Berkeley Parents Network: Hypothyroidism during Pregnancy

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Hypothyroidism during Pregnancy

Berkeley Parents Network > Advice > Pregnancy & Childbirth > Hypothyroidism during Pregnancy

20 weeks pregnant with diagnosis of subclinical hypothyroidism
More Advice about Thyroid Conditions

20 weeks pregnant with diagnosis of subclinical hypothyroidism

April 2007

I am 20 weeks pregnant with my second child and 39 years old. I took two blood tests that came back with results of subclinical hypothyroidism. My level on the first was about 6.4 (done at 12 weeks when hormone is highest) and the second was 4.9 (done at 18 weeks). My doctor is recommending levoxyl treatment basically citing that the benefits outweigh the risks. I am of course worried about medicating myself during pregnancy, though have been researching it-has anyone else had this diagnosis and if so what course did you take when pregnant? thank you! J

I have postpartum hypothyroidism and have done a lot of reading, both about the condition in general and during pregnancy (since I am considering #2). From what I understand, a fetus relies on a mother's thyroid hormones for the first trimester. After that, the baby develops his/her own thyroid gland, and can produce the hormone himself. In the first trimester, the baby is at risk of developmental problems and even miscarriage if you do not treat the condition. After the first trimester, the greatest influence the medication will have will be on YOU--your moods, your appetite, your weight, your general well-being. I can imagine it being hard to know what symptoms are the pregnancy and which are the low thyroid, but I'm guessing if you chose it treat it you'll have a much better time being pregnant.

By my logic, keeping the thyroid levels in normal range help make the pregnancy healthier because your body is able to stay healthier. Having had an untreated thyroid condition, I wouldn't dream of going through a pregnancy without treatment if I needed it. Best of Luck

I've been hypothyroid for 10 years and had the condition throughout both of my pregnancies. I having been taking levoxyl daily for 10 years. Absolutely take it while you are pregnant! It is not a ''medication'' in the sense that it is altering a bodily function or fixing a disease process. It is simply replacement of a hormone that you need to have an adequate amount of. I see it more as a supplement than a medication, although obviously it is a prescribed and controlled substance. I have had no ill effects of levoxyl and am sure that not only would being low thyroid during pregnancy feel crappy, there may be ill effects on the fetus of your being low thyroid (don't quote me on that one, but ask your health care provider). anon

Hi, I also have hypothyroidism and have a healthy one month old boy. You really need to treat it while pregnant, too low levels can lead to cognitive impairment in the child. I took 175 mg. daily of levothyroxine while pregnant and my baby is fine so far. The risks of not treating it greatly outweigh the medication (neither my ob or my gp were concerned about the meds, they were concerned about me keeping my levels high enough). Hope this helps. took the meds

I have had type 1 diabetes since age 18 and I am now 32. I have no complications except borderline diabetic hypothyroid disease. I am not sure what my lab numbers are, but they always come out on the threshold like yours. I am also not sure what the relationship is between diabetic hypothyroid disease and the subclinical type you describe. However, as soon as I got pregnant at 30, my (hi-risk /endo/) OB required that I take a very low dose thyroid replacement during my pregnancy. They explained to me that it would bring my levels up to where they should be since the thyroid is overworked during pregnancy. I had regular blood tests throughout where they monitored it (among other things). I stopped taking it after I gave birth and my levels stabilized back to pre-preg levels which require no intervention, although it continues to be something my endocrinologist closely monitors. I had no problems while taking it, had a wonderful pregnancy as far as t1 diabetics go, and had a very healthy baby boy. One benefit would be that you may find that you get a little boost once you start taking it since the hypo might be draining your energy. I found that I was kind of tired more than I should have been (although the pregnancy would definitely cause that too). I would ask more about what kind of stresses it would cause baby/pregnancy if you did not take it and go with your gut feeling on it, or just see how it goes and ask if there would be any harm in taking it later if you see your numbers change for the worse. slightly hypo too

I had Graves Disease and subsequently had my thyroid removed. I take Synthroid and have done so for the past 15 years. During my pregnancy, three years ago, I continued on my medication and had my levels monitored regularly by both my obstetrician and endocrinologist. From what I learned, it is important, if not mandatory, to treat your thyroid disorder with the proper medication for your benefit and your baby. Your doctor should confirm this. Baby is doing great at 2.5 years old!!!!

HELLO I KNOW YOU HAVE A CONCERN ABOUT TAKING MEDS WHILE BEING PREGNANT I CAN RELATE. WHEN I WAS 18YRS I WAS DIAGNOISE WITH HYPERTHROID THATS OVERLY ACTIVE. I'M NOW 28YRS. I WAS ON PTU FOR AWHILE WHEN I GOT PREGNANT WITH MY 2ND AND 3RD CHILD I STILL TOOK MY MED. IT WAS IMPORTANT TO TAKE THEM BECAUSE BEING PREGNANT YOUR BODY CHANGES WITH DIFFERENT PREGNANCIES. I SUGGEST IF THE BETTER OF TAKING IT OUT RATES THE RISKS I SUGGEST YOU TAKE THEM BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T IT COULD COMPLICATE YOUR PREGNANCY AND YOU COULD LOSE GOD FORBID IT. BUT MAKE SURE THAT IT'S NOT GOING TO HURT YOUR BABY. AFTER MY FOURTH CHILD MY THYROID WENT BACK TO NORMAL AFTER 5YR ALMOST 6YRS. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF BECAUSE YOUR BABY IS COUNTING ON YOU. BE SAFE AND TAKE CARE GOD BLESS YOU AND HAVE A SAFE PREGNANCY. MOMMY

Hi there. I am hypothyroid and now have a 3 month old son. Thyroid levels, I am told, are extrememly important to brain developement of the fetus. I had to double my regular medication during pregnancy. The baby is perfectly fine and happy now. I would take the medication, you don't want to risk brain develepment.... hypothroid mom

Hi there - hypothyroidism is not a big deal. I got diagnosed with it right before my husband and I were about to start trying to get pregnant. My doc recommended I wait and get the condition regulated before we start trying, which was frustrating because it does take a while - several months anyway, of figuring out what level of meds is correct for you. The idea of getting it regulated before you become pregnant (when possible) was because apparently pregnancy can change your levels around a bit, so it's harder to know how much med you need. But I didn't get the impression it would have been the end of the world if I had accidentally gotten pregnant at that point. But we were careful, and didn't. Then when I was in the safe range, we got pregnant, and yes, you continue to medicate through the pregnancy, and everything I read (and all the people I talked to) said it's a complete non-issue. The medication is giving you something that your body should be producing anyway. I had/have no side effects. I had a healthy baby.

I do recommend though remembering to get your TSH checked not too long after you give birth because the pregnancy can change your levels once again. I think I'd been told to do it about a month later - time got away from me (imagine that!) and I waited 6 months or so, and by that time my TSH was a completely way off the mark number. A couple of increased levels of the med later (I take synthroid/levothroid - one is the generic name for the other) and I'm back in the good range.

I should note - I, even when I was wackily off the charts, am lucky enough not to ever suffer much in the way of symptoms for the hypothyroidism, which is why it was easy for me to forget to get it checked for so long. So just keep it in the back of your mind that you'll want to remember to get it checked again post-pregnancy. Write it down somewhere because your brain will be fairly busy with other things! :) Good luck!

me too! 2nd pregnancy was diagnosed. did my own research and agreed to take meds. AND was pleased I did. I felt so much better once TSH readings were corrected. Now PP I still take meds, though my dosage has changed. I was tested every 6 weeks during PG and now its every 2 months while BFing. spritelier!

I am not a doctor but what I'm writing I have culled from my experience having hypothyroidism. I have seen 2 different endocrinologists (one UCSF, one CPMC), both of whom I respect very much. I don't mean to scare you but the most recent research points to a TSH level of 2.0 as being the optimum level. I have hypothyroidism which was diagnosed in the midst of fertility treatments after miscarrying twice. If you're above 2.0, you have hypothyroidism, according to my endo's. My endo would not ''ok'' me to resume fertility treatments until my TSH was below 2.0 (from 8-13). The traditional thought has been that TSH of 5.0 or so is fine. There is a statistically significant diference in baby's IQ borne to mothers with a TSH greater than 2.0 compared to higher numbers. Extreme deficiencies in thyroid hormone (which means higher TSH) could result in poor brain development and other problems. (Your levels are not considered extreme.) But the bottom line is that the thyroid replacement hormone is simply replacing the hormone in your body that your body doesn't have anymore (driving the TSH up). You would not be medicating your body by taking the levoxythyrone in that it's not a foreign substance being introduced to your body. It's a synthetic version of what your body needs. Incidentally my sister in law started taking thyroid hormone replacement long before me, back when it was derived from pigs- this is the old version. She said when she started taking the human synthetic version she felt much better. I have only taken the human synthetic version so cannot speak to that issue., but the pig derivative is still out there. I don't know if the medication passes into mother's milk so if you start nusring I would consult an endocrinologist asap. I would do this anyway if I were you to prepare for the fluctuations that may occur after you give birth. I found the fertility endocrinologists unprepared to answer any of my questions about my thyroid hormone issues. anon

I took a low dose of levoxyl/Synthroid throughout my twin pregnancy. I had been diagnosed as low thyroid while trying to get pregnant and this was actually one of the treatments to help me get pregnant. It is a chronic condition and I still take the levoxyl today, 5 years after giving birth. I don't know what the research is but at the time none of my doctors advised me to stop taking it during pregnancy. My twins are healthy and happy, very bright, growing normally. For What It's Worth

I have been treating my hypothyroidism with synthroid for 5 years and just had a healthy little girl 5 weeks ago. Her newborn screen results show that her thyroid is totally normal. My understanding from my endocrinologist and obstetrician is that it is a much bigger problem to let hypothyroidism go untreated than to treat it. The synthroid is a synthetic substitute for the real thing, which I apprarently don't make enough of. I've been told that your body doesn't necessarily recognize the difference, it just needs to have enough. As long as you are at normal levels between your own thyroid hormone and the treatment being suggested by your physician, you would be eliminating any risks to your baby based on your condition. Not treating your thyroid has much worse consequences for you and your baby, and typically, doctors recommend treating subclinical thyroid disorders because a lot of times treatment can prevent them from getting worse.

I took synthroid through both my pregnancies. I consulted with my OB and pediatrician at the time I was expecting my first. There was no evidence of any risk to fetus. In fact, I think I was more concerned about having my dosage right and sometimes MDs will increase the dose, bc thyroid can dip lower during pregnancy (as with you?) and that can be more of a concern. Both my kids are perfectly healthy and developing beautifully. Deb

I don't have a thyroid anymore so took levoxyl throughout both of my two healthy pregnancies. I think you are being overcautious here. If you have been researching this you should know that thyroid hormone is not optional, nor a 'drug', nor are you 'medicating' yourself (whatever that means). Thyroid hormone is like insulin, your body needs it to function and to maintain a healthy pregnancy. If I were you I would be concerned about normal fetal development if you do not have adequate levels of thyroid hormone in your body. Maybe you should discuss further with your doctor what the specific 'risks' and 'benefits' are of this treatment. There are NO risks associated with maintaining a normal level of thyroid hormone in your body--most people's bodies will do this for them automatically. The risk associated with taking the hormone is that it could be hard to regulate and you could end up taking too high a dose and becoming hyperthyroid which is not good for the pregnancy either. Please ask your doctor to monitor your TSH levels closely (I had my blood tested every two weeks at the beginning of my pregnancy which was overkill but reassuring to me) and please ask your doctor to educate you a bit more before sending you to the internet to seek medical opinions. You should also find out the symptoms of being hypo and hyper thyroid. good luck

Recent research is suggesting that TSH should be at 1 for pregnancy - higher values (much higher) have been implicated in loss of IQ points. There is also a link to higher rates of miscarraige. Its great that your doc caught this - many would not - it also puts you at risk for thyroid issues post partum which are really tough - you are already tired & trying to lose weight - throw in thyroid stuff and it gets pretty complicated. I'd reccomend taking the medication. good luck

Elevated thyroid is not uncommon during pregnancy. You should read online about hypothyroid and pregnancy if you want to get a sense of what the medication does, why it's important, etc. Any number of sites have some good information, so you'll easily be able to pick up some more info.

''My doctor is recommending levoxyl treatment basically citing that the benefits outweigh the risks. I am of course worried about medicating myself during pregnancy.''

You have good instincts, you shouldn't medicate yourself and you should listen to your doc. anon

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