Pre-term births, miscarriages, and more.

[Chasing-rainbows]

Hi,

I've just joined here today and wanted to share my experiences and maybe get a little support/advice along the way.

I have had three premature babies, 29, 32 and 31 weeks. My oldest and youngest thankfully are doing well. My second baby, however, sadly passed away in nicu to lung complications. Devastating!

No cause was ever found for the early births, no cervix problems or anything like that. I'm fit and well otherwise, no smoking/drinking.

I have since had two miscarriages, 13 and 9 weeks. Then my youngest was born and is doing well.

Then a few weeks ago I had another miscarriage, 8 weeks.

Whilst in hospital I learned of the Tablet study looking at thyroid antibodies and their role in miscarriage/preterm labour. I had the blood test. I tested positive for antibodies.

The trial will consist of me taking 50mg levothyroxine OR a placebo. I won't know which.

I'm seeing my gp tomorrow to discuss everything, and see what they think about me participating in the trial or whether they would consider putting me on levothyroxine themselves, or referring me to endo.

The thought of being on the placebo and having another loss makes me pretty anxious.

I do have my results but no ranges as I just saved the results into my phone whilst at the hospital.

Tsh 2.50

Antibodies 71 ( I know above 34 is considered positive)

T4 14.6

I suffer with constipation and sensitivity to the cold too. Whilst everyone's in shorts/tshirts I'm huddled in a blanket!

What do you think?

[galathea]

Hmmm, the study is all well and good but in your shoes I would be pushing the doctor for proper medication. Not only can be difficult to concieve and carry a baby to term if you are hypothyroud, but lack of thyroid hormone can affect the baby in terms of development and IQ.

Of course, in the uk you are often left until the tsh reaches 5 or 10, my mum wasnT even treated with tsh over 20. But this is not the case in the rest of the word.

You could search for existing papers which link low thyroid to miscarriage and defects and see if you can persuade your doctor to treat you. Hypothyroid mom is a well known site.

Here is a starter.....

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

Xx. g

[Chasing-rainbows in reply to galathea]

Thank you, I'll check out that link now.

[Clutter]

Welcome to the forum, Chasing-Rainbows.

I'm so sorry you've had pre-terms and miscarriages and my condolences on the loss of your second baby. Thyroid problems may be playing a part. Positive antibodies means you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) and should be considered to have mild hypothyroidism although not developed enough for treatment in the ordinary way. Hashimoto's will progressively destroy your thyroid and you will eventually need thyroid homone replacement.

NICE recommends the TSH of women planning to conceive or newly pregnant should be in the low-normal range 0.4-2.0 with FT4 in the top 75% of range and Levothyroxine should be increased by 25-50mcg when pregnancy is confirmed. The risk of miscarriage and pre-term delivery is higher when TSH is >2.0.

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

I would ask your GP to prescribe 50mcg Levothyroxine while you are trying to conceive rather than face the uncertainty of whether you will get Levothyroxine or placebo on the trial.

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

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

[Chasing-rainbows in reply to Clutter]

Thank you so much, feeling a bit tearful tonight, grief can be so hard. I really hope my GP will be understanding and happy to prescribe the meds.

[Clutter in reply to Chasing-rainbows]

((( Chasing-Rainbows ))), Print the NICE document and take it with you. GPs aren't very knowledgeable about thyroid and some need prompting.

Ask for second and third opinions from other GPs at the practice if he doesn't agree or consider changing practice.

[Chasing-rainbows in reply to Clutter]

That's a good idea, I'll do that.

I'll let you all know how I got on later.

[silverfox7]

You have already gone through such a lot it would be cruel to subject you to a placebo. I think you have already done that by not being treated in the past. I'm not saying that is the problem but from your results they have suggested the trial so I can't see repeating without medication is going to produce significantly different results.

In my mind though by suggesting this they are aware that thyroid levels could be the problem so I think you are justified in asking for a trial of thyroxine and that if you have no adverse effects you remain on it. Hope things go well for you.

[Chasing-rainbows]

Thank you, I'll see how it goes at my appointment later.

[Hidden]

Hi

I sympathise with you, I lost a baby at 20weeks and then went through 5 years of fertility treatment through the NHS. After feeling like a number and having little success, I felt I was wasting money paying for treatment just to go through the motions. At the time I was seeing a fantastic lady for acupuncture who specialises in fertility she kept me sane and suggested I went to a private fertility clinic - care in Nottingham. They were fantastic. I had endless blood test looking for any idea as to why I wasn't conceiving. Some bloods were even sent to Chicago in USA ! The end result- my little boy has just turned 4.

My point being although thyroid maybe your problem, these guys look at everything and specialise in recurrent miscarriages, anything that falls outside 'the norm'

Might be another avenue to explore.

Good luck x

[Goodlife1]

Hello I would definitely ask gp to prescribe meds and say that your free t4 is low in range and tsh is above nice recommendation already and will most likely go higher during pregnancy. I think the meds will help with antibodies too. I am 8 weeks pregnant and on the Hashimoto's roller coaster. You have to fight for proper care in my experience...the NHS don't know what they are doing with thyroid patients let alone thyroid and pregnancy. Please insist on meds and see as many people as you need to to get proper care. Warm wishes.

[Chasing-rainbows in reply to Goodlife1]

Congrats on your pregnancy and thanks for the reply.

Appointment today didn't go well so looks like I need to do more digging around.

[Goodlife1]

P.S. going gluten-free really helps Hashimoto's symptoms. I got rid of all my aches and got pregnant 2 months after going gluten-free which may or may not be noteworthy for me. As it's an autoimmune disease there are lifestyle interventions that can help too.

[Chasing-rainbows]

It didn't go well

I told her everything I have put on here. She kept saying my tsh was well within range. The last one she had on her system it was 2.2 she kept saying it's below 4.2 so not a problem.

I told her about thyroid Uk and that anything above 2.0 can be cause for concern.

I asked for a prescription or a referral, she wouldn't do either.

She is doing a repeat thyroid screen and general health screen on Thursday morning.

If the last tsh she had was 2.2 and my latest at the hospital was 2.5 is that significant?

I feel like I don't want to hang about getting a second opinion as we are hoping to conceive again.

Almost tempted to do the trial, just to do something.

But I'll wait and see what comes back on these new test results I do on Thursday.

She said not to be surprised if it comes back normal. In other words that'll be the end of it in her eyes.

[Goodlife1 in reply to Chasing-rainbows]

I think the average tsh of a euthyroid person is tsh 1 and no antibodies. Argue that you have an autoimmune disease and if they refuse a trial insist that it's noted on your records, for when you sue them for medical negligence if anything goes wrong. I'm so fed up with the NHS negligence of thyroid patience. I have Hashimoto's and in one month my tsh swung from 1.72 to 45! The gp had refused me an endo appointment so I asked a locum who said I shouldn't have to battle and based on my Hashi's diagnosis (private as they refused me blood tests as per NICE) he referred me to an endo. It was only because I had that endo appointment that I had fresh tests done on NHS for that appointment and tsh was 45. You may have to go private but I honestly think it will be worth it. I begrudge paying but the best decision was when I paid for that private test to get a proper diagnosis. I'm now going to be under the care of Addenbrookes thyroid clinic for pregnant women...so some people do know about thyroid and pregnancy you just have to fight to get to see them. If I hadn't managed to get a referral there by being blocked I would have paid to go to the maternal medicine clinic on Harley Street which specialises in endocrine disorders. My stupid gp didn't see why I needed a specialist referral with tsh 45. Then when I pleaded he out it through for a stupid 79 day referral. In the end I complained to the practice manager of "no confidence" with any of the gps there with thyroid and got the urgent referral I needed. He also laughed at me for wanting time off work with tsh 45 and precariously pregnant...gps do not take thyroid problems seriously even when heading towards organ failure. It's so bizarre. Major complaints in hand. Keep us posted.

[Chasing-rainbows in reply to Goodlife1]

Thank you so much, I will do!

[wheat32]

Hi there. My first pregnancy was text book, no problems difficult birth but full term. We decided to try for number 2 several years later and fell pregnant straight away, however I had a miscarriage at 6 weeks. Shrugged it off as one of those things. Fell pregnant again immediately and got past the 6 week stage confident enough to go to midwife who promptly sent me off for an early dating scan. At this scan it showed the foetus hadn't passed 6 weeks (I was now 9) and had to be rescanned the following week. Hardest week of life. Again showed the foetus hadn't grown and no heart beat so I was booked in for surgery the following week. At this time they asked if I wanted to be part of the tablet scan. I said yes and 6 weeks later had the blood tests.

I thank my lucky stars that my local hospital had signed up for this trial as my results actually came back out with range and the consultant advised me to start on Levo (although my GP needed some convincing) and not to start conceiving until they were within normal range.

I am now 7 months pregnant and almost 2 years down the line from first conception, however I feel much better- not cold or constipated or have anal fissures which never cleared following the birth of my first.

Good luck you will feel better but read up as I find the medical profession don't have a clue!!

[Chasing-rainbows]

I have the constipation problem too, and the anal fissures, feel cold all the time. But I'm in range so she wouldn't prescribe! She said I'm clutching at straws. She's right, I am, but I've been given a glimmer of hope when I found out I have the antibodies. It means there could be an explanation. I realise it's not a guarantee.

[wheat32]

It's a horrible topic to discuss but I can always tell when I need more Levo if my fissures came back! Once I was on the correct dose my fissures disappeared until I became pregnant and had to increase again, which my GP with a TSH of 3.9 said no keep the same dose, I ignored and increased 25mg!!

You could be clutching at straws but put aside your TSH reading- you are constantly cold, you have constipation with anal fissures and probably loads more symptoms too once you do a bit of reading. Again as someone said up site check out Hypothyroid Mom her site has some great articles and advice.

Fingers crossed for you.

[Chasing-rainbows]

Thanks, so glad I joined here, nice to feel listened to and understood.