Pregnancy with underactive thyroid, hashimoto - Thyroid UK

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Pregnancy with underactive thyroid, hashimoto

Fleurdesaison profile image
11 Replies

Hi, I have hashimoto and I got pregnant, I am in my 6th week. I've done my blood test to check thyroid and I have TSH 5.2 and FT4 13.9. My endocrinologist increased levothyroxine from 25mg to 75 mg. I am worried about my pregnancy and child development with my underactive thyroid. Does any of you had similar situation and could advise anything? I had to do all test and consultations privately as NHS asked me to wait another two weeks evenhough I informed them about my thyroid issues. Thank you.

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Fleurdesaison profile image
Fleurdesaison
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11 Replies
sbadd profile image
sbadd

Increases should be in 25mcg then retested every 6-8 weeks

SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator in reply to sbadd

In current situation being pregnant and under medicated it’s important she get dose increased rapidly

Baby is relying on her for Ft4

sbadd profile image
sbadd in reply to SlowDragon

Yes I was unsure what protocol was in pregnancy, good to know this advice, thankyou

SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator

How long were you left on just 25mcg levothyroxine

Standard starter dose of levothyroxine is 50mcg

Good that Endo increased Dose levothyroxine up

Aim is to keep TSH under 2. Most people when adequately treated will have TSH well under one

Bloods should be retested normally 6-8 weeks after each dose increase

But you might want to consider testing after 4 weeks

Which brand of levothyroxine are you currently taking

Make sure to stay on same brand at each prescription and dose change

What vitamin supplements are you currently taking

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

Have you had thyroid antibodies tested

Ask GP to test vitamin levels NOW

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)

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 antibodies and vitamins

medichecks.com/products/adv...

Thriva Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins By DIY fingerpick test

thriva.co/tests/thyroid-test

Thriva also offer just vitamin testing

Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes antibodies, cortisol and vitamins by DIY fingerprick test

bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

If you can get GP to test vitamins and antibodies then cheapest option for just TSH, FT4 and FT3

£29 (via NHS private service ) and 10% off down to £26.10 if go on thyroid uk for code

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

monitormyhealth.org.uk/

Vitamin D NHS postal kit

vitamindtest.org.uk

Pregnancy guidelines

thyroiduk.org/having-a-baby-2/

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

Important See pages 7&8

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

Fleurdesaison profile image
Fleurdesaison in reply to SlowDragon

Hi All,

Thanks for your advice. I do take blood test on empty stomach before taking the levothyroxine. I take folate 400mg, omega 3 and vit D 1000 units daily. I will ask my GP to get the tests you mentioned. I was taking multivitamins before pregnancy but now i stopped because it had high vit. A dose which I read is not advised in pregnancy. I have the first consultation on Friday. Hopefully they agree to test antibodies and vitamins. Last time I had them tested was half year ago.

Fleurdesaison profile image
Fleurdesaison in reply to Fleurdesaison

I forgot to add that I was on 25mg until week 5, I increased my dose at the beginning of week 6. My results from October 2020 on 25mg levothyroxine were TSH 1.28, FT4 14.5.

Bearo profile image
Bearo in reply to Fleurdesaison

There are a couple of articles on thyroid and pregnancy on the Thyroiduk website. Try to make sure your thyroid is regularly checked throughout pregnancy. I think the upper limits for TSH are in the articles.

Bearo profile image
Bearo in reply to Bearo

Regarding multivits, there are multivits for pregnant women e.g Pregnacare. I have no idea if they are any good. On this site the advice is to avoid multivits, test to see if you have specific deficiencies and supplement those.If you are considering a particular brand I’ve known people take a photo of the ingredients and post it here for comment as not all ingredients are equally good.

HungryHungryHypo profile image
HungryHungryHypo

Hi Fleurdesaison! Like you I’m 6 weeks pregnant, and like you my TSH went up, probably due to the pregnancy. I completely understand your worry as I feel the same. My GP isn’t very knowledgeable either. They ordered all sort of tests straight away, but when my results came back, I was told everything was perfect, despite having a TSH above 3... Which is obviously wrong!

When you meet your GP, ask them what sort of care is available because your condition. Eg my GP referred me to the obstetrics department straight away to decide whether my pregnancy should be consultant or midwife led.

And congratulations, by the way! Is it your first?

Serendipitious profile image
Serendipitious

I’d also recommend reading up on these articles. According to Dr Izabella Wentz, known as The Thyroid Pharmacist, your TSH should be no more than 2.

These two articles by her are about the thyroid, Hashimoto’s and pregnancy and are invaluable:

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

Good luck!

Yvesme profile image
Yvesme

Congratulations on you pregnancy! I have a very similar reading in my recent blood tests, also pregnant 6weeks. My Gp told me is no reason to feel worry about it and should repeat blood test in 6 weeks time. I have no diagnosis of thyroid disease. Been to gynaecologist and he prescribed levothyroxine 25mg. How are you and baby now? Did you manage to get the help you needed?

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