A question for the ladies...

bananananamilk

Hi! I've had diagnosed hypothyroidism for about four or five years now. My levels were last checked late last year but my medicine dosage hasn't changed for about two years. This Spring I didn't take my meds for about a month, month and half for one reason or another. Now I've just started taking them again two weeks ago, starting slowly but now I'm up to my usual levels. As I said I have taken the same medicine for two years now and only went off on it for a month.

The reason I'm writing here is because this month my period is already four or five days late. I'm usually pretty regular so the question is can starting thyroid medicine affect your period like this? It's a hormone after all... I also felt a pressure in my throat in the area where the gland is for around five days a few days after I started the medication again. The thing is I also had unprotected sex a month ago so now I'm left wondering if it's in fact just my thyroid messing with me or if I am pregnant... I took a pregnancy test and it came out negative but it's not really reassuring since you feel like your body is saying something different.

Syriene

Yes! They can definitely affect it. I am only 4 months into thyroid meds, but the doc forewarned me that it would be about 6 months before my cycle settled down. It's been late, early, can't decide on how many days it wants to go, etc. It's been very aggravating. Having been off the meds for a month, your body probably needs to catch up again. Do your best to relax, cause the more you stress out, the later it will be.
I haven't experienced any pressure in my throat, maybe someone else can shed light on that part. If it keeps up, you might want to have it checked.

jumblejups

Don't know exactly about the direct impact of med changes/stopping and starting, but in general hypothyroidism does affect periods and can wreak all sorts of havoc on your cycle. I have a hypothyroid friend who was always regular, went on the pill and remained regular (in terms of break weeks and bleeds at that time), then came off the pill and her period just didn't seem to return. She spent over a year without her period, saw various docs, was given various meds to try and 'encourage' it. It finally resolved after a while. I had my first child 7 months ago, I returned to regular fairly quickly but then went hyper and my meds had to be changed then went hypo again and meds increased again. My first period following the last change took about 7 weeks to come, I'm still waiting on the second... def not pregnant again!

ynf80

Yes it really can mess up your cycle. Mine has never been the same since even when they put me on the pill to try and regulate it. They then took me off the pill as it can lower the rate of absorption for the thyroxin.

I had a major scare back in Feb but it turned out to be nothing and I was almost 14 days late. All I do now is track my cycle in iPeriod (original name for an app) and hope for the best.

I am sure you will be fine if the test has come back negative. Take another one in 7 days if there is no sign of your period. As for your throat I would go and see your GP as soon as you can and get it checked to be on the safe side.

Let us know how you get on and feel free to add me.

divacat80

In addition to what everyone else said, i have been warned by both my GP and my endo about pregnancy. To make it safe for the baby, you should get your levels in check and under control BEFORE getting pregnant, as hypothyroidism could potentially affect the development of the new life. Talk to your doctor about this if you're considering becoming a mother in the near future. If uou're not, take the necessary measures to prevent it.