Thyroid antibodies question

aenelson

Ladies,
I'm sorry if posting this here is inappropriate as I didn't really see a similar thread.

After my second loss my doc ran a series of tests. The one thing she came back with was that I do not have low thyroid, but thyroid antibodies. She said it may have contributed to the losses, based on the theory that the embryo looks like a thyroid and the antibodies "attack" it. She gave me a thyroid supplement that I am supposed to take every day TTC, through any pregnancy I may have, and until I am finished having children. Has anyone else ever heard of this????? Anyone had an experience similar? When other doctors/dentists ask me what meds I'm on and why, I list that and I am looked at like I have 3 heads. Just curious if anyone else has been told they have these antibodies

mflowers929

The only thing I've ever heard about where the antibodies attack the thyroid is Hashimoto's, which is a lifelong thing. I'd go back and ask the doctor for more information.

aenelson

Levothroxine. They are not looking at me funny for being on it, but why. Nobody seems to know the theory

PinkCamino

aenelson said:

Levothroxine. They are not looking at me funny for being on it, but why. Nobody seems to know the theory

Why the hell do you care what people think of your medication? Or, better yet why do you assume they care?

aenelson

@ktlovess I thought so, but just wanted to make sure.

[Deleted User]

I'm sorry for your loss and as far as I know, things were explained to you wrong. Your thyroid doesn't attack the baby, it attacks itself. This hinders your hormone release, and potentially causes a miscarriage.

Levothyroxine is the generic of Synthroid. I have Hasimoto's , my levels are normal but I have a high number of antibodies. Levo is not a strange drug it's totally common, but if your sensitive maybe say "I'm on the Synthroid generic Levothyroxine.

Eta: and you should be on the medication for the rest of forever, not just until your done TTC. Eventually the disease progresses and can attack other parts of your body. I highly recommend you find an endocrinologist so you can get better educated and properly medicated.

Good luck.

aenelson

@PinkCamino‌ I don't care what they think. But they ask why I'm on it. Then I say "well I had a miscarriage" and then start crying. And then they continue to understand by asking. More questions and I get upset. That's why I'm curious if I'm the only one

aenelson

@mlal78‌ @YorkieLove83‌ thank you for the info!

PinkCamino

aenelson said:

@PinkCamino‌ I don't care what they think. But they ask why I'm on it. Then I say "well I had a miscarriage" and then start crying. And then they continue to understand by asking. More questions and I get upset. That's why I'm curious if I'm the only one

If you know that talking about it makes you sad I don't understand why you just don't say its for thyroid.

[Deleted User]

aenelson said:

@PinkCamino‌ I don't care what they think. But they ask why I'm on it. Then I say "well I had a miscarriage" and then start crying. And then they continue to understand by asking. More questions and I get upset. That's why I'm curious if I'm the only one

I never say this! Just tell them it's for thyroid management.

PinkCamino

YorkieLove83 said:

@PinkCamino‌ I don't care what they think. But they ask why I'm on it. Then I say "well I had a miscarriage" and then start crying. And then they continue to understand by asking. More questions and I get upset. That's why I'm curious if I'm the only one

I never say this! Just tell them it's for thyroid management.

This.

I just want to make one thing clear, I'm in no way telling you not to acknowledge your loss or diminishing the fact that the medication you're currently on is the result of finding out about your condition after your loss. My point is simply that you are not obliged to tell people anything about the loss if you don't want to. If you're asked why you're taking those specific meds, it suffices to say for my thyroid. End of story.

aenelson

I appreciate ladies. You're all right. I imagine if I didn't say anything I would still get worked up about it, but at least there would be less funny looks. . The article @mlal78‌ posted is spot on to what I was looking for. Although it completely terrifies me I'm glad I have more info on it, and that I'm clearly not the only one. It's interesting that most doctors don't test for it when they should. Thanks again

aenelson

Thank you @HoldingOutHope‌ and @cavewmn‌ my doc said my actual thyroid levels are not low, but she said eventually I probably will hypothyroid. It scares me that the levo stopped working for you. This is why I get so nervous about TTC because if I am ever successful I feel like it will be a race against time to make sure I get the right meds/levels. I think I will call and request a blood test to see if they can check those t3 and t4 levels for me. Do they do that on a whim like that? Or do I need to have an issue for them to order it. I have not had the best of luck with this obgyn office in the past

buggirl72

Just wanted to second what @ktlovess said about no warning needed - not only is this a loss board, your really only mention your loss in passing. If the mention of the word "loss" needed a warning then the title of the group would be "warning loss mentioned Trying to Conceive After a Loss"

If you could please edit your title to remove the warning it would be much appreciated. This board is still recovering from a period of over-warning and we don't want people to get the wrong impression and think they need to warn for this.

Thanks!

DenaMaree

I just want to add that if you did understand the information your doctor gave you correct, perhaps you should consider getting a referral for a specialist! I know personally thyroid troubles was hereditary and they are being monitored regularly as I TTC and when I'm eventually pregnant. With that being said my RE did tell me it's something that if it's not properally treated even after we are done growing our family my thyroid issues can cause problems in other aspects later on too!

ash413

aenelson said:

Thank you @HoldingOutHope‌ and @cavewmn‌ my doc said my actual thyroid levels are not low, but she said eventually I probably will hypothyroid. It scares me that the levo stopped working for you. This is why I get so nervous about TTC because if I am ever successful I feel like it will be a race against time to make sure I get the right meds/levels. I think I will call and request a blood test to see if they can check those t3 and t4 levels for me. Do they do that on a whim like that? Or do I need to have an issue for them to order it. I have not had the best of luck with this obgyn office in the past

It sounds like you tested positive for hashi and while it has not yet affect your thyroid function it eventually will, because the antibodies eventually destroy the thyroid. It is not a reason for you to stress. I would get a good endo, and just receive regular labs to check TSH, T3 and T4.

I was diagnosed with hashimotos at 9 years old, and I have been well controlled for years. Try not to stress, though I would encourage you to get endocrinologist, do not rely on your OB to manage it.

nrose778899

I'm very sorry for your loss aenelson.

This post has been informative. I was just diagnosed with Hashimotos and there is so much bad info out there. I too was told that the antibodies were attacked the sperm or any embryo so YorkieLove83
's explanation is very reassuring. I started synthroid recently- .50 but the side effects became really intense so I went down to .25 and plan on gradually going back to .50. My endocrinologist said my thyroid was actually functioning OK despite the Hashimotos but since my TSH was almost 4 wanted me down more at 1.

I just wonder if the synthroid will also decrease the high antibodies they see with Hashis? Does anybody know? I am still try to get some info about this condition. Thank you.

[Deleted User]

nrose778899 said:

I'm very sorry for your loss aenelson.

This post has been informative. I was just diagnosed with Hashimotos and there is so much bad info out there. I too was told that the antibodies were attacked the sperm or any embryo so YorkieLove83
's explanation is very reassuring. I started synthroid recently- .50 but the side effects became really intense so I went down to .25 and plan on gradually going back to .50. My endocrinologist said my thyroid was actually functioning OK despite the Hashimotos but since my TSH was almost 4 wanted me down more at 1.

I just wonder if the synthroid will also decrease the high antibodies they see with Hashis? Does anybody know? I am still try to get some info about this condition. Thank you.

Yes, to the bolded. But it won't necessarily make them disappear. My endo said as long as I'm not experiencing any new symptoms and on medication the # of antibodies doesn't matter. They'll check my blood every 6 months to make sure no major changes have occurred and to see if my medication needs adjusting. 

aenelson

@nrose778899‌ what type of side affects? I'm on 50mcg of levothyroxine.


I'm worried because nobody had checked my levels since they gave me meds 9 months ago. Since I'm back TTC I am anxious to see what happens. I am going to call the obgyn on Monday. I don't think it's fair that I have to request a follow up. I want to feel taken care of and I just don't. Especially since the comments above indicate that people still don't know too much about it.

BethKate2

aenelson said:

@nrose778899‌ what type of side affects? I'm on 50mcg of levothyroxine. I'm worried because nobody had checked my levels since they gave me meds 9 months ago. Since I'm back TTC I am anxious to see what happens. I am going to call the obgyn on Monday. I don't think it's fair that I have to request a follow up. I want to feel taken care of and I just don't. Especially since the comments above indicate that people still don't know too much about it.

@aenleson, definitely call about getting blood work done again. Since being put on levothyroxine in July, I've had my levels checked every 4-5 weeks. It was made clear to me by my RE that adjustments may need to be made to my dosage to find what works for me. I'm surprised that you were put on it 9 months ago and they've never checked to see that it was working.

Km380

Adding on to what holdingouthope said even with regular monitoring, if you feel you're having symptoms you can always ask the dr to check. I did that recently and it turned out my levels had increased quite a bit

aenelson

Thank you guys! I have just been feeling so tired lately. When I first started taking them, I felt extremely energized and very happy. I even lost 10 lbs within a few weeks. I'm sure it's normal for those things to wear off, but @BethKate2‌ if you got them checked every 4-5 weeks that makes me feel uneasy. I am definitely calling tomorrow!