Dreading thyroiditis after m/c

Louie · 01-13-2004, 06:10 PM

Anyone else out there who gets postpartum thyroiditis? I had it following my last m/c and am starting to get it again. The hyper stage was awful last time. Between that and the hypo stage that follows, it took us out of commission for ttc for about 6 months! I am not only dreading the discomfort of being hyper, but also the long infertile phase that comes with it.

I've been monitoring it closely and my TSH just dropped to .121, and I have just stopped bleeding from the m/c. HCG is now down around 200. I assume I should stop my synthroid, but still awaiting a call back from the doc. Is there ANYTHING I can do to prevent this from happening again? I feel like having my thyroid removed just to save the loss of ttc time that happens after every m/c. Any help appreciated... thanks. :o

shenacat · 01-14-2004, 12:44 PM

Just stop the meds as soon as you can, it's all you can do. I'm sorry you have to go through this again, I know it sucks.

Louie · 01-16-2004, 04:48 PM

Thanks Shenacat, Oddly enough my thyroid doc said not to stop totally, just cut back a bit -- hard to figure. But he wants me to have T4 and free T4 tested next week and go from there depending. For now, he just lowered my dosage.

rosern1 · 01-20-2004, 01:43 PM

Never suddenly stop taking thyroid medication unless your doc tells you to. You can serioulsly shock your system. The motto for health care med dosing is "start low and go slow." The same goes for taking someone off a lot of things. I would never prescribe to just take one of my patients suddenly off their thyroid meds. That is why your doc said to not just stop. Thyroid meds are tapered downward.

shenacat · 01-20-2004, 02:47 PM

Rose,

Your advice is valid because most people don't understand how thyroid effects their system and so must be kept on the safe route at all times.

There are those of us who understand how the medicine effects us and who have firsthand experience with situations that have led us to know what is best for our bodies.

My doctor for one just asks me what I've been doing lately when I visit her, and we go over recommendations and suggestions together, because she knows I have worked very hard to understand thyroid and how the medicine effects me.

If you have suddenly gone hyper as does often happen after a miscarriage or birth of a child, you need to cut back the medication immediately to the point where you will no longer be hyper. Then you taper yourself back up along with your body fluctuations because your body will taper back down from being hyper.

Louie · 01-26-2004, 10:15 PM

Well, I don't know what to think about the meds, but after taking a slightly lower dose for 2 weeks, my TSH is now basically the same as it was (.120). I don't really know if this is good news (cause is didn't get any worse) or bad news (cause its still hyper).

My free T4 is normal and total T4 is 13 (just above the normal range). In the past, I've had elevated T3, so I'm willing to bet that is high but they did not test it. Does the normal free T4 mean anything? Is that a good sign?

Anyhow, I'm not sure if staying on the meds has helped prevent me from going totally hyper (by supressing the gland etc) or if I was just staying level anyhow. It's pretty confusing... all I know is that last time I m/c'd my TSH levels kept going down until they were "undetectable." Hopefully, things will be a bit better this time.

shenacat · 01-27-2004, 12:14 PM

The normal T4 is good. The high T3 is to be expected because pregnancy increases your T4->T3 conversion so you get more bang for your buck. You're probably a little overmedicated still.

I hope it evens out for you soon, I know those thyroid fluctuations are no fun.