Underactive thyroid and clueless

[justjade90]

Hello all I'm new on here and just looking for others who have the same as me and can maybe help me out a bit. So I was officially diagnosed in 2010 however my doctor never told me and when I gchanged doctors my new doctor told me I had an under active thyroid and gave my levothyroxine this was in 2014. I'm wondering if my thyroid is to blame for my son's really early birth (12 weeks early) and will I have a child normally in the future I lost 3 babies before all around 16-18 weeks. I have only had one other blood test since being on my tablets and tbh my doctor hasn't told me much about what this problem is why I have it and what the effects are. Does any females with underactive suffer from excessive hair problems? I have to shave my face,neck,stomach and chest someone mentioned it could be because of the thyroid but I don't know. I feel like I'm living with something that I have no idea about. Thank you for reading

[Partiallythere]

Hi and welcome. Sorry I don't know much about early births and miscarriages in relation to hypo. But the excessive hair sounds like polycystic ovary syndrome. PCOS and hypo often go hand in hand and certainly PCOS can make conceiving difficult. There is a huge amount of information on here and the ladies and gents here really know their stuff x

[justjade90 in reply to Partiallythere]

I have been tested for pcos before and it came back that I didn't have it I guess it's just one of them things thank you

[Clutter]

Justjade, welcome to the forum.

Undiagnosed and untreated hypothyroidism can make conception very difficult and significantly raises the risk of miscarriage but I don't know whether it also increases the risk of premature delivery.

TSH of women planning to conceive should be in the low normal range of 0.4-2.0 with FT4 in the top 75% of range and maintained at these levels throughout pregnancy. If you are planning another pregnancy you should inform your GP as it is usual to increase Levothyroxine by 25-50mcg for the first trimester when the foetus is entirely dependant on maternal thyroid hormone. This link is the NICE recommendation how to manage conception and pregnancy in hypothyroid women.

cks.nice.org.uk/hypothyroid...

Being hypothyroid commonly leads to loss of body, head and facial hair until optimally medicated. It may be an idea for your GP to test your pituitary function and investigate PCOS to see whether either are responsible for your excessive hair growth.

This link explains what happens when you are hypothyroid.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

[justjade90 in reply to Clutter]

Thank you I will have a read.

[shaws Administrator]

Welcome to our forum Justjade 90

I am sorry you have just been told you have hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid gland). The doctor was negligent in not notifying and treating you when first diagnosed.

The thyroid gland is very important as it controls all our metabolism and it also causes female problems, i.e. periods, miscarriages,premature births etc.

When you are treated properly and on an optimum of medication which makes you well you should be able to carry to the full term

It is really shocking and negligent that you went unmedicated for four years.

You have to read and learn as much as you can which you are doing today. The members are very helpful and will assist you in whatever way they can.

I hope they checked your baby's thyroid hormones too. I believe they usually do it at birth nowadays.

When you are due for your next blood test, you should leave 24 hours between your levothyroxine and test. Have the test as early as possible and take levo afterwards. Ask for a copy from the surgery of the results, with the ranges, for your own records and so you can post on the forum for comments. If you haven't had a test for Vitamin B12, Vit D,iron, ferritin and folate ask for these too as we are usually deficient.

Take levo first thing with 1 glass of water and wait about an hour before eating. Or you can take it at bedtime, last having eaten 2 hours before. If you take supplements or other medications leave 4 hours between taking levo.

I think you have this condition but maybe when you are on an optimum dose of levothyroxine it might not be so bad. I think because you've been untreated for 4 years things have gone a bit haywire.

drugs.com/health-guide/hirs...

If you copy and past the first part of your post into your Profile, it will enable others, if they wish at some point, to look at your history and it saves you having to repeat answers to questions.

Yes it can cause premature births:

Hypothryoidism can interfere with fertility and increase the risk for miscarriage and preterm birth.

pennstatehershey.adam.com/c...

[justjade90]

Thank you my doctor has never told me about not taking my meds before blood tests but then again I haven't had a blood test for about 8 months. They have never tested my son either I think I need to go and have a long chat with my doctor as I just feel like they have told me what's wrong thrown some tablets at me and said that's it. All I know is that it's not going to kill me

[faith63]

Thyroid can cause miscarriages, not hair growth like that. But thyroid is tied in to it. It sounds like an Ovary issue...definitely too many Androgens. Please see a Gynecologist.

[justjade90 in reply to faith63]

I have been checked for problems with my ovaries all is fine with them after reading one of the links I was given I think I may have found out what I have I will be booking in with my doctor next week

[faith63 in reply to justjade90]

nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/enc...

I found this link that may be helpful. I hope you get the help that you need.