Anyone on thyroid meds?

[Mama Coltrane]

This is my second pregnancy. After the birth of my son in 2003, I was diagnosed with postpartum thryroiditis. I now take Synthroid to regulate my hypothyroidism. Anyone else dealing with this? I got pregnant easily enough, but I have to watch my thyroid and get it checked frequently through the pregnancy.

[TCC's Mom]

Yup, and I was on thyroid meds all the way through my last pregnancy. No big deal for me (though my levels have fluctuated a bit over the past three years). I have a lot of hormonal problems though (which is why I needed to use Bravelle to achieve pregnancy).

Kim

[Mama Coltrane]

I haven't heard of Bravelle. How often did you get your Thyroid levels checked during your last pregnancy? I have heard everything from once a trimester to once a month.
My friend who has hypothyroidism also had difficulty with milk production after labor. Did you experience that? This is all so new for me ( since Coltrane was born ), so I'm very interested in being prepared.
Thanks

[jerawo]

I'm a June 2005 pregnancy, but thought I would chime in here since I take synthroid for my hypothyroidism. So far, it's been easy to regulate my meds. I've had my blood tested every 4 weeks from the moment I found out I was pregnant. So far we've had to increase my dose twice. Most hypothyroid women require a 30-50% dose increase during pregnancy, and usually by week 20 your levels will stablize. I haven't noticed any problems so far with being on synthroid; in fact I've felt really good so far and have had an easy pregnancy.

[TCC's Mom]

I had mine checked monthly last time too, and actually didn't need an increase throughout the pregnancy (but have since). I didn't (don't -- still nursing 3 yo dd) have trouble with milk supply (though it took longer then expected to "come in" the first time). As I said in an earlier post I have other hormonal problems (I had pituitary surgery in the mid-90's for a tumor) and did need pitocin to induce full-scale labor, since my body wouldn't produce enough (I was in early labor for days).

Bravelle is the brand-name for a follicle-stimulating hormone that you inject to manipulate ovulation. See http://www.drugs.com/PDR/Bravelle_for_Injection.html. My body needed a kick-start to get all the hormones headed in the right direction -- pregnancy was achieved the first month we did the protocol. Yeah!