Hi all , when I was going through ivf trying to conceive my ivf clinic told me I had to increase levothyroxine but my doctor wouldn't budge! After a very lengthy battle and the help of this group I finally got my dose alterd to what I needed .
I am however now happily 8 weeks pregnant but the midwife said my levothyroxine should be increased by a further 25mc automatically during pregnancy but midwife can't prescribe and my gp must do it but gp are refusing so I'm looking to you lovely helpfull lot to send any links? Nhs included if possible you have around information I can print off to send in to my gp that shows evidence that levothyroxine should be increased during pregnancy as I'm realy concerned that they don't seem bothered and how it could potentially affect my pregnancy .
Many thanks 😊
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Pixibell
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Congratulations, I wish you a happy and healthy pregnancy and a doctor who will do the right thing. It's hard to believe that he is ignoring the midwife's advice.
Q8: I have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism and am trying for a baby. What should I do?
Short Answer: Take your levothyroxine as prescribed and have your blood tests monitored, aiming for a serum TSH of 0.4-2.5 prior to pregnancy. Have your blood tests monitored regularly throughout the pregnancy.
Longer answer: During pregnancy the thyroid will normally make extra thyroid hormones. We know that having poorly controlled hypothyroidism during pregnancy is a risk factor for miscarriage, as well as for poorer brain development in the baby and pregnancy complications for the mother.
For this reason, you should plan to go into pregnancy with excellent control of your hypothyroidism, aiming for a blood TSH of 0.4-2.5mU/l.
As soon as you find out that you are pregnant, you should immediately increase your levothyroxine dose by 25mcg daily, and seek another blood test to monitor the thyroid function. You should then have your thyroid tests rechecked every 4 to 8 weeks during pregnancy.
Don’t wait to see your doctor or midwife before increasing the dose, as this leaves you and your baby potentially vulnerable in early pregnancy, which is the most critical time.
If your doctor and midwife aren’t aware of the need to change your dose, please refer them to the recent guidelines (references 5 and 6 below).
During the first 3 months of pregnancy the target for treatment of hypothyroidism is different, aiming for a TSH of 0.4 to 2.5mU/l. After that, the target TSH range is 0.4 to 3.0mU/l for ‘singleton’ pregnancies.
People carrying twins have slightly lower target TSH values. You should go back to your pre-pregnancy dose of levothyroxine when the baby is born, and have your TSH rechecked at the ‘6-week’ mother and baby check.
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