Hypothyroidism

At my 8 week appointment I had blood work done to check for a ton of different things (all routine).  Turns out they detected that I have an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) which means that my thyroid is not producing enough of the hormones.  Having not enough of the hormones includes the following symptoms:

Fatigue, weakness, weight gain or difficulty losing weight, cold intolerance (can't tolerate cold temperatures like those around you), constipation, depression, irritability.

Check, check, check, check...

The #1 symptom I had was fatigue. I basically slept through the first trimester.  I barely made it through the work day only to come home and sleep 10+ hours a night and take naps whenever possible.  Everyone said fatigue comes with pregnancy, but I did not understand how this could be normal.  If I had another kid to watch I could not have done it.

The results of my blood work (which I didn't hear back until a few weeks later) was that my TSH level (thyroid stimulating hormone) was at 5. The TSH is a hormone your body releases to tell your thyroid to release the T3 and T4 hormone.  The higher the TSH level means your body is trying to stimulate your thyroid to release more and more of the hormone that it is under producing.  Having a TSH of 5 is high, but not severe.  The doctor would prefer the level to be around 3.  He prescribed a synthetic hormone replacement, Levothyroxine, at 25mcg.   The catch with this drug is that you have to take first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, at least an hour before breakfast, coffee, etc.  That is hard for me.  Plus you are not to consume food with iron and calcium within 4 hours of taking (which most breakfast food contains).

At my 17 week appointment they tested my thyroid again and the TSH came back at 4 so improvement was made but not yet where it should be.  My dosage was doubled to 50 mcg.  I also talked to the doctor and decided to take the medicine at night at least 2 hours after eating.

On Tuesday at my 20 week appointment they took blood again and my TSH level was back up to a 4.6. My dosage will now be 75mcg.  I hope we can get this under control soon.

Since my TSH level had increased in the past few weeks, I was feeling more tired than I was the previous few weeks (nothing even close to the first trimester) but I really didn't give it any thought that it could be my thyroid causing it again.  I hope 75mcg bring it closer to the target level of 3.

Another thing to note is that I will most likely be on this medicine for the rest of my life.  There is no cure, only treatment for hypothyroidism.  Also, because the symptoms develop slowly over a number of years, this is something that I have had for a while and was not brought on by pregnancy (although pregnancy can exacerbate it).  It is estimated that 2.5% of pregnant women and 10% of women overall have some degree of hypothyroidism.  If left untreated, it does cause developmental delays in the baby.

On a more positive note, at my 17 week appointment they did blood work to test for down syndrome, spina bifida, and other chromosomal abnormalities.  Based on my age alone, my risk for having a child with down syndrome is 1 in 781.  Based on the results of the test, my risk drops to 1 in 10,000.  The test came back negative for everything which is great to know.

Wow, I wrote a short novel here...