Any advice for hyperthyroid in pregnancy

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Any advice for hyperthyroid in pregnancy
1
Tue, 12-07-2004 - 8:55am

Last year I was diagnosed as "borderline" hyperthyroid, with antibodies that indicate a precursor to Graves. Given that I'm young and my numbers still fell barely within range, we opted to not treat at that time, just watch on a yearly basis. Everything was going fine, and my symptoms seemed to have subsided.

This summer, I became pg with twins! (YAY!!!) Anyway, for the past month, I've been feeling those symptoms again.....rapid heart rate, anxiety, tremors, difficulty concentrating, hair falling out, blurred vision, etc etc. It's so hard to tell if these things are just pg related or if it's something else. I asked my OB to do a basic thyroid panel just for kicks. Well, good thing. I can't remember my T3 or T4 (but I think they were pretty much in the normal range, not excessively high or low), but my TSH was <0.01 So, I had to go immediately to my endo's office for a repeat panel and I'm going back this afternoon to discuss the results and plan of action. My OB said most likely, I'll be on PTU the remainder of this pg. I really hate to take meds when pg, but I clearly don't want any bad things to happen to me or the babies. Anyone know anything about this kind of situation? What type of med is PTU? Is it typically a life-long thing or more of a temporary treatment to get me through the pg? After delivery, does this tend to resolve on it's own? I'm just trying to gather as much info as I can before my appt this afternoon.

Thanks so much!!!!

Tara, mommy to Kailyn, Alison, and Babies

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-06-2003
Tue, 12-07-2004 - 2:42pm

Hi Tara-

I am also PG and on PTU for Hyperthyroid. I have done just a bit of researching but I'll give you what I know.

It seems that PTU is the drug of choice for treatment of Hyper in PG women. I'm just like you and hate to take any medication while PG. My OB said it is important that treatment be provided so that the baby(ies) don't develop a goiter where the thyroid is trying to develop. My OB also said she would do more frequent ultrasounds to check the baby and be sure everything is developing as it should.

My Endo said he has treated hundreds of PG women with PTU and hasn't had a problem. Of course, I could be his first but this is the preferable treatment. Recently we discovered that my Thyroid level had gone back to normal but that my liver function had gone up. He dropped my PTU and I am going to have a scan to see what's going on with my liver. I'm not typing this to worry you but just to let you know of a side effect that they will need to watch for.

I imagine once the pregnancy is over that he'll recheck my levels to see what's going on and then probably want to do the Radioactive Iodine stuff. Good luck at your appt today and please keep us posted!

Nadine

Lauren 02/03/04
EDD #2 06/27/05