Under active thyroid advice needed

[Cla90]

Hi I’m new to the thyroid scene and am after some help. I have been diagnosed with an under active thyroid by my fertility clinic. They have not however looked into the reasons why I have an under active thyroid. I’m on Levothyroxine 100mg and am in my 20s with no other known health complications. My concern is that I have read the most common cause of an under active thyroid is Hashimotos... is this true? I’ve also read that due to hashimotos being an immune issue you’re likely to have natural killer cells, which wouldn’t be good for my fertility treatment. So I guess what I’m asking is, is it likely that my under active thyroid is due to hashimotos? The internet is confusing me. Thanks 😊

[greygoose]

Hashi's is the most common cause of hypothyroidism, yes. You would need to test your antibodies to see if you have it: TPO and Tg antibodies.

Not sure what you mean about 'natural killer cells', though. Can you link us to where you read that?

Hashi's will only attack the thyroid, not any other part of the body. So, the only way, I think, that it would affect your fertility would be by reducing the size of your thyroid, meaning that your thyroid hormones would be low - you would be hypothyroid due to the Hashi's destroying your gland.

But, even if you have Hashi's, there is no treatment or cure. All you can do is replace the hormones that your thyroid can no-longer make enough of. Which is what you're already doing.

[Cla90 in reply to greygoose]

Thanks so much for the information. I’ve read loads of articles on the internet linking natural killer cell increase to hashimotos and linking it to fertility issues. But I probably shouldn’t trust everything I read on google. Thanks again.

[greygoose in reply to Cla90]

No. I'm not sure what a 'natural killer cell' is. Nor what it does. Sounds very vague.

[Arlie123 in reply to greygoose]

bumpsandburpees.com/news/20...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

The second link is a study which suggested there is mixed evidence regarding a correlation between natural killer cells and thyroid issues but it’s one review in an under researched area by the look of it. Top link shows there is stuff you can do either way though! Good luck Cla90

[greygoose in reply to Arlie123]

Hmmm....The first link doesn't mention thyroid. The second link only mentions post-partum thyroiditis in relation to pregnancy. I think you're adding two and two and getting five.

[Arlie123 in reply to greygoose]

Not trying to add anything just pointing out despite the weird name natural killer cells are a studied scientific phenomena and separately; there is treatment available for abnormal killer cells in relation to fertility. That’s all

[greygoose in reply to Arlie123]

Yes, I understand that. But, it's making link between Hashi's, pregnancy and the NK that is unhelpful. Neither of those two articles make the connections and I just thing the OP is worrying herself unnecessarily. Plenty of people with Hashi's manage to have healthy pregnancies.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) diagnosed by raised Thyroid antibodies

Ask Fertility clinic or GP to test vitamin levels and thyroid antibodies

Or test privately

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water .

Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood test. (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).

This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)

Is this how you do your tests?

Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins

List of private testing options

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin (doesn’t include folate)

medichecks.com/products/thy...

Thyroid plus vitamins including folate (private blood draw required)

medichecks.com/products/thy...

Medichecks often have special offers, if order on Thursdays

Thriva Thyroid plus vitamins

thriva.co/tests/thyroid-test

Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes vitamins

bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

Add any results and ranges if you have them

Or come back with new post once you get results

[S2017 in reply to SlowDragon]

Very very helpful, thank you!

[fuchsia-pink]

Please don't worry. Hashi's(and hypothyroidism) is very common and people with it still conceive and carry their babies successfully. You will need proper thyroid care during pregnancy, ie monitoring your TSH and thyroid hormone levels (free T4 and freeT3) - and should keep your nutrients nice and high (which has to be good anyway while you're preg).

And while, if you have it, it means that Hashi's will attack and eventually destroy your thyroid, the emphasis here is "eventually" - we're talking decades.

[HashiFedUp]

90% of cases of underactive thyroid is caused by Hashimoto’s. You need a thyroid antibody test to be sure. You may have to pay for this privately as many GPs wont test for it regularly.

Hashimoto’s does make getting pregnant harder and also leads to higher rates of miscarriage, low birth weight, birth defects, still born etc. BUT dont worry, if you are receiving treatment and your TSH, T4 and T3 levels are being tested regularly and are at the right levels, you will be fine.

Ideally TSH under 1.0 and T4 and T3 75% up through the range. Good luck.

[Lulu2red]

You should conceive naturally without any help once you balance your thyroid hormones. Keep a close eye on your levels when you do get pregnant and especially 3 to 6 months after birth. Your vitimin levels very important too.

[S2017]

Hi, I understand your worry as I am 42 and trying to get pregnant. I discovered I have hypothyroidism as well when doing a fertility test in 2018. I have also read up that there is a link between natural killer cells and thyroid function which can lead to further issues before conceiving/while pregnant. Its naturally worrying but I would suggest getting tested for these cells before getting pregnant and then allowing your fertility Dr to advise on the best course of treatment.

[Cla90 in reply to S2017]

My fertility clinic have never recommended me to have the thyroid antibody test and haven’t been interested at all in the cause of my under active thyroid. I think I’ll have to insist on the tests. Thanks

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Cla90]

Important to know if cause is autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto’s) as there’s much we can do to help ourselves....eg strictly gluten free diet and/or lactose free

Plus especially important to test vitamin levels at least annually...twice a year if supplementing

[Serendipitious]

Here is an article by Dr Izabella Wentz. She’s known as the thyroid pharmacist and writes a lot about thyroid and Hashimoto’s health. There is some good advice on pregnancy:

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...