting what you are bring up as I am taking thyroid medication too and a few days ago I did a blood test and it came back 1.8. Hopefully I have my transfer on Tuesday but I will definitely ask about this to them and on Thursday I have an appointment with the endocrine. I will try to remember to tell you what they say to me
Hey best of luck with your transfer. That’s very kind of you to ask and I’d really appreciate it if you could let me know what they say. Many thanks xx
I just remember 3 advices the doctor gave me.1. Put iodine salt in the food (look for a bag that specifically says it)
2. Don't eat or drink anything for an hour after taking the medication (usually they say 30min)
3. If you are having to take other medication you should leave at least 6h since you took the medication for the thyroid.
They are simple things that might help you to go down to below 2.5 faster. In my case it took 2months (more or less)
Hi Mahriya, I don't think that's an accurate statement at all from your acupuncturist. I have had thyroid issues for years and the specific medication I'm on actually suppresses my TSH quite a bit and my levels are normally way lower than that. I've achieved and carried 2 pregnancies with these very low TSH levels all under the care of an endocrinologist knowing that I'm undergoing IVF and he's perfectly happy with them. To me a TSH of 1.7 is perfectly fine and I don't see any logical reason to try and increase it. If you want to be doubly sure, don't go by TSH alone, check your free T4 and Free T3 levels as well to see what they're in range, as well as thyroid antibodies to make sure they aren't elevated. Also the website Stopthethyroidmadness is a great resource with a huge amount of information on it so good to have a browse if you're interested. You sound like you're doing everything you can so try not and stress about it (easier said than done, I know!)
Hey hun. Thanks for your comment. I’m now certain that she isn’t right about this because everyone is telling me about their experience with thyroid levels. I’m so glad I got the support here to open my eyes and didn’t just go with what she said. Just need to have a word with her to put her focus on regulating my hormones and thickening the lining for a natural FET. I don’t believe acupuncture makes you pregnant but it really helps me with stress and sleeping issues as a result of anxiety. Sometimes they tend to go out of their depth a bit but I’ll make sure to be careful with it. I’ll check that website too, thanks again. Xxx
It's so hard not to overthink it when someone says something like that so great that we have this forum to check others' experience. This is such a hard process that you just want to make sure that everything is as right as it can be! It's great that you're enjoying the acupuncture, it can be great for the anxiety and to help relax which is all good for this process. Best of luck for the next FET.
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