[Shandell]

I am 14 weeks pregnant and I have been bed ridden for 8 weeks now. I cannot eat more than a few bites of food at a time and often that comes back up. I feel shakey, nervous, light headed and my heart is pounding all the time. My pulse at rest is about 120bpm. I have lost 11 pounds. I demanded a thyroid test from my midwives after having my first panic attack. My TSH was .01 which is very low. The normal range is 0.35-5.50. I was sent right away to an endocrinologist as my midwives felt alot of my symptoms had to do with this. I also had hyperthyroid in my fist pregnancy and was not treated.I suffered with all these same symptoms for 7 1/2 months.

Long story short, the endocrinologist was not convinced that i have true hyperthyroid at this point. He says the shift in the TSH is not conclusive. My T4 is at he high end of normal and I have a Free T3 pending. He says the T3 will give him more info. He says he is very hesitant to treat me because I am pregnant and he does not feel the meds will really make me feel any better.

I just want to know if anyone has any knowledge or exprience with this subject. I am frusterated and tired of being so sick. I am concerned about my health and my baby's.
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[beanma]

oh yikes!

i am hypothyroid (low) and have been for years. i was exhausted during the first part of my pg, but it's much easier to treat hypo than hyper i think. did the endicrinologist give you any advice for temporary measures to take if he thinks it's just pregnancy related? i wonder if there's anything you could modify diet wise to help? i know some foods are considered goitrogenic and not advised in large quantities for hypos -- maybe adding some of those foods would help? i think broccoli and cabbage and maybe soy are the ones that can tend to make low thyroid lower. maybe kelp would help? iodine is necessary for a healthy thyroid and some people think it's a good thing. not sure on that myself and not sure if it's advised for hyper or not, but you might look into it. there's a pretty good page about thyroid disorders at http://thyroid.about.com/ you might check it out. i just scanned it and learned a few new things already!

hope you can get some relief.

 

[mrs_oli]

Hi-I was extremely hyperthyroid during my last pregnancy. I was seeing my midwife, ob/gyn, perinatologist and endocronologist throughout my pregnancy. I was on labetolol to lower my pulse and PTU for about a month before I decided it was not helping and stopped takiing it. When my son was about 3 months old I had a near total thyroidectomy and have been doing great since. I should add that my son was VERY healthy and I had a wonderful homebirth during all of this!!! The medical doctors treated me as high risk and I was monitored constantly via NSTs, growth scans, blood work etc. They did not know I was planning a home birth. My midwife was WONDERFUL, she did want me to continue seeing the docs due to my erratic vital signs (very high pulse, palpitations, high BP, wacky tyhyroid levels) but worked WITH me and I believe she is the reason everything turned out so well. Now, I'm not saying I recommend doing what I did (especially the surgery), but it was the right decision for me. I was not comfortable taking all the meds while nursing, plus they made me feel like crap and none we're really working anyway. Today I feel great, I'm PG again and my son is a happy nursing 15 month old! I also recommend about.com for info. I went to that website almost daily gathering info. We're all unique and we all have different life situations. I would suggest seeing a different endocronologist. It's interesting that he doesn't want to do much. In my case, it was the opposite! The docs couldn't stay away from me! I had several appointments a week due to their concerns.
Sorry this is so long and winded....

 

[LizD]

I know a few people who've had thyroid trouble who've had either surgery or the shot of radioiodine. They've spoken highly of whatever treatment they've had, they feel so much better. My cat actually had radioiodine 113 to treat his thyroid and he was himself again immediately. An advantage to the shot that I have heard is that after surgery the thyroid can grow back, possibly requiring further treatment.

 

[PinkSunfish]

I hope that you endocrinologist gets "with the programme" once your other result comes back but I am concerned about what he has said. I am surprised that he wouldn't want to treat you as it is important not only for your health but for that of the baby.

I would be tempted to look for another Doctor if you can.

I second the advice to look at the thyroid section on about.com, they have lots of good articles on pregnancy and thyroid here .

I have been hyperthyroid and then had radioiodine treatment (and am not hypo, but balanced). You cannot have raddiodine treatmen whikst pregnant but they should be treating you with medication I would have thought. Read as much as you can before your next appointment and then make sure that you have as in depth discussion as possible with your Doctor.

I sympathise with how you are feeling, hyperthyroid makes you feel ill enough as it is without prgnancy on top of it.