Confused on Thyroid Issue.

Hi J.,
I am so sorry you are going through this. I also, had problems with my thyroid following a pregnancy.

I know it sounds kind of backwards, but when your numbers are high you are hypothyroid and when your numbers are low you are hyperthyroid.

I was very hyperthyroid after I had my son and needed to do radioactive iodine treatments to get my levels back to normal. Unfortunately they did not go to where they needed to be, so I had to have my thyroid removed. After which I became hypothyroid and take a hormone every day.

If you are hypothyroid that is actually easier to manage. Sadly it may be something you need to deal with the for the rest of your life, but blood tests can determine that. You will take a small pill every day and your doctor will check your levels pretty often over the next year.

There may be a chance that everything can even out after your pregnancy hormones go back to normal and oyu will not have ot take the pill anymore, but only your doctor can determne that.

The pill doesn't really have any side effects that I am aware of that bother me. I just take it every day when I get up in the morning. You will have to ask you Dr about breastfeeding though.

Good luck!
J.

I'm assuming that you are talking about your tsh level on your bloodwork?! My tsh level was recently .01, which would indicate hyperthyroidism, however, since my T3 and T4 are normal, my doctor has decided to keep on eye on my thyroid and not medicate at this time. Hope this gives you a little bit of info.

V.

Hi! Many moms become hypothyroid after pregnacy but it should always be treated. To clarify the situation if you are breastfeeding that should not affect your thyroid levels but if you are using an oral contraceptive there might be some alterartion in the tests.
Your milk production tends to decrease in hypothyroidism and your energy levels decrease. The diagnosis is made if your TSH(thyroid stimulating hormone) levels are elevated and sometimes your thyroid FREE EFT or T4 might not be low initially.
I'm a pediatrician and I see this problem on a monthly basis. You don't have to wean at all but please follow up with the endocrinologist since in many cases the treatment is temporary but is always important to continue checking them . You don't want to feel in a hypothyroid crisis.
Good luck,
YP

Contact a la Leche League leader in your area! They can help with your questions:

for your area of south east FL go to http://www.lllflorida.com/groups/se/index.html
for a leader in your area!

you DO NOT have to stop breastfeeding because of a medicine... there are usually safe alternatives!

maybe get a second opinion?

good luck!

Hi J.,

I think you are doing the right thing by checking everything out first. It seems so many doctors want to jump to a diagnosis and throw drugs at you to fix it. Having been through several health issues over the past couple years(IBS - irritable bowel syndrome, melanoma, and my gall bladder removed)I have unfortunately had lots of experience with the medical field. Get at least 2-3 opinions before you decide what to do, but make sure you are taking care of any urgent health problem right away. Be insistent about getting in to see doctors ASAP, sometimes the staff answering the phones and making appointments are not in the position to make a decision on how urgent your situation might be, YOU ARE. Be pro-active it's your body, you know it better than anyone else. I once called a surgeons office after I had been diagnosed with melanoma and she said the doctor could see me in 2 MONTHS! I wound up having surgery within 2 weeks and it was serious enough to require lymph node removal and plastic surgery - all my tests have been fine for 3 years so that is good, I mean great! Another time I called a dermatoogists office after having melanoma because I noticed something that looked exactly like my first melanoma and wanted to get it checked out. The person who answered said that she could schedule it almost 3 months out. When I pressed for an appt. that was sooner, she said "you really don't need to be concerned it takes years for skin cancer to develop, it shouldn't be a problem" I said, this looks like melanoma to me , and she said she couldn't fit me in sooner. My previous melanoma ahd shown up over a period of several months and was a stage IV in that amount of time. I changed dermatologists - I wasn't crazy about him to begin with. Doctors are only people with their specific training and many have a different approach to the same problem. Specialists like your endocrinologist although they are valuable and of course highly trained in what they do, will look at the problem from the perspective of their speciality and I think sometimes miss the whole picture.
Anyway, listen to yourself. I have been to 2 specialists for my IBS and had every test known to man. I am now seeing an acupuncturist, who has had the most success with getting things back under control. He has been VERY helpful. I would highly recommend checking it out as an option. The treatments don't hurt, are very relaxing and have been very helpful - with no drugs or surgery. His name is Dr. Ken Grey ###-###-####. He also surprisingly got rid of my TMJ in one visit that I have had for probably 15 years - it's been gone completely now for over a year. I had chiropractors and massage therapists work on it before and had got some temporary relief.
Hope this helps, good luck with getting your thyroid balanced.

I developed hypothyroidism after the birth of my oldest. Unfortunately from what I've found out from various doctor's it's a lifelong condition. It's usually genetic. I know when my thyroid is out of whack when I get extremely tired, moody, and my weight starts fluctuating. It was tough to tell what the symptoms where because I nursed both my boys for a year and my oldest didn't sleep properly until he was 4. So I didn't know if I was exhausted from this or from issues with my thyroid. I wish you luck and good health

Hi there! I'm not an expert on thyroid issues, but I'm glad you're questioning whether a medication is safe rather than weaning before you're ready to. Good job Mom! A lot of medications are safe to take while breastfeeding, but it is just easier to tell moms to wean because most doctors don't know any better. Another thing to keep in mind is that at almost a year, your son is probably taking in less breastmilk than he did when he was, say a newborn. So if something gets in the milk in small amounts, your son at this point will probably take in even less than you think. Of course, I don't recommend taking anything without checking if it's safe while nursing. The site I use to look up the safety of meds while nursing is Dr. Hale's site: http://neonatal.ttuhsc.edu/lact/medicationforumspage.html He has a book out called Medications and Mother's Milk and his work is respected by La Leche League.

Ok, I looked up synthroid for you. Dr. Hale says it is very safe and thyroid supplements do not pass into breastmilk. But, you can browse the archives yourself; it's under the Other Uncategorized Medications section. Only health professionals are allowed to ask questions though. So if you have a specific question, you can give the link to your doctor. Hope this helps!

Hi, You are the 3rd mom this month to mention this problem (but the other 2 are pregnant). One friend got re-tested a month later & the tests came back normal. One mom took a homeopathic thyroid remedy & it resolved (she had a beautiful baby, by the way). Anyway, You sound really smart for checking this out, since those synthroid meds are not to be taken lightly. I wish you the best of luck & kudos for breastfeeding!

I take levoxyl (cheaper than synthroid on my insurance plan) and have been taking thyroid medication since 1997.
I took it through 2 pregnancies & I breatfed both my boys until 15months old.
very safe.

ask to get a full thyroid panel run
& see if you can get the actual number from the TSH test. A lot of docs/labs still go by the OLD scale, where #s up to 5.5 can still be called 'normal'. The NEW recommendations are not over 3.5. Even though it's been YEARS since they adjusted the TSH range, some docs still aren't aware...and many don't know that the ideal range is 1-2 for most women...
My endo likes to see that one between 0.35 and 2.0. Mine was at 5.4 when my symptoms were starting, some people can get up really high with no symptoms.

J.,
I am touched by your story. I am a yoga instructor and through my training I have learned that the body has the ability to heal itself you just have to give it the time and the tools it needs. I have studets who have completly stopped medication after years of taking it because of their yoga practice. After practicing for just a few months you should see a big difference.

and on another note your doctor is telling you your levels are high for the "norm" but the levels might not be high for you because we dont all belong excatly at "norm"!!!!

Namaste,
T. B

A little about me. I am a mother of two boys born 11/93 and 3/95 I am a wife and a Yoga studio owner!!

I developed a thyroid issue after having my last child. I ended up having to have my thyroid removed and now take medication. The best thing is to see the endocrinologist first. I have several dr's see me and the endo was the best. You could still have a problem with out knowing it.

interesting, normal thyroid levels are 0.5 to 4.5 or something like that. so i thought higher the number meant hyperthyroidism. i have that my levels were 148 :) yeah you can imagine my thyroid was referred to as ninja thyroid. make sure you understand about your alternatives. i went for the radioactive iodine treatment and now i regret it. also yes you're right synthroid is not good for breastfeeding and also i was told while on synthroid i could not get pregnant the first 2-3 years. your levels seem low still to do anything about it. good luck

TSH stands for thyroid stimulating hormone. It stimulates the thyroid gland to produce more hormone. If your thyroid hormone levels are low because your thyroid gland is not producing enough your body will keep trying to stimulate the gland by producing more and more TSH (stimulating hormone). This is why your number is high and you are hypothyroid. I too had the same thing after pregnancy and only had a little fatigue. My TSH was greater than 150! This is usually refered to as postpartum thyroiditis which in some instances reverses itself but often does not. It has been 2 years for me and mine has not reversed. The pill you are taking is not really a medicine, it is just a hormone. It is important to take because you can have thyroid enlargement and may develop side effects from a decrease in your metabolism.

The opposite happened to me. I was hypothyroid and when I got pregnant it went away. I need to get tested here and there to see if when I'm back to normal if it comes back too or if I'm ok now. It is something that supposed to last your whole life but I believe pregnancy definitely messes with your levels. I think you should keep the appt with the endocrinologist and ask all the questions you have. I can recommend mine if you want a second opinion. One thing I can answer if that high levels do mean hypo, not hyper. Hyper happens with low numbers. Another thing, Synthroid pills are very small and easy to take (if it does come to you taking them for a short period of time or always). I never had a problem with them. And they aren't like BC, if you miss one you just take one the day you remember, you don't double up. Hope this helps.