Pregnancy and hypothyroidism

Morgaine_on_the_move

I posted this on the main board but I thought I'd post it here too:

I am going to start trying to get pregnant this August or September. I'm 27 and I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism a few years ago. My levels are now "normal" with medication.

My endo said she'd check my levels frequently. She also told me to lose some weight now before I start trying ( I'm 10 pounds overweight for my height, but I exercise a lot and my heart rate, cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure are all good) in case I gain huge amounts of weight while pregnant ( I find this idea of gaining tons of weight troubling!).

I'd like to hear from people who were diagnosed and treated for hypothyroidism before getting pregnant. Was your pregnancy difficult? Did you gain an unreasonable amount of weight or have lots of trouble losing it afterward?

Thanks!

heygina

Hi,

I've been trying to get pregnant since I got married in June 2010. Answering Chiquita: I had 2 miscarriages in 2011 and finally I got myself to an infertility specialist/ob gyn. I guess just make sure that you tell all your docs that you're trying like mad to lose weight and what you've been doing and for how long- they may have ideas for you.

I'm 38 and have one 13 yr old already. My husband has no kids and he's really disappointed about our failures last year.

After she pulled 9 vials of blood out of my arm the doc told me I had a low thyroid and called in a prescription for me (Synthroid 50) right away. This is a total and complete shock since none of my family has a thyroid problem. I go back to her on the 16th for an endometrial biopsy, and I just had the HSG test where they shoot the dye up inside you to see if your tubes are ok (mine are). As an aside, I'm really worried about the biopsy and potential pain with it. I hate being poked around at, especially "down there".

Wondering if anyone else besides me and chiquita are having weight, pregnancy and thyroid issues and what you're doing about them?

Bridget28152723

Im pretty sure i had my Hashimotos (hypothyroid) before my pregnancy in 2010-2011. I gained a lot of weight in the last 2.5 months about 25 lb! Total of 45 lb gained . Yes it was and still is VERY hard to lose the pregnancy weight a year later, I still have 25 to lose. I wasnt diagnosed until my daughter was 4 months old but my thyroid gland was slightly swollen for a couple years. I also had 1 miscarriage in 2008 (didnt know I was pregnant) and 1 in 2010. In the summer of 2010 I decided to just let go and if I got pregnant good , if not I would be disappointed of course, I did get pregnant but was always thinking in my head I could have a miscarriage. I had a healthy baby girl in March of 2011. I know its hard to get pregnant when your hypo, but if you REALLY want a baby and dont mind the weight gain, etc. Try and hope for the best, I did pray A LOT , before and during my pregnancy...I put it all in Gods hands . I wish my docs would have checked my thyroid when they did the labs @ 12 weeks. You can do it, your young and I would suggest keeping track of calories and staying on MFP, otherwise you might not realize how many cal's your eating. I had severe water retention in my legs, and ankles in the 7th month on . It didnt go away until my baby was 4 months old?? I have 4 kids now and am looking into permanent birth control because hormones and Levothyroxine dont mix! Don't ever get on the pill or other hormones afterward...you will feel awful and the pill binds to thyroid medicine...Hope it works out for you to have a beautiful , healthy Baby soon!

meeulk

I have hypo and had no troubles getting pregnant and being pregnant. My levels were controlled with meds (levoxyl and cytomel) and the OB said my dosage would likely go up, but it never had to be increased. They tested my levels each trimester. Maybe I'm the exception, and very fortunate... but any issues I had during pregnancy were unrelated to being hypo. I gained almost 50lbs and lost 35 of it within the first month. (baby + a LOT of swelling) and, I breastfed, so I guess that's how the rest came off. My baby is 15 months now. I'm 7 lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight! Once I got to my pre-pregnancy weight of 189 I kinda stopped losing... so that's when I joined MFP. Best of luck!

Morgaine_on_the_move

Thanks for the responses!

blnorman29

I developed hypothyroidism after my son was born in 2007, but wasn't diagnosed until a couple months ago. We've been trying for a second baby for four years now, and think the hypo is why I haven't been able to get pregnant. I've never had a miscarriage. I'm hoping after my levels get back to normal I'll be able to lose weight more easily and hopefully get pregnant. Good luck to both of us!

Daydreams406

I had two pregnancies after being diagnosed with Hashimoto's. I lost weight during the pregnancies with both. Which was ok, because I was already over weight, and I was eating healthy. They did ultrasounds and what not and both babies were born healthy and pretty much term, take a week or two
The two I had while hypo were my best pregnancies. My first was a nightmare. I never felt better than when I was preggo with my last two. I felt "alive" and healthy, it was strange. Because I never feel that way now. Stupid thyroid.

x4mygirlsx

Im also 27 and i got diagnosed with Hashimotos(cause of my hypothyroidism) 6 months after my 2nd daughter was born. My TSH was 177!!. It took about 3 months of levothyroxine to get my TSH to 5.8 and miraculously i got pregnant even though my TSH was still above the norm of 4. My TSH then shot up to 9 and had to increase my dose twice in the last few months but it is now at 1.30 and im 20 weeks pregnant. I have my scan on fri to find out sex and check baby is developing normally.

Weight wise i lost 50lbs after my daughter was born with just plain old diet and exercise. I was still 30lbs overweight when i conceived. I have so far in this pregnancy gained about 14lbs. So far i have had no problems or complications. I also have started taking Vitamin D tablets and Vitamin B complex tablets too. I definately would recommend starting the vitamin B complex before starting to conceive. I wish i had known about its benefits for me and baby.

As for losing weight after pregnancy ill have to keep you posted. Baby is due 1st September. Although i reckon i was probably hypothyroid right after my last daughter and i still managed to drop 50lbs in 9 months and only 3 months of that i was being treated for hypothyroidism.

Hope this helps. x

heygina

Thanks for sharing sexymink. I am sporadically taking the b vitamins but I've been on prenatals for a couple of years anyway. I hope all I need its to get this thyroid straightened out and bang lol.

I get more blood work in may to check three tsh and free t4 I think. Thanks everyone for chatting!

Friend me if you wish :-) Gina

bethanylaugh

I haven't started trying yet but I have already made a relationship with a endo-gyno (ie fertility specialist). He is my gyno for my yearly visits, etc but also checks on my thyroid numbers, and can treat PCOS which is very common in hypothyroid patients, too. This way when I am ready to start trying, I'll already have the relationship with him and we'll have a medical history.
So my advice - get a specialist!

patf1979

I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism 1 year after the birth of my second child. While I had no difficulty getting pregnant with my 3rd, being pregnant was the difficult part for me. I was very sick for the first few months and losing a lot of weight, but my doctor increased my thyroxine and the throwing up stopped almost instantly!
The advice I was given by the endocrinologist and my regular doctor is to increase my thyroxine by at least 1.5x my current dosage if I get pregnant again. I hope that helps.
Thankfully my blood tests have come back normal since giving birth to my baby.

All the best for getting pregnant!