Pregnancy and Graves Disease....
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| Tue, 03-14-2006 - 12:58am |
Hello. I'm in no means pregnant right now. Nor am I healthy enough now. Phew that's all I need, but my DH and I have talked about having more kids. It kindof stems too from the crazy dreams I've been having. From finding out I was prego to having an ultra sound to giving birth to a baby girl with dark curly hair. I know they are just dreams, but i have the dejavu (sp) dreams that are freaky at times.
There are so many questions and most of them I'm going to have to ask my Endo...but thought I'd shoot a few off here....
Has anyone with Graves Disease gotten pregnant before?
Did you have to see a Reproduction Endo?
Did you have to use fertility drugs?
Anyone have any complications at birth or any birth defects?
I know that having a preemie (my son was born at 24 weeks) makes me high risk anyways, but does Graves Disease complicate things even more?
Will I be able to have more kids?
There is so much information out there, and it seems so conflicting. I read that it's okay to get pregnant while having Graves Disease, others say that you should do RAI or sugery before getting pregnant, or that if you don't get RAI or surgery your overies shrivel up and then you become infertile. So why is there so much conflicting information out there? Does everyone really see it so differently? It's crazy. I know so many questions and stuff.
I've been thinking alot about it tonight. Last time I went to the docs she asked if we were trying to get pregnant which she's never asked before. I said no, but now I don't know.I go back to the docs on march 22. so I'll know what my levels are and stuff. Just wanted to see if anyone had any opinions about it.
take care and have a good tues.
thanks for everyting
Kim

Hi Hope,
Nice to see you! :-)
Hey April. How you doing today?
I'm doing good. I went to the mall and DS played in the play area for a while. Then we went and got him shoes! I did awesome. No fainting or anything like that. YIIPPPEEEE!
Right now I am on methimazole. So I know that it's not healthy to get pregnant on it. All the doc told me is that babies aren't born with any hair and do NOT ever get hair. Depending on where my levels are at I might ask to be transferred over to PTU. If I'm still not looking like I'm stabalizing then I'll just stick with the meth. But now I have another question i have to ask. If I am staying stable on the meth, then if I change to PTU am I going to have to go through another stablization process? Wow there is so much that goes into all this.
I'll come back with answers from the docs and share with everyone. Once again I know that every doc and person is different, but it might be helpful.
Thanks for being a wonderful CL- you are awesome.
Keep smiling
Kim
Hi, I'm 27 and was just diagnosed with Graves Disease. I found out two weeks later I am pregnant with twins (not kidding). I have seen many specialists ( Endos, Fetal med. specialists, etc.). I have been told that if your Graves is under control BEFORE you get pregnant you'll be okay. In my case it wasn't and my docs are seriously trying to convince me not to continue with this pregnancy. I have a tough decision to make. But as for you, if your graves is under control you should be okay. I don't know what type of meds you are on. They have me on PTU (Propylthiouracil) 12 tablets a day because it is the safest by far of the thyroid meds. It tastes terrible and at first I heard from some sources it could cause mental and/ or physical retardation. I just recently was hospitalized for my Graves and had two different docs tell me that from the studies they have read, ANY defects are really rare. The only symptom that I have learned about from pregnancy is more excessive morning sickness/ vomiting. Thats why I was hospitalized. It's called hyperemesis. And it just means if your body is making too many thyroid hormones it can react with the HCG(that's what your body produces that causes morning sickness). It isn't a factor for everyone. Like I said if you are relatively healthy before hand you should really be oksy. You already know you'd be high risk from having a preemie, well you'll just be seeing a high risk dog b/c of the Graves.A high risk doc can take better care of you. I know more but I don't want to bore you.
Jamie
Jamie,
I'm so sorry about the hard desicion you are going to have to make. Please keep me posted. How are you feeling anyways? I'm glad that you had so much information for me. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. If you have more please tell. It's not boring to me.
I don't know what my levels are yet. I went in today for blood work. I go to the docs on the 22 instead of what I might have said before the 27. Thank goodness for calendars. What dosage are you on? I'm thinking of switching to PTU, but that depends on a few things.
I kindof thought I would have to see a high risk doc because of having a preemie. I'm axious to see what my levels are at and see the doc. Thanks again for all the informatioin. If you have more Please tell!
Take care of your self and your two babies.
Kim
When I became pregnant with my daughter they detected my thyroid levels being high during a routine pregnancy blood test. I saw an endo. during my whole pregnancy and he watched me carefully, but never had to put me on meds. while I was pregnant. They also did a test for I believe it was antibodies to see if my daughter was at risk of having it inutero, but she was fine. They did put me on the non-strees test monitor weekly after 30 weeks to monitor her, but all was fine. My endo. said that they are pretty sure I have graves, but I have never done the radioactive uptake test to confirm, as I would have had to stay away from my daughter for 3 days. My daughter came out healthy and fine and is now almost 21 months old! My levels went way up after I gave birth and I did go on pills about 3 months after she was born. I too was on methimazole (sp). I started at 5mg, went to 10mg, to 20mg and then down to 10mg, 5mg and am now off totally. I was on it for about 1 year and they said that this med. can make your graves go into remission as mine is now. I think though, that my levels only got really high after I had my daughter and not during my pregnancy. My endo. always indicated that if I had to go on meds during pregnancy that PTU was safe. Asking all your questions before you become pregnant is the best way to go. I will be monitored closely also if we decide to have another child.
Hope my two cents helps in some way!
Good Luck!
Julia
I don't know anything about Graves Disease, but I had undiagnosed/untreated Hashimotos when I was pregnant. I had no clue that I had a thyroid dysfunction, so I can't help you there.
My pregnancy was great..High BP and that was it. I felt great, I looked fantastic..And my son is healthy at 8 months! You could talk to your OB? Call and ask? Or your endocrinologist..