Pregnancy and Thyroid

[ekblad9]

I'm expecting my 10th baby.  I've always had absolutely horrific morning (all day) sickness.  I usually can't function at all, have to be hydrated, and be on medication.  Recently I had several miscarriages and then was diagnosed with hypothyroid.  I'm on armour thyroid and am now 8.5wks pregnant.  While I'm tired, hungry, and have waves of feeling nasty it is NOTHING like it was the other times.  Even with my miscarriages I was violantly ill.  I've had three ultra sounds and baby is doing great!  A fantastic heartbeat, growing well, everything.  I'm just wondering if anyone else ever had this happen to them.  Can undiagnosed (severe) hypothyroid make that much of a difference in how you feel when pregnant?  Does anyone know?  TIA!

[camprunner]

I suspect I was hypothryroid for sure with my last pregnancy and I slept for 8 months and had nausea that long as well. I do think it can make a difference

[Kristynwy]

After my first baby girl, I was not able to breastfeed, never had my milk supply come in, not once did the Dr ever think to check my thyroid, but I believe that is why now. Didn't think much about it even though I was heartbroken to not breastfeed, for about a year. Then... all the sudden a year later I gained 30-40 lbs in a matter of 2 months, completely unhealthy and not normal and my diet had not changed at all. I was told I had a slow but normal thyroid. So it wasn't showing up in the blood work yet... So I was diagnosed with PCOS.

I struggled with Secondary infertility for 4 years. I moved out of state and had a different Dr, saw 4 different Dr's in my previous state and none of them could agree. Most would say I just was lazy and needed to lose weight ect. Meanwhile my symptoms each year got worse and worse. I started to educate myself on hypothyroid, the new diagnostic standards that were changed in 2003 because of under diagnosing millions of Americans. I watched my TSH slowly continue to creep up and my symptoms get worse and worse. Finally a little over a year ago I was able to register as hypothyroid according to the 2003 standards. But there are many Dr's that have not gotten up to date still. Luckily my Dr consulted with a local Endocrinologist who was up to date and I was put on medication. I immediately within weeks noticed a difference, I soon began losing weight. I saw signs of ovulation slowly return and sure enough I became pregnant with baby #2 in early Sept 2010.

I had my thyroid tested at 16 weeks and it's the best it's ever been, I was at 1.44 TSH taking 50mcg of Levoxyl before pregnancy and during pregnancy I am at 1.04 which is great! and still on 50mcg.

So far I have had a pretty easy pregnancy. Had some bleeding issues in the end of my 1st trimester into my 2nd trimester. I had almost no morning sickness, just nausea and have felt great. My skin and hair are perfect and I am really feeling optimal right now. Even though I lost a few pounds before pregnancy I was still overweight, however even though my belly is growing and baby is doing great, I have lost weight this time during pregnancy. I eat plenty and make sure I get enough protein and try to eat balanced meals.

Overall this time has been really different. I found out during my journey of diagnosis, that many women on both sides of the family had the onset of hypothyroid after giving birth. So I had a strong genetic track record in my family.

Hope you have a happy and healthy next 9 months! : )

[nadia105]

I was not hypo during any of my other pgs, and I had the easiest tiem with those -- no  m/s ever, little fatigue, it was great!

This time, i was dxd hypo about a year before I got pg, and this pg has been completely different from the first 3 -- m/s for the first time, had to take a 2 hour nap every afternoon for the first tri+ in order to function, no food sounded good, I was just miserable.  It has gotten much better from about mid second tri on, which I am very thankful for!  My TSH shot up quite a bit between 4 and 8 weeks pg and  my dose of Levothyroxin was upped from 50 mcg to 75 mcg, and that has been where it has stayed.  TSH is down around 1.47 and has stabilized, so that is good.

I guess my experience is kind of the opposite, but maybe it just switched your normal, no matter what that is?

[ekblad9]

Thanks ladies - I also had breastfeeding issues.  Especially with babies 6, 7, 8, and 9.  It was terrible.  Had I not already nursed a bunch of babies I would have had to quit.  My TSH also shot up between weeks 4 and 8.  That's when I started to feel sick. Once they upped my medication (about 6 days later) my m/s basically went away.  I still feel queasy at night and am definately tired but it's really amazing.  I'm worried, of course, b/c it is so abnormal for me.