I am currently on 20mcg Liothyronine/ T3 a day. (Also taking 150mcg thyroxine)
I am planning a pregnancy and my fertility clinic and 2x endocrinologists (both private and nhs) have said that I can’t take T3 during pregnancy.
Is this true??
My TSH is 0.01 (which I feel well on) and the fertility clinic say that TSH has to be between 1 and 2 to fall pregnant and to have a viable pregnancy. (IVF)
Is this true?
I would be so grateful for advice from anyone who has got pregnant and been pregnant whilst on their T3 dose? Or any of you knowledgeable people that know the answer.
Both my nhs and private endo have already dropped my T3 dose from 25mg to 20mg in the last few months and I’m freezing cold and exhausted already, so I can’t imagine going back to life without it, but obviously having a baby is more important than anything else in the whole world!
Thanks so much in advance.
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AuntieMandy
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Someone will be along with evidence papers for you but I just wanted to pop on and say DON'T GIVE AN INCH. If you feel well on T3, and it is safe, stay on it.
I became very unwell when my first was born (assumed PND but now see it was my thyroid). I was bone-achingly tired. My husband had to do a lot of the care for her, including the nights. I couldn't enjoy her as much as I wanted because I was just so bloody tired. The onset of my eventual severe OCD began around now too.
My second was born 2.5 years later and things went downhill very rapidly. I would drop them off at preschool, come home and sit on the sofa doom scrolling until it was time to collect them. Too tired to even stand at the counter and wait for the kettle to boil.
The children ate poorly because all I could manage to feed them was quick pasta or ready meals. My house management fell away almost entirely. I wish SO much that I could go back to that time and change it. I missed out on so much of them and I rushed them both into childcare because I couldn't manage to keep them at home. I was short tempered and impatient with them. Not myself and certainly not the patient, gentle parent I knew I was really.
Having a baby is NOT the most important thing (I know it feels like it when you're desperate to have one) but your health needs to remain your priority.
Having a baby with under medicated hypothyroidism is MISERABLE and robs the joy from those early days and months.
*edit ..ignore most of this .didn't realise you were also taking Levo until i had posted it .*
if you are only taking T3 .. what is your fT4 level like ?
for the first few weeks after conception the fetus does not have a thyroid gland, and until it grows one and starts to produce enough T4 / T3 for itself the correct development of the fetus is totally reliant on you supplying enough thyroid hormones ....
Under normal circumstances in pregnancy, our blood gets an increase in Thyroid Binding Globulin to allow it to carry more T4 around... and our thyroid produces more T4 . presumably this is to cover this extra need for thyroid hormone from the fetus, and also to deal with keeping the T4 level 'ok' in the increased blood volume that pregnancy brings us ..
Even of we think that T3 can cross the placenta adequately ( which i think? there has been some debate about) I would still be bit concerned about taking just T3 for pregnancy unless i was sure my T4 level was reasonable , just in case the fetus actually needs T4 specifically for certain jobs. .. eg we know that some cells (brain) actually 'prefer' to make their own T3 from T4 (within the cell) , rather than picking up T3 that is passing by in the blood stream .
If the fetus needs T3 it can always convert it from T4 , assuming there is enough T4 in your blood,... but if the fetus needs T4 and there is next to no T4 in your blood .. then what ?
So i would make certain you have looked into this very carefully before considering a pregnancy on ONLY T3 .... if it was me i would be tempted to add some Levothyroxine to the T3 dose and adjust T4/T3 dose until stable BEFORE getting pregnant , just to cover this possibility .. even if i normally didn't use it and intended to go back to 'T3 only' after the birth.
Having a baby the most important thing ? .... no it really isn't .. being well enough to bring that baby/ child / teenager up in the way it needs is the most important thing . I realise this sounds terrible coming from someone who has kids when that is the thing you want more than anything , but ... A cautionary tale (which hopefully won't happen to you since you already know you can feel well on T3 but i'll say it all the same) ,,, I was unable to bring up my 2nd child in the way i would have liked to ...due to hypothyroidism ,...and honestly if i'd have known how hard it would be to be the kind of parent to the 2nd that i was to my 1st , i would have not have had the 2nd. She has had a pretty rough deal to this day .
it's not just the parenting of my kids that was negatively affected ....same as you ~ just enough energy to give 'em simple meals , and often achieve bugger all else apart from the absolute basics, (and love and apollogies) , interspersed with far too much irritability /impatience and having to say NO to nearly everything, because YOU couldn't manage it ., even on holiday ~ the first day was always spent with them not being allowed to go anywhere/ feeding each other pot noodles and eccles cakes while i was zonked out in the van from the effort of getting there.... And then there is "all that school work" that should have had much more involvement/ encouragement from me than it actually got .
i'd argue it's even affected the planet .. honestly , if i'd been tested in 1999 instead of being fobbed off until 2003 , i would probably still be making my own electricity from a windmill, even now .... instead of putting 22yrs worth of CO'2 into the atmosphere from heating buildings with gas.
My children quite often had porridge for dinner because it took 3 minutes and it filled them up.
I can't remember where I read it (probably on the forum somewhere because I rarely visit other websites!) but I think it was an Emma Thompson quote where she said something like you show love by doing the boring stuff for your kids. Serving dinner every night and doing the washing up. That's how you show love, not big flash days out.
It struck a chord with me.
We did as much as we could; even when there was nothing left to give. We kept them safe and warm and fed... even if it was just porridge. ❤️
Not T3 related but could be relevant to pregnancy and hypothyroidism. If you have low iron or ferritin I would suggest doing your best to repair low levels before trying to conceive. :
Thank you tattybogle and Hidden for your frank posts. I would say things here too about not caring for my children in the way I would have wanted due to undiagnosed hypothyroidism. I have tried but it’s too painful and revealing. Suffice to say it’s vitally important that you get your health fixed/stable first! You know when you get on an aeroplane, the sign next to the oxygen masks is “Put on your own oxygen mask before helping others” or words to that effect. With thyroid issues it’s just as important! The last thing you want is to be unable to bring up your child the way you want to and maybe even collect unnecessary guilt along the way. Get yourself well and enjoy Motherhood when the time comes. Truly Best Wishes.
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