Thyroid issues and pregnancy

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-04-1999
Thyroid issues and pregnancy
5
Wed, 01-26-2005 - 2:19pm

Greetings all:


TSH is now 1.451.  Still having a tiny bit of tongue swelling, hands are still cold and I swear, I lose to much hair .. but, reproductive endocrinologist (the one who lowered my meds, which cause me to become really hypoT) says I’m now "back to normal".


I did want to move from Synthroid to Armour, because of the T4/T3 combo and I've read that it has a mild diuretic effect which would help my swelling.


But .. RE said that T3 crosses the placenta and the fetus can get over stimulated.  So my quetions are .. has anyone had a successful pregnancy using Armour? Was your baby "over stimulated"  at the time of birth?  What complications did you have?


I want to believe that my RE is giving me the best advice, but I am really unsure.


Monica.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2001
Thu, 01-27-2005 - 8:12am

Category A

Thyroid hormones do not readily cross the placental barrier. The clinical experience to date does not indicate any adverse effect on fetuses when thyroid hormones are administered to pregnant women. On the basis of current knowledge, thyroid replacement therapy to hypothyroid women should not be discontinued during pregnancy. From this site:
http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic3/armourthyroid_ad.htm

Special information if you are pregnant or breastfeeding

http://www.healthsquare.com/newrx/arm1029.htm
If you need to take Armour Thyroid because of a thyroid hormone deficiency, you may continue using the medication during pregnancy, but your doctor will test you regularly and may change your dosage. Once your baby is born, you may breastfeed while continuing treatment with Armour Thyroid.

This looks like it may be a good article but I can't open a pdf file. Maybe you can: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/mal/thy/2004/00000014/A00103s1/art00002

That's about all I could find. Maybe someone out there has had this experience and can share it with you! Cathy :)

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-04-1999
Thu, 01-27-2005 - 12:46pm

Thanks Cathy:


The pdf article from Thyroid Dysfunction and Women' Reproductive Health

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2001
Sat, 01-29-2005 - 9:37pm
Yes, I just go to Google and then try all different words and combinations of words to see what's best. Then I read through a bunch of junk!! LOL! Then try to find things that make sense and post them! Cathy :)
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-26-2004
Mon, 01-31-2005 - 2:01pm

That article was so thorough and informitive. My CNM was very happy that I had it and that I am proactive about this. Thanks to you guys, of course!

My CNM has recommended I slightly increase my dosage to see if I can get my levels a little lower. TSH was at 4.5 as of early January. However, I was just barely pregnant then so that may have increased the levels. Unfortunately I just miscarried - very very early in the pregnancy so there's pretty much 100% chance that something was seriously wrong. Still sad but we're doing ok.

I'm going to try to get my levels down and let my body rest and be well before we try again. We weren't really planning on another child so soon (Michael just turned 3 on 1/9 and Eli turned 1 on 1/3). We're thinking at least a year, maybe a year and a half so Michael will be in kindergarten and Eli will be pottytrained (please!!).

Amanda

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-04-1999
Mon, 01-31-2005 - 4:18pm

I did read the article and it was quite good.