Pregancy without a thyroid, what to expect?

[Mnmnmn]

I got my thyroid removed may 2019 after developing Graves right after my first pregancy (also positive for Hashimoto AB). I am at 125 Thyroxine and feel well most of the time and my doctor says my tests are fine at that dosage (T4 almost over the range and T3 in the upper half) I am trying to get pregnant again, and also wondering what to expect. I know I have to go to the endo to get my dosage adjusted and control it every month to ensure the baby gets enough to develop properly. But... what else? Will I feel well, will I gain more or less weight? Will it take me more to recover afterwards? Will I be able to breastfeed afterwards? I would love to hear others experience in the topic. Thank you!

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Make sure your vitamin D, folate, B12 and ferritin are optimal

B12 and folate are Goldilocks vitamins. You don’t wan5 them too high or too low

TTC

verywellhealth.com/infertil...

Pregnancy guidelines

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

gp-update.co.uk/files/docs/...

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/guidel...

See pages 7&8

btf-thyroid.org/Handlers/Do...

[humanbean]

People with any form of thyroid disease or no thyroid can find themselves short of nutrients.

In the case of low thyroid hormone levels then people tend to end up with low levels of stomach acid. As a result food is digested poorly and nutrient levels can become low.

In the case of high thyroid hormone levels then people tend to use up nutrients faster than healthy people. I would guess that more nutrients might be excreted too.

Low levels of nutrients during pregnancy are bad for the mother and bad for the offspring. The nutrients people concentrate on on this forum are :

Vitamin B12

Folate

Vitamin D

Ferritin (iron stores)

Iron

Given less attention, but still important are :

Selenium

Zinc

Copper

Vitamin A

A few things to consider :

1) Doctors consider any result within the reference range to indicate perfect health, which is not true. The example I usually give is that of ferritin :

Patient A has a ferritin level of 15 with a reference range of 13 - 150

Patient B has a level of 148 with a range of 13 - 150

Patient C has a level of 85 (roughly mid-range) with a range of 13 - 150

Doctors treat all of these results as equivalent and indicative of good health. But in reality the patient feeling best is most likely to be Patient C.

2) Top of range for nutrients isn't necessarily a good thing - optimal varies depending on the nutrient being discussed.

If someone has no information on what an optimal level for a particular nutrient is then it would (probably) be safe to aim for mid-range.

3) Copper and zinc have a relationship. Someone with low zinc will probably have high copper. Someone with high zinc will probably have low copper. In hypothyroidism the most common finding is low zinc and high copper, but there have been reports of the reverse situation.

4) Vitamin A comes in several different forms, and one of the commonest forms in supplements is beta-carotene. This is actually a precursor to vitamin A and is called a provitamin i.e. an ingredient that can be used by the body to make real vitamin A but isn't real vitamin A itself. Vitamin A is actually dangerous to pregnant women and babies in overdose. So, vitamin A is essential in pregnancy - just don't overdo it.

A link on the subject :

babycenter.com/0_vitamin-a-...

[Vs81]

I am in the same situation now, just wondering how did your pregnancy when?