Trying to Get Pregnant with Thyroid Issues...

Hi, M.,

I went through many rounds of various types of infertility treatment to conceive my first child. I have an immune disorder, not a thyroid disorder, but through RESOLVE, I know a few people (men and women) who have thyroid problems. Some of them eventually had their own genetic children; others did not. These types of problems are most likely to successfully be treated by experts in the field, endocrinologists and especially reproductive endocrinologists. The facts that you have already conceived and carried a child to term and that you are still fairly young in terms of reproduction make the chance of you conceiving and carrying another child to term higher.

Good luck,
Lynne E

Hi M.. I had thyroid cancer after my first and had two miscarriages (looking back they were realted to the cancer). Because of the cancer they removed my thyroid, so I'm on thyriod replacement hormone (synthroid). Once my medication was right (and I took progesterone supositories) I was able to have a fantastic little girl (who is 1 and a half now.) Good luck! :)

I too had a thyroid problem and had 5 miscarriages, before getting the thyroid under control, balanced, then I had a son at age 40. He came 3 months early, but is 20 now, attending a brand new college at UCLA Pathways for sp ed high functionting people with disabilities. ONce you get the thyroid balanced, you should not have any problems getting pregnant. Good luck healthy-communications.com

Two of my sister-in-laws had a hard time getting pregnant. Drs said it was almost impossible. Not sure what the problem was, but I know one was suspected as having a thyroid problem. One got acupuncture treatments and got pregnant. The other did not eat any left overs. All food had not been frozen, only refrigerated. Everything was really fresh. She ended up getting pregnant as well. One now has three children, the other has two. Hope this helps, L. :)

I've been having thyroid problems since i was in my early twenties. Nobody told me that this would be a problem in a pregnancy. We tried for 10 years to conceive before a specialist told me that my thyroid might be the cause.

I've been treated for it and had my first child at 35 years of age. We now have 4 healthy boys. I still had 2 miscarriages in between though.

You should check your thyroids and get treatment. And when you become pregnant make sure your OBGYN knows about it and tests for it (it's not included in the normal blood work).

I had/have low thyroid issues. In fact, about 4 years ago I couldn't crawl out of bed it was so bad. I also had "unexplained infertility", endo, fibroids, polyps, etc. I got pg, then miscarried my first son. Adopted my now 3.5 yo son, then surprisingly got pg with my dd when my son was 18 months.

About 7 months before I got pg with my dd, I started working with my nutritionist Linda Wagner. We worked one organ at a time and spent about 3 months working specifically on my Thyroid, Adrenal Glands, and Pituitary at the same time (All three work simultaneously together...so if one is off the other three will be too). At the 7 month point I FINALLY felt normal and healthy again. Then I got pg, and had 7 months of terrible morning sickness. But had a healthy baby girl.

Now I am 17 months post delivery and my thyroid is acting up again. So back on the Thyroid ride I go again.

Basically what I did last time was changed my diet by cutting out all artificial sweeteners, most corn products (check your labels, they sneak in corn by products all the time), increased my fresh fruits and veggies, and made more homemade meals. I also increased my work outs from 3 times a week to 5 times a week. What I mean by work outs is: 2 days of light cardio for 30 minutes (think walking on the treadmill at a decent clip, elliptor, or stationary bike). 3 days of alternating upper and lower body medium level strength training. And since I get bored often, I would alternate strength training with classes in Yoga, Step Aerobics, or Pilates every couple of weeks. But when I first started, since I could barely get out bed, I would just bounce on my exerball for 10 minutes and eventually increased up to 30 minutes before I started back on the treadmill. Then once I could walk/jog for 30 minutes 3 times a week, I slowly started incorporating the strength training and classes. You don't want to overexert your body until the health of your thyroid and adrenals can handle it.

I also took a bunch of herbs and homeopathic things that Linda suggested. The OTC stuff included: Udo's Choice Flax or 3-6-9 Oil, Enzymatic Therapy Greens drink (comes in powder form), Ezymatic Therapy acidophilus PEARLS, and New Chapter ORganics Coenzyme B Food Complex Vitamins.

Then she would send me the hardcore Thyroid, Adrenal and Pituitary homeopathic stuff.

Right now I am back to the OTC stuff plus the Adrenal Creme that she sent me. I am also trying an OTC called Natural Bio Thyroid Support on my own. It seems to be helping. I am still waiting for Linda to get back to me and send me the homeopathics that I used before. So I am trying the Thyroid Support until then.

All of the stuff is all natural, mostly organic, or homeopathic. Much better for the body than taking medications, which only masks the true problem by alleviating the symptoms in my opnion. It's a longer route to feeling better, but it definitely works!

My 17 month old, naturally conceived daughter is the living testament. When i started working with Linda I had no intention of getting pregnant...I just wanted to feel healthy and function normally again.

If you are interested, you can PM me and I can give you her email.

S.

I am 32, and have had Hashimoto's thyroiditis for about 9 years. I just gave birth to a daughter in June, but is was a long time coming. I was unable to get pregnant until my levels were perfect, and that took years. I know that it is important to have balanced hormone levels to maintain a pregnancy (I.e. Not miscarry), but also the thyroid level of the mother directly affects the intelligence of the child. Children born to mothers with slow and uncorrected thyroids are often mentally challenged. Once your thyroid is in a good place, it should be easy to get pregnant.

I have had Hyperthyroidism for 12 years. I am also a Type 1 Diabetic. I got pregnant very quickly both times, but I keep up with my doctors appointments, and took the meds, which are very easy. You just need to go in for bloodwork to make sure your thyroid levels are okay before getting pregnant, then once a month after . I had bloodwork done once a month, then every 2 weeks towards the end of the pregnancies. Finding a High Risk OB might be a good idea too.

Best of luck!

S.

My acupuncturist worked with a woman diagnosed with Graves Disease. She didn't want to be on the meds because she wanted to breastfeed. Dr Dong-Phuong Nguyen worked miracles with her and she never had to use meds. Call her. ###-###-####

I don't know what kind of thyroid issues you are experiencing. However, I do know that if you can manage your issues, achieve normal levels and maintain them you should be able to have an otherwise normal pregnancy. I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism 18 years ago when I was in Jr. High. Since then I have had blood tests every three to six months. While pregnant I was tested every two to three months. I had no issues related to my hypothyroidism with either of my two pregnancies. I now have a girl and a boy. The oldest is three and a half. They are both healthy, inteligent, kind and active children. I'm biased but they are cute too. I hope this encourages you to work with your doctors.

Check out this website on Pregnancy and Thyroid.

http://www.thyroid.org/professionals/publications/stateme...

Hi M.,
I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis after the birth of my son. My condition was extreme, I could hardly function. You did not indicate what exactly is your condition. My antibody levels were literally of the chart, the lab did not register over 1000, all they knew was that it was above that. My doc said she had never seen such an extreme case. She urged me to go on Synthroid or Armour. i did some research though, and am very conservative with my body. The trouble with these meds is that they have no way of knowing what the correct dose for you is, and they can be adjusting dosage for 6-12 months before they get it right, while in the meantime they are making you hyper-and hypo- and throwing off the very delicate balance of your entire endocrine/ hormone system.
I opted for nutritional supplementation. Basically, your thyroid produces a hormone called T4, which is actually a molecule of the amino acid Tyrosine bound to four molecules of Iodine. Your body then takes the T4 and , with Selenium (an ontioxidative mineral), and makes T3.
So, I started taking Tyrosine, Selenium and iodine supplements every day. My recovery was unbelievably profound. Within about a month I began recovering my strength, energy and will. And with no side effects! No changing doses! No ups and downs! and at minimal cost!
Good Luck!
W.

I had a lot of miscarriages before my thyroid problem was diagnosed. So you are ahead of the game! For me getting pregnant wasn't the problem, it was staying pregnant that was the issue, because my thyroid hormone would fluctuate and ultimately not stay high enough. Once I was diagnosed and we knew what to watch for, everything was fine. They put me in the "high risk" clinic, monitored my thryoid hormones very closely so they would know if I needed synthroid. What the other poster said is true. Even if you carry to term, if your thyroid levels are too low you can end up having a mentally retarded child. So, for the sake of your child, take the meds if they tell you to! With close monitoring, I was able to maintain a twin pregnancy, and now have 3 completely healthy children, so don't give up. Good luck!

Hi M.,
I found out through blood work that I had Hashimoto's Disease, a form of hypothyroidism. It took me about a year to get pregnant. I think part of that was finding the right dose of Synthroid for me. Once I got on the appropriate dose, I did get pregnant. I went to my endocrinologist every 4-5 weeks throughout my pregnancy and she made sure to maintain my TSH and T4 levels so that I didn't miscarry. They started increasing my dose of Synthroid about halfway through the pregnancy and I gave birth to a healthy baby girl. I'm sure it will happen for you, to. The hardest part is finding a good endocrinologist that you trust and having patience. I understand!

Hope this is helpful,
M.

I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism after the birth of my 3rd. child and I had several symptoms, weight gain, hair loss, achy joints, exhaustion, etc. so my Dr. that is a wonderful and compassionate woman who understands that I am very natural and I do not like taking medications with a ton of side effects put me on an old medication called Armor, it is a thyroid med. taken from a pigs thyroid. I was put on it in March and we were not trying for anymore children due to the fact that we already had 3 and WOW, in July we found out we were having a 4th. baby... When I went to her to be rechecked and talk about the pregnancy and medication, she informed me that they have used Armor as a fertility medication as well.... So, you can talk to your Dr. about it and research it. I stayed on it through the pregnancy and my OB watched my thyroid throughout with blood work and everything was great. There are also studies that women on Armor during pregnancy have babies that function more highly in their cognitive skills and I can say my son is doing great and I am very thankful for Armor!!

God Bless you~
W.

Sounds like you have a lot of good advice here. Be sure to go see your primary care doctor and have your levels checked .... once you get pregnant, they will check them periodically to make sure you are still in a good place. I have had hypothyroidism for 6+ years and I am now pregnant with my second child. Good luck and I hope you get your wish soon!

I also have a thyroid problem (hypothyroid and hashimoto's) and currently take Armour to help with it. I was able to get pregnant without any problems and my sister (who also has the same thyroid problems) has two children. Depending on the type of thyroid problem that you have-there may be some different supplements that you could take to get your levels balanced. Icelandic kelp and iodine are supposed to help regulate that thyroid. Also, you might want to try using a progesterone cream (I know that this is supposed to help decrease the risk of miscarriage). Keep on trying! Please feel free to contact me if there is any other way that I can help. I hope that you become pregnant very soon!

I had a lot of medical complications after my first child. One of the results was an inactive thyroid. I take medication for it. In the last six years, I have had three additional children. Thyroid issues affect everyone differently. Make sure you are going to a great thyroid doctor and explain the situation before talking about this stuff with your OB/Gyn. Good Luck. Have faith!

after having my son I developed thyroid disease and they told me if I wanted more children I would need help. I didn't listen, I started exercising and eating right just to get my body and mind healthy to become pregnant and after a year exactly of trying I got pregnant with my now 5 month old daughter. Your thyroid messes with your hormones but having a healthy mind and body helps regulate your hormones.

Hi M. - As I'm sure you know, proper diet and nutrition can improve anyone's health and help the body function better. Not to say it's going to cure your thyroid problem, but increasing your intake of vegetables and fruit every day will have positive effects on your body and your mood which can greatly effect your ability to get and sustain a healthy pregnancy. I wish you the best. And I highly suggest that you add Juice Plus fruit and vegetables capsules to your diet. It's 28 colorful vegetables, fruits, berries and whole grains in capsule form. It's truly the next best thing to eating your produce and makes sure your body gets all those nutrients in their natural combination every single day. Below are study results on Juice Plus and pregnancy from the University of Mississippi. If you want to hear more about this study you can call a free health hotline 800-942-1260 and press 2 and 2 to listen to the OBGYN who lead the study. Feel free to check out my website at www.wethriveonjuiceplus.com or call me at ###-###-####.

PRENATALS Prenatals + Juice Plus+
Preterm (< or = 32 wks.) 35 (20%) 0

Preeclampsia 38 (21%) 0

Spontaneous Labor 16 (9%) 0

PROM 6 (3%) 0

NICU Admission 17 (10%) 0

Respiratory Distress 13 (8%) 0

Ave. Birth Weight 3280 grams 3507 grams (+227)

Gestational age 38.2 weeks 39.3 (+1.1 week)

I have been taking synthroid for underactive thyroid for over 10years. I take .125 mcg (this dose has increased after daughter was born) I got pg at almost 41 and wa not trying. it's just my opinion but it's kind of like it's meant to be it will...?? but are you on thyroid meds? Are the levels 'off' as your doctor puts it, and can they be made normal? I hope your dream will happen soon!! Best, H.

Hi
I have hypothyroidism, and have had 2 successful pregnancies. Make sure you get your thyroid levels checked regularly, especially after you get pregnant and the risks are low. I ended up using the basal body temp chart to get my first baby.
Good luck

I was diagnosed with Graves' disease when I was 28 and I'm 40 now. I did drug therapy for over a year and finally decided to have the Radioactive iodine treatment. I have been on Synthroid since then and have also had two successful pregnancies. I had my first at 33 and my second at 36. I didn't have any issues with my thyroid during either pregnancy and have two healthy beautiful girls. I would talk to an Endocrinologists and make sure they do a full thyroid bood panel and your options for conceiving a child.

Your doctor is right. You need to have him run a rest or go to an endrocronologist to be tested. When you get pregnant your body automatically needs more thyroid hormone and if your body doesn't make enough naturally... it could cause a miscarriage. I got hypothyroidism (underactive) after my first pregnancy and was put on medication (synthroid 100mcg). The second time I got pregnant they watched me carelfy to make sure my dosage didn't need to be adjusted. make sure you look into it and good luck! Let me know if you have any other questions.