Pregnancy and Hashimoto's

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-25-2004
Pregnancy and Hashimoto's
2
Thu, 03-23-2006 - 9:36pm

I should already know the answer to this, but I've been thinking about a second baby and I'm not quite sure. I read that untreated Hashimoto's has the highest miscarriage rate/risk. I'm not sure if that is true, but I got lucky with DS (now 8 mo. old). I just want to know that with stable levels (150mcg was correct), will it be ok? I have other health reasons as to why another pregnancy wouldn't be a great idea..But, DH is dying to have another boy..

What would the chances of DS and any other possible child developing Hashimoto's or some other thyroid condition?

Thanks!

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-22-2004
Fri, 03-24-2006 - 1:07pm

Hi:

I've done some thinking about these issues; I had 2 miscarriages: one before, and one after, my daughter (now 4.5). My TSH was taken after the first m/c and though it was 3.8, the doctor didn't even mention hypo as a possiblity (the values they were using was .2-5.5 normal range for TSH). Amazingly, I did manage to have my daughter and wasn't diagnosed until after my 2nd miscarriage when my daughter was 2.5. I had a hard pregnancy & childbirth, but no one thought to check my thyroid again (unbelievable considering that I noted it in my family history on all the forms)...

My understanding is that as long as you go in and have your levels checked more frequently during pregnancy, and get adgustments made to your dose accordingly, you and the baby will be fine. NOTE: be sure your doctor is working with the current "normal ranges!" (As you know, there is never a gaurantee that you won't m/c even under "normal" conditions--- my doc said as many as 1 in 4 of all pregnancies end in m/c).

The short answer to the inheritence question is, yes, your kids have inherited your genes and so have a chance of developing Hashimoto's or Grave's disease or another autoimmune disease. It doesn't occur in as many men as women, though, so your son may never have a thyroid problem even with your genes. Even if your 2nd one is a girl, she may or may not either... Genes are tricky that way---just like you may or may not have another boy :-)

In my family, my grandmother, my aunts, my mother, myself... have all had autoimmune diseases, 3 of 4 involving thyroid... So, I'm going to be watching my daughter very carefully. But I'm not too worried because as awful as it's been for me, it can't be as bad for her because of how much I've learned and the fact that I will be watching her....

Good luck,
Dee.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Sun, 03-26-2006 - 3:15am

Hey jenniekg,

I'm new over to this site, I've been looking for some answers about my Hashimotos and the problems I've been having lately.

But on your ? I have 4 children. After my second I knew something was off and I had all the symptoms of hypo but I couldn't get anyone to test anything other than my TSH (at that point was 4.8) and everyone said "Well that's in acceptable limits, so we don't need to go any further." Well after 4 years, 60lb, fertility problems resulting in it taking 3 yrs to get pg w/ #3, I FINALLY had # 3 and when he was 5 wks old my throat almost swelled shut. I know it was my Thyroid but of course the Drs said NO and tested me for everything under the sun before they even did a TSH test. That one came up too low and I finally had a referral to endocrin, for the exact opposite of what I was really needing one for! LOL But the Endo Dr gave them a list of blood tests to be done so they would be ready when I got there. It turned out my Thyroid anti-body was off the charts (89). After the swelling went down and my levels stablized with meds, things got a little better. I "ended" up w/ #4 and even though I don't do pg well, w/ the thyroid replacement it definately not as bad. All my babies were big and healthy with no problems that could be attributed to thyroid dysfunction. The only really hard things I've noticed are keeping up a good milk supply when BF, and I've noticed that I have more "attacks", swelling, pain and even more sluggish thyroid in the year after the births. But as long as I stayed on top of my levels and listened very closely to my body, everything went pretty well.

My best advice if you guys want to have another child is to get on top of your thyroid function and get w/ a Dr that you trust. As long as they keep tabs on your thyroid levels (mostly T4 for pg) it can be completely safe to have more children. I don't know about your other health issues so I don't know how they factor into your decision but if your thyroid is the man concern - it can be done and safely.
And as for him wanting another son, you'd better tell him that he'd get his swimmers in a row because that's all up to him. LOL