# Suffering Sec IF?. Very Important, Get your Thyroid checked out ladies



## babycrazy (Mar 17, 2006)

I have to bring this very important matter to the attention of all suffering from Secondary Infertility. I am trying so hard to get this message out there.

Before going on to expensive IF investigations, ask your GP to do a full thyroid evaluation TSH T4 T3 & ATA (antithyroid antibodies). When the results come back ask for a print out of results. DO NOT LET YOUR DR OR A RECEPTIONEST TELL YOU THEY ARE NORMAL.!!! AND SEND YOU ON YOUR WAY!.

Your Ideal THS reading should be around 1.0mu/L for conception, or any thing up to 2.0mu/L. any thing higher could be your unexplained reason to secondary Infertility. Also Thyroid Antibodies can have a great affect on conceiving and staying PG. One can have an ideal TSH but high antibodies.
Having given birth can be the start of thyroid problems, this can start in PG or shortly after the birth of the baby. This illness Thyroiditis is often mistaken for PND as the symptoms are much the same. Thyroiditis is supposed to last about a year then clear up on its own, but probabilities say you will develop permanent Thyroid problems later on in life and the risk gets higher with every birth. By my own history, i think the bigger issues can start a lot sooner than some medics anticipate

In the UK TSH blood levels of 0.3 to 5.5 are NHS normal range and your GP and many other uninformed (or don't want to know) Dr,s will consider you O.K and when you have paid for your private consultation and all the test before you embark on IUI and then IVF spending thousands of £££ you still may not have got your thyroid tested or recognised as the problem if these test have been done. Believe me this is happening and if you can spare the time one day to read the Under active Thyroid thread you will see i am not bluffing, in fact some of the women have got PG natures way once getting their thyroid to the ultimate level of between 1.0 to 2.0mu/L this is after many expensive IVF TX, others have got PG with TX for the first time after many cycles of TX after sorting this minor problem.

I could go on and on,but my typing speed is [email protected] and it is best for you to research this problem yourself on the nett by googling Thyroid problems and Infertility, also as stated read the Under-active Thyroid thread and also another place on FF is within the immunes thread where you can read Agates fact sheets under T.

Can i also suggest to you all to get some good quality Royal Jelly you can also google its uses and qualities in conceiving, apparently Fergie, Prince Andrews EX Mrs conceived her 2 DD on it, i think Sarah may have suffered with PCOS with her yo yoing weight problem.
Angel Blessing on your journeys.
XX
BC


----------



## Bubblicious (Jul 8, 2010)

Thanks for the info, babycrazy.  Will be getting a print out of my latest bloods and checking them.


----------



## babycrazy (Mar 17, 2006)

Hi Bubbs
See in your sig you are thinking of going to ARGC, this clinic is one of the few that are hot  on Thyroid issues and although one of the best, also one of the most expensive, so worth checking on thyroid issues before you enbark on this route.
X
BC


----------



## roze (Mar 20, 2004)

This is good advice. I met someone in my NCT group at the weekend who is having problems conceiving a second child. She is 34. I had noticed that she had put on a lot of weight and even she mentioned that she seemed to be getting massive without eating very much. I am wondering now whether to mention the potential of a  thyroid problem. We have never discussed conception issues so I am wondering how it might be perceived. I'll give it some thought and see if I can raise it in the future with her.

My step MIL is hot on thryoid issues and has written in medical journals about her own experience of misdiagnosis by GPs over the years. She says almost the same thing as babycrazy. My partner and I went to his GP some years ago when he was suffering from depression to discusss his thryoid as a possible cause, but she showed so little experience and knowledge of it it was frightening. My MIL needs to have daily thryoid medication otherwise her life is threatened so it runs in DH's family.

Worth further investigation as could save people thousands and heartache along the line.

best wishes

roze


----------



## sanfrancisco (May 15, 2010)

Good post! I myself suffer with primary infertility,DS born 2009 following 1 IVF attempt,now still infertile but desperate for no2-our infertility is unexplained.Following ds no 1,have had a few expensive failed cycles! now stimming again,Got my TSH checked was 7,with thyroxine have got it down to 1.9,so please get TFT'S checked! I will let you know how i get on ladiesxx


----------



## babycrazy (Mar 17, 2006)

Thankyou Roze & Sanfrancisco for your input

Pregnancy link to thyroid problems

[Posted: Wed 04/05/2011 by Deborah Condon - www.irishhealth.com]

Almost one in 20 women who gives birth will go on to develop thyroid problems within two years and this could have significant implications for future health, including future pregnancies, the results of a major new study indicate.

The findings indicate that pregnant women could benefit from screening for thyroid disease.

The thyroid gland is located in the throat and is responsible for producing thyroid hormones. These hormones act on cells throughout the body to help control metabolism and ensure all the body systems are functioning properly. If the gland's functioning becomes disrupted, this can have widespread consequences throughout the body. Thyroid disease can include hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) and hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid).

According to researchers from the Charles University in Prague, almost one in seven women is known to test positive for antibodies to the enzyme thyroid peroxidase (TPO). TPO plays a major role in the production of thyroid hormones and many women show an autoimmune response against the enzyme.

However, this study has found that 35% of the women who have TPO antibodies in their blood go on to develop abnormal thyroid hormone levels within two years of giving birth, a symptom indicative of thyroid disease.

The researchers pointed out that antibodies to thyroid peroxidase are commonly found in the general population. Almost 14% of adult females and 2.8% of adult males will test positive for them.

The significance of the presence of TPO antibodies has been widely discussed in recent years. The vast majority of women who test positive will have otherwise normal thyroid functions and will apparently remain healthy.

However, previous studies have showed that testing positive these antibodies in pregnancy is linked to obstetric and thyroid problems in some women. Until now, the numbers of women affected has not been clear and follow-up studies of these women after delivery have been scarce.

However, the Prague team has now linked the antibody to abnormal thyroid levels in many women after giving birth.

It followed up 189 out of 822 women who had shown some form of thyroid disorder in the first trimester of pregnancy. One-hundred of these women tested positive for the TPO antibody, but otherwise showed no thyroid problems.

However, on re-testing 22 months after delivery, 35% of these women showed abnormal levels (either raised or lowered) of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH).

TSH is produced in the pituitary gland and it stimulates the thyroid gland to secrete important hormones, which carry out a number of essential roles in the body including regulating metabolic rate, heart and digestive functions, muscle control, brain development and bone maintenance.

According to lead researcher, Dr Eliska Potlukova, this is a potentially important finding 'because it affects so many women'.

"Roughly one in seven pregnant women will test positive for the TPO antibody and we have now found that more than a third of these will go on to develop thyroid problems within two years of giving birth. This is rather surprising, as these positively screened women should have been referred to an endocrinologist already in pregnancy.

"Thus, in general population, this number would be much higher. That means a lot of women - perhaps tens of thousands in one of the larger European countries - will have thyroid problems which could be detected earlier," she explained.

She said that these women need to be followed up so that their thyroid disease can be caught early, 'as this could have major implications for the health of the mother, baby and any subsequent babies who may be carried while the mother has a thyroid condition'.

"In addition, we need to educate women to be aware that having this antibody can have serious health implications for themselves and their families," Dr Potlukova added.

Details of these findings were presented at the European Congress of Endocrinology in Rotterdam.

This post contains an unconfirmed link/information and readers are reminded that FertilityFriends.co.uk or its owners are not responsible for the content of external internet sites


----------



## babycrazy (Mar 17, 2006)

BuMp


----------



## babycrazy (Mar 17, 2006)

BUMP


----------



## AllysonH (Oct 10, 2009)

Hi BC

Read your post and prev response to Smurf2 with interest and wondered if you could help (appreciate you're not a medic but you seem to know your stuff in relation to immune issues  )

We're about to embark on DEIVF, which we are comfortable with, however I'm still unsure that POF is the issue and don't want to risk precious financial resources (and wasting our time) if there are other routes we should be taking first.  

All probs seemed to start following the birth of our DS, continuous bleeding, no real cycles and lots of low moods/emotional - had gynae and endo investigations to rule out serious illness/disease - only found random high levels of cortisol - which remains unexplained.  Returned to fertility issue summer 10 and discovered v low AMH, but pretty normal FSH and LH (which had been the case in 2009 too).  Clinic convinced I am perimenopausal - but does have a habit of trying to fit you to their latest diagnosis (started with PCOS because of my weight despite me having no other symptons  ).  Tried IUI unsuccessfully so far, told poor responder and that my eggs aren't up to it so should go with DE.

I'm worried there is an underlying immune issue but can't find a doc/specialist to take this seriously, or who has the joined up knowldege of both reproductive and endo experience.

Thyroid has been tested - July 10 - Free T4 15.5 pmol/L, TSH 1.87 uU/mL, Free T3 5.2 pmol/L - which I think are ok but I haven't had ATA tested.

Can you advise how you would go about getting ATA tested - is it available in UK?  And also if there are any UK docs/clinics you would recommend that specialise in this area (sorry not sure BC if you are UK based?)?

Really apppreciate any help you, or others, can give...so unsure what to do next and hate the idea of wasting anymore time in trying to conceive longed for brother or sister for DS...it's heartbreaking...

Thanks

Ally


----------



## babycrazy (Mar 17, 2006)

Hi Ally
I am not an expert on thyroid, but there are girls on Underactive Thyroid that are. Your TSH looks fine but it would be better a bit lower around the 1.0 mark, this will  allow for any rise that PG will cause or any Estrogen's while stimming for OEIVF or IUI or prepping womb for DEIVF with HRT,s Your Free T4 i think is O>K & your T3 i think is in mid range. Have you also had your Prolactin checked, can you get milk from your nipples many years after giving birth.?
You can get your ATA done on NHS by your GP, you can have a good TSH but if ATAs are out of range they are a bigger problem for implantation & MC.. There are 2 different test for ATA,s go to immune threads and look at agates FAQ sheet under.T.  If  you have raised  ATAs you need to go on Thyroxine, clexane aspirin & steroids for an OE or DE IVF TX.  I dont know if they would do this for conceiving naturally.
First of all get your Thyroid retested with your ATAs and go from there . A good  reproductive Endocrinologist is Dr Conway in London,  I don't know where you reside so this may be to far away for you. You could also read up on agates FAQ about POF as it is an immune problem, see if it fits with you, but usually you would have a high FSH with POF i should think Whats your FSH and your age!.
Angel Blessings
X
BC    (I am in UK in Oxfordshire,)


----------

