unexpectedly pregnant, should my levothyroxine level be increased?

[clairebl22]

Hi Peeps, I have found myself to be very unexpectedly pregnant and had heard that I should increase my throid level meds but the Dr did not say this?

[helvella Administrator]

Probably.

It obviously depends to some extent where you are now!

Mary Shomon's About.com pages include this:

The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) and the American Thyroid Association (ATA) convened a task force on hypothyroidism in adults. The result was jointly published in 2012 in the journals Thyroid and Endocrine Practice as Clinical Practice Guidelines for Hypothyroidism in Adults (The "Guidelines.")

About the middle to lower part of this page is a significant section on pregnancy referring to that report. Well worth reading - and maybe printing.

thyroid.about.com/od/gettes...

Rod

[lesleywagg]

Yes it should be adjusted, make sure you mention it to your doctor because he definitely won't mention it to you.

My doctor still tried to reduce mine saying a previous blood test came back too high, I just ignored him and carried on with my normal dose, if it was a bit too high before then surely would be fine now I was pregnant.

Lesley

[molliemdz]

You should absolutely have a TFT done asap, and repeat throughout your pregnancy. Your thyroxine level might not need to change: mine stayed constant throughout my pregnancy with my daughter; however, I then gave birth prematurely. My daughter's brain development seems fine (she's quite clever and exactly where she needs to be for a 4-yr old who hasn't yet started school), but your baby's brain development and health are dependent on your having enough thyroid hormones. I read recently that your thyroxine requirement may go up by up to 50% during pregnancy, so it's very important to keep this checked. When I was pregnant with my daughter, my GP at the time classified me as a 'high-risk pregnancy' due to my hypothyroidism (which I wasn't happy about at the time), and I believe they had me do a TFT at every antenatal visit. Make sure your GP takes this seriously (cite any research you've done), and if he/she still doesn't request the test, switch GPs!

[didi30]

You should ask your GP for your bloods to be done. As the midwife will refer you to see a consultant and run bloods again but will need something to compare them to when she runs hers. I'm 11 weeks pregnant and had mine done as soon as I found out. In january my t4 was 20.(Something) but its dropped to 15.(Something) usually my gp will increase my dosage (on 200 thyroxine) but because I'm still within range and I've got my appointment with the consultant in april he's not aloud to increase it. I know I need it because of how I'm feeling and I'm not scared to argue with the consultant about it either.If you need to know anything else then send me a message. x

[clairebl22]

Thanks didi30 xx

[Jackie]

Hi Congratulations. Pregnancy can alter thyroid. I would go by new blood tests and the guidance of who is looking after your maternity care. They are used to the effect of thyroid in pregnancy, .

Best wishes,

Jackie