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Postpartum thyroid changes... again. Anyone else suffer with this?


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Posted

I have been hypothyroid for a few years. The medication adjustment after pregnancy (I've had 2 since I was diagnosed) is terrible. My baby is 8 months and I was ok for a while, now I've been down and up for 4 months... but the last month and a half I have been feeling miserable. I don't know if I'm up or down again. I get my tsh checked again next week (finally.) I hurt all over, my muscles are so cramped and weak and sore. I can't sleep. My body is so sensitive to any changes that my tsh does these major swings (from .02 to 17 in 6 weeks by just changing a couple 1/2 tablets a week.) I feel as though I take care of myself well. I have never been overweight and eat lots of healthy protein and veges and healthy fats. I have stopped sweets. I walk everyday (thank you dh :). I have lost all my pregnancy weight.

 

I guess some of us are just lemons.

 

We want another baby but I think it'll be the death of me.

 

Anyone else go through this? I there anything I can do to help myself?

Posted

I am certainly swinging, but I am getting tested every 4-6 weeks and we are adjusting based on both test results AND my symptoms. The backdown process has been to do normal meds six days a week and a half tab on the 7th day....sounds like the same as you.

 

Keep on eating well and exercising. The swings are the worst right as my cycles start back...once they are going a couple of months, it's better. I've been through this a few times now. It will stabilize....

Posted

I have been hypothyroid for a few years. The medication adjustment after pregnancy (I've had 2 since I was diagnosed) is terrible. My baby is 8 months and I was ok for a while, now I've been down and up for 4 months... but the last month and a half I have been feeling miserable. I don't know if I'm up or down again. I get my tsh checked again next week (finally.) I hurt all over, my muscles are so cramped and weak and sore. I can't sleep. My body is so sensitive to any changes that my tsh does these major swings (from .02 to 17 in 6 weeks by just changing a couple 1/2 tablets a week.) I feel as though I take care of myself well. I have never been overweight and eat lots of healthy protein and veges and healthy fats. I have stopped sweets. I walk everyday (thank you dh :). I have lost all my pregnancy weight.

 

I guess some of us are just lemons.

 

We want another baby but I think it'll be the death of me.

 

Anyone else go through this? I there anything I can do to help myself?

 

I had this exact thing happen to me after my 4th pregnancy. I was having symptoms and went to see my doc. My TSH was .02. My doctor brushed it off. About a month later, I was miserable and went back to the doctor and he refused to run any tests again because it was "too soon". I gained 40 pounds over that next 6 weeks...waiting for him to test me again. When I went back my TSH was 91. It didnt take very long for all this to happen and if I had it to do over again I would have harassed my doctor until he agreed to run the tests again. If you are not feeling well, definitely see your doc. It isn't worth being miserable. It's amazing how a tiny synthroid pill can fix all these symptoms.

 

Best of luck!

Posted

I have been having my tsh checked every 6 weeks since October, and he adjusts the dose, usually a 1/2 pill or 2 less or more A WEEK according to the tsh and then 6 weeks later we do it all over again. I thought this time it'd be stablized but I have been feeling just yuck for the past couple weeks, so I know it's off. My dr. is good about listening, but it still feels like it takes forever to feel like a normal human again. Guess I just want sympathy :( And to know I'm not the only one. Thanks for listening and sharing.

Posted

I had this exact thing happen to me after my 4th pregnancy. I was having symptoms and went to see my doc. My TSH was .02. My doctor brushed it off. About a month later, I was miserable and went back to the doctor and he refused to run any tests again because it was "too soon". I gained 40 pounds over that next 6 weeks...waiting for him to test me again. When I went back my TSH was 91. It didnt take very long for all this to happen and if I had it to do over again I would have harassed my doctor until he agreed to run the tests again. If you are not feeling well, definitely see your doc. It isn't worth being miserable. It's amazing how a tiny synthroid pill can fix all these symptoms.

 

Best of luck!

I agree. I had bad thryoid issues after baby #2 and I still think mine is screwy, though the tests were "fine". My 8 yo has Profound Hashimoto's. Name brand Synthroid and being gluten free has helped her immensely. I would try name brand first and get on ASAP.

Posted

Mommymilkies ~ do you feel like your thyroid issues contributed to your dd's? I always wonder if I'm passing antibodies to my babies inutero or via breastfeeding. I feel like drs think I'm quacky for answering questions like that. I know they don't know the answer because there is probably no research.... but I would like to have an intelligent discussion with a doctor about such things but they're never up to it :glare: . I have concidered asking about the brand name but haven't. I normally feel great on levothyroxine, just not during the postpartum adjustments.

Posted

Mommymilkies ~ do you feel like your thyroid issues contributed to your dd's? I always wonder if I'm passing antibodies to my babies inutero or via breastfeeding. I feel like drs think I'm quacky for answering questions like that. I know they don't know the answer because there is probably no research.... but I would like to have an intelligent discussion with a doctor about such things but they're never up to it :glare: . I have concidered asking about the brand name but haven't. I normally feel great on levothyroxine, just not during the postpartum adjustments.

There is a genetic basis to many Hashimoto's cases (and other autoimmune issues!). I had thyroid issues that were *not* autoimmune before I got pg with her (1.5 years before I got pg, actually). I had nodes on my thryoid. They thought I had lymphoma because my neck was swollen horribly, my bloodwork was all over the place, and I was so tired that I couldn't remember months of my life. I took beta blockers (also helped with the palpitations and tachycardia) for a few months and stopped because I was scared of them. Made some dietary changes and it went away after a few months. Last u/s showed the nodes were gone. My mother is seriously shady about sharing her medical history. Either she had really severe hypothyroidism or thyroid cancer. I know it's not functional anymore and she had to go through a bunch of stuff (I used to work post-surg and I still can't get info from her!). I think it contributed, as well as dh being Type 1 diabetic. His niece recently was dx with JRA, as well. So it doesn't help. We are gluten free now in the hopes the same thing won't happen again. We see the dept. head of Riley's Endocrinology and he never mentioned it being maternally passed down, but that it does sometimes have a genetic basis, in this case, probably dh.

 

Many people I have talked to, and the docs we see at Riley's have said that name brand is best for *some* people. Some people do fine on levothyroxine, but some, like dd and my mother, do not. Something about the formulation and binders breaking down differently. My dd had a tsh of 617 when she first was tested. She hadn't grown in 3 years and we finally got a doc to listen to us. She is finally growing and her tsh was 1.1 last visit. It's been stable for about a year. We switched to Synthroid and being gluten free and it has leveled out. She was all over the place- 4 to 90 in a month on generic.

Posted

According to my endocrinologist, it's best to stick to name brands (synthroid or levoxyl or the other ones) because the generics are bought in batches by pharmacies and have slightly different formulations based on the producer. She thinks it's best to choose a name brand and then stick with it to fine tune the dosage.

Posted

Wow. I think it is definately genetic in your family. When you say your daughter didn't grow for three years.... that makes me think that now... my 4 year old dd and 2 yo dd are the same size. My 4 year old is small and I have been worried about her. Hmm maybe I'll need to get that checked out. But she never wants to eat anything and the 2 yo loves food and I figured that was the issue. No one in my family has really any auto-immune diseases though. Mine came after my 2nd pregnancy (which is my 4 yo dd that is small now) but I was malnourished (by protein blood levels were low as) and I was sick all the time from a bad immune system. I wasn't eating right or enough to sustain pg and nursing constantly.

 

Glad you we finally were able to figure out how to stablize your dd.

Posted

Wow. I think it is definately genetic in your family. When you say your daughter didn't grow for three years.... that makes me think that now... my 4 year old dd and 2 yo dd are the same size. My 4 year old is small and I have been worried about her. Hmm maybe I'll need to get that checked out. But she never wants to eat anything and the 2 yo loves food and I figured that was the issue. No one in my family has really any auto-immune diseases though. Mine came after my 2nd pregnancy (which is my 4 yo dd that is small now) but I was malnourished (by protein blood levels were low as) and I was sick all the time from a bad immune system. I wasn't eating right or enough to sustain pg and nursing constantly.

 

Glad you we finally were able to figure out how to stablize your dd.

I would certainly get it checked out. A bone growth scan (just a hand x-ray!) will tell a lot. But she could just be growing differently. My then 6 yo had the bone age of a 3 year old. Other than dh's diabetes (diagnosed in late high school), there weren't any autoimmune issues in our family until recently and they are all popping up now. So it might be worth checking if you are worried, but if she is otherwise fine, I'd let it be. The food issues might be a concern. It's possible to be thyroid related, but some kids just are that way (like my airetarian 5 yo).

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