TTC with Thyroid Issues

[danniellabella]

I'm going to subscribe to this thread. I was only diagnosed with a thyroid condition about 3 weeks ago and then this week was told that it looks like it's probably Graves Disease. Going to specialist in May. Had an ultrasound on the thyroid today.

We aren't TTC now but we were going to next year before I found out I have this. Now will have to wait and see what the specialist says.

I haven't started any treatment yet, again waiting until May when I see the specialist. Thankfully though it has been caught right at the beginning...I guess I know my body well enough to get help when something doesn't seem right.

[kalmia]

Hi daniella

Interesting that your GP has held off on the medication. My best advice I can give is to keep a close eye on it so it doesn't get toobad; I left it too long and ended up in the ED. If you start to get worse, don't wait to see the specialist, go back to your GP and get something done.

One of the things about hormones is that they are very slow acting and so problems will build up slowly and can be disregarded. You may find it handy to keep a food diary as in my experience, an increase in appetite tends to be the first sign but you may not actually see any change in your weight. Don't let them tell you you're fine cause you don't like like an anorexic

Other things to watch out for are clutziness or trouble writing neatly (the shakes start out as a loss of fine motor control) and muscle weakness (like having trouble climbing those stairs you usually just dash up). Anything like that may mean your thyroid hormone levels are going up and you'll want to get them retested.

But most of all, relax. Graves' really is a very treatable disease. Treatment can feel like it's really slow once you do start but that's because, like I said earlier, hormones are slow and will hang around in your blood for weeks. The other side of that coin is that you can be getting worse, or better, and it can take a bit of time for it to show in your tests. Remember; no one knows your body as well as you do, listen to it.

Hope my rambling has helped a bit

[Brunette]

Please see post below.

[Brunette]

Damn, just tried sending a long post and it disappeared!

I am so peeved. Thanks to BellyBelly and this thread, I read about thyroid antibodies late last year. I asked my endoc if I had these at my last visit in December. She told me I had 2 of 3 (the one which can be passed from mother to daughter I don't have). I don't have a copy of the test or remember which ones I have or their levels.

I just called my endo and asked her to send a copy of my results. I asked her if having these antibodies made it more difficult to fall, and she said yes. I've been seeing the woman for 5 years and she's never explained this to me! I mentioned what Nikki said (thanks, Nikki; no names or web site mentioned) about taking clexane to improve chances of falling. She said it's a controversial area but prednisone is probably a good idea.

I took the clexane/aspirin/prednisone combo for my last stim cycle based on the second opinion of another FS. We're in the middle of a TWW (HRT FET cycle) now and based on results of some BTS (Lupus, Factor V and others, but not natural killers which somehow got missed) my FS just put me on aspirin.

I am just so peeved that I've been relying on my endo who's not told me this for 5 years. My FS knows I have a thyroid problem but relies on my endo to treat it. So where does that leave me? In the dark - that's where.

Can any of you ladies give me some more info on these thyroid antibodies?

[danniellabella]

Hi daniella

Interesting that your GP has held off on the medication. My best advice I can give is to keep a close eye on it so it doesn't get toobad; I left it too long and ended up in the ED. If you start to get worse, don't wait to see the specialist, go back to your GP and get something done.

One of the things about hormones is that they are very slow acting and so problems will build up slowly and can be disregarded. You may find it handy to keep a food diary as in my experience, an increase in appetite tends to be the first sign but you may not actually see any change in your weight. Don't let them tell you you're fine cause you don't like like an anorexic

Other things to watch out for are clutziness or trouble writing neatly (the shakes start out as a loss of fine motor control) and muscle weakness (like having trouble climbing those stairs you usually just dash up). Anything like that may mean your thyroid hormone levels are going up and you'll want to get them retested.

But most of all, relax. Graves' really is a very treatable disease. Treatment can feel like it's really slow once you do start but that's because, like I said earlier, hormones are slow and will hang around in your blood for weeks. The other side of that coin is that you can be getting worse, or better, and it can take a bit of time for it to show in your tests. Remember; no one knows your body as well as you do, listen to it.

Hope my rambling has helped a bit

My next appointment with my GP is 22 March and he'll be doing more blood tests. I think he wants to do regular BT's until my specialist visit. He has made a point of telling me to come straight in if I feel worse.
The one thing I am thankful for is that he's given me sleeping tablets. I had not slept for more than 3 hours a night for about 2 months when I decided something was not right.

[kalmia]

That's good, hopefully they'll catch it if it does start to get worse, which it hopefully won't

Sorry if I sounded a bit pushy before, sounds like you've got yourself a great GP who is listening to you and doing what needs to be done. I made the mistake of going to a new GP cause we had moved house recently. I couldn't get anyone to believe me for about three months cause my levels weren't that high to start with, probably similar to yours, then I gave up and took the 40 minute drive to see my old doc, who told me off for leaving it so long and sent me to the hospital

I didn't think I was having trouble sleeping but looking back I probably was, I remember lying in bed and being so twitchy you just can't sit still long enough to fall asleep. Sleeping pills definitely would have been nice.

I think the worst though was just not feeling like myself. I felt like I was always angry or upset for no reason, had to keep reminding myself I wasn't crazy, just sick.

[buliej]

Hi

I'm looking for a very solid recommendation for an endocrinologist in Melbourne - preferable CBD-ish and surrounds. (Solid to me means sharp/on-the-ball/responsive/super qualified). I am not having a good experience with my current one and need to change ASAP as I am finding her to be totally unresponsive which, to me, is not acceptable. If you are not comfortable posting the name, please PM me.

Thank you very much.

[Bengal]

Hi Bulliej - sorry to read your having a hard time.

See Alison Nankervis, she runs the Throid Pregnancy Clinic at RWH and has private rooms at Melb Private. Google her, you will be impressed, with her experience.

She is my Endo, and has been so supportive

[buliej]

ugh - she's not taking new patients!

[trubabe]

hi ladies, i have just found out today that i have an underactive thyroid.gp had some blood tests with regards to me having high blood pressure and that is how it was picked up.tsh level was 6.he had now ordered t3 and t4 and gotta get results from him friday.theres a small chance he may put me on thyroxine.but thursday i have an appointment with the natural fertility service at mater hospital so will take my copy of these results and show them and maybe they can run more tests.plus if gp doesnt do anything to try and get tsh level sorted maybe natural fertility service might and fingers crossed maybe a better chance at falling preg