Had my thyroid level check early following a dose increase 5 weeks ago due to now being pregnant.
Was told over the phone it’s 3.1 and ‘normal’. Can’t seem to locate the NICE guidance that says it needs to be lower. Can anyone help me out?
Why is it always such a battle to get what’s fair for your levels to be correct!
It's a little bit fiddly. NICE have general guidelines cks.nice.org.uk/hypothyroid... . They defer to the De Groot document academic.oup.com/jcem/artic... . The BTF also issue guidance which is endorsed by the BTA btf-thyroid.org/projects/pr... . All these sources essentially say keep TSH below 2.5 for the first two trimesters and below 3.0 for the third trimester. Your TSH is thus a touch high.
Pregnancy guidelines
thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...
gp-update.co.uk/files/docs/...
See pages 7&8 says TSH under 2.5 before 3 months and TSH under 3 after 3 months
No luck today. First told it was only meant to be 2.5 to conceive but as I’ve now conceived I should be fine. I reiterated NICE guidance of 2.5 or below and was told they needed to seek advice with obstetrics, could I call and give number on midwife’s booking appointment letter. I got no answer at that number so not sure how my GP is planning on getting a response. I’m so frustrated and debating taking an extra dose myself but I obviously don’t want to make matters worse. I won’t hear back from my GP until Friday.
I'd be very tempted to just take the increase myself right now. The guidelines say the TSH has to be 2.5 or below, but 2.5 is still a pretty high TSH. Most people will feel better with it down at the bottom of the range or below.
Your baby needs that hormone right now, it can't wait around for doctors to sort themselves out!
Only problem being I’m
On 50 so would I half a tablet each day as an additional or double the dose a few times a week? Tempted to increase myself for the reasons you’ve mentioned but also concerned I might mess my body up!
The standard increase is a 25mcg change. If you've got 50mcg tablets you can easily cut them with a pill cutter.
If you feel nervous about making the change, you could have 50mcg and 75mcg on alternate days. Levothyroxine is quite slow acting, so it averages out over a few days.
3.1 is a pretty high TSH, so we can be quite confident you're undermedicated. But it would be much better to see freeT4 as well, and in a perfect world freeT3, too. You can be confident to have one increase, but if I were you I'd want to see a full thyroid panel before increasing again. Its amazing that doctors are so reckless with our and our baby's health!
Probably ideal or to increase by 25mcg now, and then in 6 weeks get yourself a mail order finger prick blood test from Medichecks or Bluehorizon. Make sure you get TSH, freeT4 and freeT3. And if you can afford it get antibodies and vitamin D, vitamin B12, ferritin and folate - these are the vitamins we can often end up low in, and are needed for thyroid hormone to work properly.
With those results in hand you can ask for advice on here about whether you need to increase again. Doses as low as 50mcg can make us feel worse overall, so hopefully you'll feel a bit livelier on 75mcg!
The sheer frustration at the ignorance of so many doctors when it comes to thyroid treatment it’s astounding!
I’ve been trying for a year with ‘subclinical’ Hypothyroidism that they refused to treat even though in TPOab positive. Started Levo in Feb, TSH went even higher on 25mcg. They upped my dose and I fell pregnant that month so I definitely feel there’s a connection.
Pregnant - advice on TSH please 
Tsh high and 4 weeks pregnant 
Pregnant with TSH 30 
