Hi there, My husband and I have been trying for a year and a halfish to get pregnant with no success. I did get pregnant before being on treatment for hypothyroidism but I miscarried early (this was nearly a year ago.)
Are there any private fertility clinics that understand hypothyroidism that anyone can recommend? We are in the Milton Keynes area but can travel further away.
Well getting pregnant with hypothyroidism rather depends on your thyroid levels being optimally treated. How much medication are you on and what sort of levels of free t4, free t3 and tsh do you have?
Xx g
I'm waiting for a referral to the endo (from July) because my test results are never stable. They go up and down on the same dose. But my last test result is from 6ish months ago where the tsh was under 1 but my t4 quite low around 14. My TSH one month before that was 1.92 on the same does and the t4 around the same number.
I'm on 100mcg of levo.
I don't have information but a member may have.
Sometimes miscarriage can happen if hypo, particularly if not on an adequate dose of thyroid hormones.
Fertility and pregnancy problems can arise too as hypo affects every part of our bodies..
hypothyroidmom.com/infertil...
web.archive.org/web/2010103...
Thank you for the articles, reading through them maybe its worth paying to see an endocrinologist, rather than a fertility clinic. See if theres a way to stabilise blood tests.
You'll have to search for a good one as many follow the guidelines only and don't take account of clinical symptoms and some members have spent money on private Endos and wished they hadn't.
If you can get a print-out from the surgery of your latest blood test results with the ranges, you can post them for comments. Put them on a new question if you don't have them at present. You have to put the ranges too.
If you've not had a recent blood test make an appointment and ask for a Full Thyroid Function Test as you want to get pregnant. Ask for TSH, T4, Free T4, T3, Free T3, Vitamin B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate. If GP wont do them all you can get private tests and Thyroiduk has a list.
You have to get your thyroid hormones at an optimum level. You can put up a new post giving your area and asking if anyone has a recommendation re an Endocrinologist and to send you a private message.
If you can afford a private consultation, email louise.warvill@thyroiduk.org.uk for a list and choose a name(s) from it and you can again post a name and ask for a response to be sent to you by Private Message.
A blood test for thyroid hormones should be the earliest possible, and fast. Leave approx 24 hours between your last dose of levo and the test.
Thank you for the advice. I will talk to my husband about it tonight and try this approach. I'm waiting to see an endo on the NHS anyway so I think it will make sense to my new Dr why I'm going to pay someone privately instead of waiting forever. And the last results are months old now.
You really need to have the free t4 at the top or just over range, 100 mg isnt really a full replacementt dose. Suggest you show your doctor the comments frm Dr Toft, a retired endo, but one of the establishment golden boys. his book is available in kindle. Its called understantdjng thyroid problems. By a toft. Is about £5.... Or if you email louise warville she can let you have a copy of the pulse article written br dr toft. Pulse is the 'doctors club' magazine.
G
Thanks Galathea, I will work out a strategy with my partner to go and talk to my Dr and hopefully they will understand and up my dose a little.
If your thyroid function test results and thyroid symptoms fluctuate a lot it suggests that you may have autoimmune thyroid disease, otherwise known as Hashimoto's. To find out for sure you would need to have your thyroid antibody levels tested. See the table on this page - there are three different kinds of antibody which can affect the thyroid, and people can have more than one :
labtestsonline.org.uk/under...
Antibodies attack the thyroid. When thyroid cells get destroyed by antibodies they release the thyroid hormone they contain. If you are in the midst of a bad attack your FT4 and FT3 can rise quite markedly. This then reduces your TSH. You could feel overactive/hyperthyroid.
If you are going through a good phase (in antibody terms) your FT4 and FT3 will reduce, your TSH will rise, and you could feel underactive/hypothyroid.
Eventually the thyroid is damaged/destroyed enough that you become permanently hypothyroid. This can take decades.
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Another reason for fluctuating thyroid function test results is that the conditions of your test are changing from test to test.
In order to get the most reliable and stable results, always stop taking thyroid meds for 24 hours before blood is drawn for testing. Take the missing dose immediately after the blood draw. (I'm assuming you are on levo and you take your meds once a day). Also, the blood should be drawn as early in the morning as possible - 9am or before is best. Also, don't have breakfast or drink anything except water before the test (you don't want to be dehydrated).
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Click on each of the topics on the left hand side and read all that apply to you. Many doctors don't know this and women who get pregnant are left with insufficient thyroid meds. You do not want this to happen...
cks.nice.org.uk/hypothyroidism
Hi there, I know I am positive in Thyroglobulin antibodies but I tested negative to TPO's before, I didn't know you could reduce your antibodies? I am on a gluten-free and lactose free diet.
Impalpable, NICE recommend the TSH of women planning conception should be in the low-normal range of 0.4-2.0 with FT4 towards the upper range. If your GP tested thyroid levels every 8 weeks it should be possible to adjust dose to keep you within that range.
cks.nice.org.uk/hypothyroid...
My T4 is always quite low, I will make an appointment with my Dr and ask her about this, show her the Nice guidelines and ask for a new test. Hopefully she won't mind, if she doesnt want to raise my dose I can ask her for a private referral. It would be nice if an increase in dose will solve this problem for me. Thank you so much for the information.
Sent you a PM
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