Thyroid issues = depression?

[bdavis337]

I just had a blood test at the suggestion of my OB for post partum thyroid problems. I'm 6 weeks pp, and I'm struggling seriously with exhaustion, depression, nervousness, I've gained back some of the weight I lose in the first few weeks, and I'm overall having a really bad time of it. Is this possibly thyroid, or is it more likely pp depression?

[mom0810]

Could be either. If the thyroid test is normal, then I would think it is PPD. My doctor gives a supplement to new moms... Iodine in the form of seaweed, I think... that is supposed to help with thyroid issues. You can certainly try something like that until you hear the results.

Usually hypothyroid is things like dry skin, listlessness, weight gain, brittle hair and nails... but it certainly can cause you to feel down, too.

Either way, you will know the results soon, and then you can go from there.

[timneh_mom]

Low thyroid certainly can make you feel depressed... it's one of the symptoms, but it could be PPD too... low thyroid can make you feel tired (exhausted-tired), achy, dry hair, dry skin, constipated, depressed, gain weight... in other words, it slows you down. You'll know more with your blood test... it can take a few weeks for your thyroid medication to start making you feel better but once you get there, it will really help a lot!

[eleanorm]

I agree with what the pp's have said. But for me, depression was the strongest symptom that I had of an underactive thyroid.

[Doodadsmom]

Are they running a full panel of tests? My midwife ran just the TSH on me when I came in 7 weeks post partum with PPD - it came back negative. I went to a doctor who sees a lot of thyroid patients about 18 months later, he ran a full panel of tests, and I did have a thyroid problem. I wish I'd known that before the zoloft. I mean, that helped for awhile, but since I did have a different underlying issue, I'd rather have just addressed that.

[bdavis337]

Doodadsmom, thanks for that tip! I do know that the standard test doesn't always show what's really wrong, but I'd forgotten that. I want to avoid antidepressants if at all possible, so that's a good reminder for me to be agressive and pursue every directions before agreeing to Zoloft or Prozac, which I've been on before but am reluctant to start again.........

[Alenushka]

Ask for

TSH, T4 and T 3
it is not uncommon to have thyroditis post partum. You can be hypo (low) or hyper(high).
In many cases you can BF while on medication but baby will ahve to have blood tests

[momto l&a]

I was just going to say ask for the T3 and T4.

Just had the TSH test done, I forgot to ask that they instead run T3and T4 being the TSH is pretty much useless from what I have read.

My TSH was 1.8

[Blancanieves]

Hi!

TSH, FT3, FT4, Antobodies and Ultrasound are a must!

Please read this thread:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=747775

Blanca