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Pregnant with Hoshimottos thyroid disease
Does anyone have any tips how to manage both?
Being male, my experience with pregnancy is somewhat limited, LOL, so I hoped some other member might respond. However, I will try to provide as much info as I can. First let me give you this quote.
"There is also evidence in the literature that levels above 2.0 during pregnancy can potentially complicate pregnancy, and that upper level normal TSH levels can inhibit fertility. For example, in early 2005, Drs. Casey and colleague wrote in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology that "Pregnancies in women with subclinical hypothyroidism were 3 times more likely to be complicated by placental abruption."
So you don't want to be hypothyroid, not even subclinical hypothyroid. To most doctors this means having a TSH below 5; however, the AACE revised the range over 10 years ago, so now it would be 3 instead of 5. Even this is not adequate, because TSH is affected by so many things that it is not a reliable indicator of thyroid status. At best TSH is only an indicator, to be considered along with more important indicators such as symptoms, and also levels of the biologically active thyroid hormones, Free T3 and Free T4 (not the same as Total T3 and T4).
To get out of being hypo, you really need a good thyroid doctor. by that I mean one that will treat you clinically by testing and adjusting Free T3 and Free T4 as necessary to relieve symptoms, without being constrained by resultant TSH levels. Symptom relief should be all important, not just test results, and especially not just TSH results. Many of our members report that symptom relief required Free T3 in the upper third of its range and Free T4 around the middle of its range. The real key is to be medicated adequately that you become euthyroid, by which I mean neither hypo nor hyper symptoms.
Although many doctors will try to manage hypothyroid patients during pregnancy by testing and medicating to adjust TSH level, TSH is too variable and inaccurate. Clinical treatment is the most effective approach to managing hypothyroidism due to Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. If you are able to find a good thyroid doctor, that will treat clinically, then you will be managing your hypothyroidism and that should provide optimum conditions for pregnancy.
If you will please post your thyroid related test results and their reference ranges shown on the lab report, along with your medication and dosage, members will be better able to comment on the adequacy of your current testing and treatment.
"There is also evidence in the literature that levels above 2.0 during pregnancy can potentially complicate pregnancy, and that upper level normal TSH levels can inhibit fertility. For example, in early 2005, Drs. Casey and colleague wrote in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology that "Pregnancies in women with subclinical hypothyroidism were 3 times more likely to be complicated by placental abruption."
So you don't want to be hypothyroid, not even subclinical hypothyroid. To most doctors this means having a TSH below 5; however, the AACE revised the range over 10 years ago, so now it would be 3 instead of 5. Even this is not adequate, because TSH is affected by so many things that it is not a reliable indicator of thyroid status. At best TSH is only an indicator, to be considered along with more important indicators such as symptoms, and also levels of the biologically active thyroid hormones, Free T3 and Free T4 (not the same as Total T3 and T4).
To get out of being hypo, you really need a good thyroid doctor. by that I mean one that will treat you clinically by testing and adjusting Free T3 and Free T4 as necessary to relieve symptoms, without being constrained by resultant TSH levels. Symptom relief should be all important, not just test results, and especially not just TSH results. Many of our members report that symptom relief required Free T3 in the upper third of its range and Free T4 around the middle of its range. The real key is to be medicated adequately that you become euthyroid, by which I mean neither hypo nor hyper symptoms.
Although many doctors will try to manage hypothyroid patients during pregnancy by testing and medicating to adjust TSH level, TSH is too variable and inaccurate. Clinical treatment is the most effective approach to managing hypothyroidism due to Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. If you are able to find a good thyroid doctor, that will treat clinically, then you will be managing your hypothyroidism and that should provide optimum conditions for pregnancy.
If you will please post your thyroid related test results and their reference ranges shown on the lab report, along with your medication and dosage, members will be better able to comment on the adequacy of your current testing and treatment.
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