Blood clots during early pregnancy-a thyroid thing?

[saffbaby123]

Evening all,

I am very early pregnant (7 weeks) but have been passing clots and had heavy bleeding, slowing over the last few days. My thyroid has been bonkers over past two years, and I’ve recently had to bring my dose down to 150mcg thyroxine from 200.

I saw an emergency gynaecologist who said that bleeding and passing clots (quite big ones) was to be expected if my thyroid wasn’t controlled.

This was news to me.

I’ve had two children previously and didn’t have this with theM but then my thyroid was controlled.

Just wondering what the experience of other under active thyroid women has been?

Thanks

[Wetsuiter]

i don't have all the links to hand, but I think I've have seen on here that you usually INCREASE levo as soon as you know you're pregnant.

Someone knowledgeable will no doubt be along in due course.

[saffbaby123 in reply to Wetsuiter]

Yes thanks Wetsuiter! I’d thought that also-and it had been the case in my other pregnancies. But I think it’s because after blood test results my T4 has come down from 24 to 16 in 5 weeks of being on 150 from 200mcg, the GP was concerned that my TSH was still 0.28 (up from 0.03 5 weeks before!) still not up to scratch.

Interestingly-T3 was not tested 😕.

All

Fun and games with GP!

[HashiFedUp]

Hopefully they are doing your bloods regularly so you know your dose of levo is at the right level??

I was undiagnosed during pregnancy- possibly borderline - so not having treatment but never had clots. Hopefully everything is ok with the pregnancy x

[saffbaby123 in reply to HashiFedUp]

Thanks-hope you’ve been able to stay settled after pregnancy too.

Weirdly, after having been seen with a scan, they seemed to think the clots were a normal thing that develop alongside the egg sac that then detaches itself when implant takes place isn’t the womb.

Baby still showing on scan and all good, so it’s really strange!

[HashiFedUp in reply to saffbaby123]

If they are happy then thats all good. They are so cautious so if they say all is well then it must be fine. Good luck.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Congratulations on your pregnancy

Usually dose of levothyroxine is increased by 25mcg immediately conception is confirmed

Why was dose reduced?

Essential to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 too

Insist GP retests thyroid levels as well

[saffbaby123 in reply to SlowDragon]

Thanks Slowdragon,

Dose was reduced after showing over medication at end of April. Dose reduced from 200mcg to 150mcg after T4 showed as 24-and TSH of 0.03!

Tested again 5 weeks later and T4 down to 16-TSH up to 0.28-GP still not happy with TSH level so suggested dropping to 100mcg for another test in 4 weeks time. I mentioned about being pregnant and how dose usually goes up but she thought it best to keep it low to bring up TSH.

I e requested an endo appt!

Unfortunately midwives usually do the referrals to endo for pregnancies and I’m. It sue to be ‘seen’by them until June 12th.

I’ll Certainly insist on the folate and B12 levels. Thanks again.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to saffbaby123]

Your Ft4 is now too low

TSH is not a thyroid hormone ..it’s irrelevant

The most important result is Ft3 followed by Ft4

Strongly recommend you get FULL thyroid testing ASAP by private blood test ....DIY finger prick test

Dr Toft, past president of the British Thyroid Association and leading endocrinologist, states in Pulse Magazine,

"The appropriate dose of levothyroxine is that which restores euthyroidism and serum TSH to the lower part of the reference range - 0.2-0.5mU/l.

In this case, free thyroxine is likely to be in the upper part of its reference range or even slightly elevated – 18-22pmol/l.

Most patients will feel well in that circumstance.

But some need a higher dose of levothyroxine to suppress serum TSH and then the serum-free T4 concentration will be elevated at around 24-28pmol/l.

This 'exogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism' is not dangerous as long as serum T3 is unequivocally normal – that is, serum total around T3 1.7nmol/l (reference range 1.0-2.2nmol/l)."

You can obtain a copy of the articles from Thyroid UK email print it and highlight question 6 to show your doctor



please email Dionne at

[e-mail]

Utterly ludicrous to reduce dose of levothyroxine during early pregnancy. The baby is completely reliant on your thyroid hormones for first three months

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[Maramonro]

Bleeding and cloths are never a good sign in pregnancy and are not normal, so please don’t let doctors blow you off until they know exactly what is the cause. Take care!!!

[saffbaby123 in reply to Maramonro]

Indeed! Thanks so much x

All has settled now but I appreciate your thoughts x

[Ossuryak]

Hi, I am surprised your still pregnant after such heavy bleeding ,haven't got much to add except stay away from pineapple and paw paw whilst pregnant as the Indian woman use these 2 for abortion , they have bromelain in pineapple and papain in pawpaw , both very good for pain and inflamation but not when your pregnant. You need to be looked after by an endocrinologist when pregnant its very important for baby .

[saffbaby123 in reply to Ossuryak]

Good advice, thanks x

[humanbean]

When people are low in iron it can lead to heavy bleeding and lots of clots during periods. I don't know whether it increases the risk of the same thing happening during pregnancy.

Ideally people would optimise nutrient levels before conception. Low nutrients (vitamin B12, folate, vitamin D, iron and ferritin) are a common problem in thyroid disease, and anything that could make you less healthy overall should be avoided before and after conception.

The reduction of your dose from 200mcg down to 150mcg very recently was extremely bad timing, happening just at the start of your pregnancy or just before you got pregnant. And another point is that a reduction of your dose by 50mcg (a quarter of your dose!) was not the way that any reduction should be done, pregnant or not. Reductions and increases should always be done fairly slowly. Every change of dose is a shock to the body and should be done carefully.

[saffbaby123 in reply to humanbean]

Indeed humanbean, thanks for replying.

Yes the dose drop seemed radical to me too. GP has since suggested another stop to 100mcg (half the dose!) to bring TSH levels up from 0.28.

I’ve requested and endo appt!

Thanks for your comments x

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to saffbaby123]

Refuse point blank to reduce dose and insist on FULL thyroid testing this week including Ft3. Make sure that GP makes note to laboratory to include Ft3 test

Make sure to do blood test as early as possible in morning before eating or drinking anything other than water and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test

If Ft3 is not over range you are not over treated

If Ft4 and Ft3 are low in range you will need dose immediate increase in levothyroxine

[saffbaby123 in reply to SlowDragon]

Slow dragon, yet again I’m in your debt! Thanks so much-I’ll get straight on this!!

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to saffbaby123]

It takes minimum 6-8 weeks for TSH to react to any dose change ...and often a lot longer

But you and your baby need good steady levels of thyroid hormones all day everyday...

[tattybogle in reply to saffbaby123]

Have you decided to follow Gp suggestion to reduce further? Such a big change again seems concerning, my little brain is saying 'your poor body wont know whats going on'

And that's without growing a baby at the same time. Just doesn't sound right to me unless you were feeling really hyper to start with.

So pleased to hear all still well with baby. Best wishes.

[saffbaby123 in reply to tattybogle]

Thanks,

I know-my body doesn’t deal well with quick changes to dosage. I’m experiencing awful stomach cramps and diarrhoea in addition to all of this-Including pregnancy nausea. I really don’t feel well at the moment!

[tattybogle in reply to saffbaby123]

I agree with SlowDragon, insist on an FT3 test, TSH can sometimes take weeks to show change, and you and your baby need to know whats happening now ,not what was happening weeks ago. Frequent bowel movement can indicate overmedication, but stomach cramps and diarrhoea doesnt sound the same as that to me, and from memory (22 years ago!) diarrhoea/stomach cramps /nausea was normal early pregnancy thing for me. absolutely horrible and none of this 'morning' sickness either~felt like 24/7 ! never wanted to be pregnant again, but last 2 weeks felt excellent, had easy fast birth, lovely baby, now lovely at 22 (pain in the but at 14 tho!).

Hope you find medics and midwives you feel you can trust soon, but if not trust yourself and listen to slowdragons advice.

x

[saffbaby123]

Yikes! And in a complete twist of fate-I have just had the blood results back from medichecks and they are:

TSH: 3.82 (0.27-4.2)

T3: 3.17 (range 3.1-6.8)

FT4: 12.4 (range 12-22)

So...now not enough Levo! I can't win. Currently still on 150Mcg daily dose, no booking in with midwife until Thursday-at which point she will order booking in bloods which will no doubt take another week, and then a further few weeks before 12 week scan and appointment with endo which I will immediately request at midwife booking in.

Can anyone suggest to me why I might have (before becoming pregnant that is) have been so very over medicated on 200mcg levo a day? A result I had before pregnancy looked like this: 15/4/20

TSH: 0.03

FT4: 22.5

FT3: not tested

I was having panic attacks and heart palpitations which I guess is why the GP said to reduce Levo dose (although incorrectly suggested to take this down by 50mcg).

Could panic and stress have been to blame all along and not my thyroid levels? If only they tested my T3 level too, then we'd know more I guess.

I have a level of T3 from a year before this:

26/3/2019

TSH: 0.03

T3: 6.6

fT4: 20.6

This was when I was on a daily dose of 250mcg which was reduced to 200mcg daily. It was also during a period of incredible stress and anxiety at work. I put a lot of emphasis on my thyroid being the problem and causing my anxiety and stress response but now I am thinking it was the other way around.

Any thoughts?

Oh...and I now think that I can see an enlargement of my thyroid gland in my neck. I have never seen it before. Could it be a goiter or nodes? Would they have caused these crazy results?

Thanks.