I came home from work today because I panicked when I got a call from my Dr. with my results from my physical. My thyroid is not doing what it should be doing. It is at a 22.7 and it should be between .34-4. Um…not good! The part that made me panic is I talked to the nurse at the Drs. and asked if I could be pregnant while on this drug that I am starting tomorrow. She said, well, wait and talk to your OB and it would be High Risk if I was pregnant. I was not sure if I could even be pregnant and they would not even tell me if I would be on this stuff for the rest of my life or not. Even if I would be preggie, that totally ruins my plan with giving birth at the birthing center that I love. I was panicked!
But…I talked to the nurse at the specialists and she was not concerned. She said once I get my thyroid under control, that I can carry to term and it was a really good thing we caught it now because it is very hard to carry to term when your thyroid is off, especially as much as mine is. Plus, she said I will feel sooo much better and truthfully, I didn’t even know I was sick! I guess I will be a new woman now!
It does set our dates back a month or two so I can monitor the medicine and make sure I am taking the right dose, but a few months is not biggie. It will give us time to save a little more money and to chart for a few more months. Plus, with the pills, I should have more energy to exercise, which is more like I used to be! So, a minor set back, but if L is not real concerned, neither am I.
-S
I'm sorry to hear about the setback. Do you read Opening the Door? They've just been diagnosed with something similar: http://doorsareopening.wordpress.com/
ReplyDeleteGood luck getting things under control--hopefully the extra time will give your body a chance to be totally ready when you do get to try!
Thanks for the comment - it sucks to be going through this, but it's sometimes nice to know you are not alone!
ReplyDeleteMy GP recommended a 6 month wait; RE recommended getting everything "stable." Both said that they want to make sure the levels are in the right range and they both said it often takes several months to get the consistency they would like to see. Because it takes 4-6 weeks to even see results from thyroid medication, it means adjusting, waiting 4-6 weeks, testing blood, and then adjusting again. RE was thinking we'd get going by the summer sometime and suggested we might have an April baby.
My RE did suggest using a high-risk OB when we get pregnant simply because a pregnant woman's body not only needs more thyroid hormone to supply to the baby but also because for some reason, pregnant women do not absorb the hormone pills the way non-pregnant women do. Because thyroid issues can lead to miscarriage, he said it would be far better to be followed by someone who is familiar with thyroid problems and prepared to do the necessary blood tests and titrating throughout the pregnancy. We did not talk about it, but he did not seem concerned about the actual delivery being high risk (which may mean the birthing center could work out after all?!)
Also, the RE recommended (as does a lot of the research I've looked at) getting the thyroid level between 1 and 2, even though 4 or 4.5 might be considered "normal." Apparently 1-2 (and closer to 1) is better for achieving pregnancy.
Whew! That was a ridiculously long comment. Please take all or none of it as you will as I am certainly no medical expert and am not trying to be. I'm also not trying to be scary but just share info I've gotten. I have my fingers crossed for both of us that we have short waits and healthy pregnancies!
(Oh and it IS a tiny setback! It's not the best news ever, but it is treatable :) Also, while 24 is high, there are levels even higher (my mother, when she was diagnosed was over 100) )
At least you were able to catch it! xoXO
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog and I"m starting from the beginning.
ReplyDeleteI have hypothyroidism and just found out that my TSH level was 17! It's great that you caught it now because it can cause you not to ovulate correctly - we inseminated for 3 months at home and it was all probably for nothing because of my Thyroid.
Good Luck!