Elevated thyroid levels

BethKate2 · July 2014

I had blood work done on Monday and the results are slowly coming in. My FSH and Estradiol were both in the normal range, but I just got the call letting me know that my TSH was elevated (8.02). I've never been diagnosed with a thyroid issue, and I have no symptoms, so it was a surprise. They're sending the blood out to test T4 and some other things, but in the meantime, the doctor has called in a prescription for levothyroxine for me to start tomorrow morning.

I've already started to do some googling about how this affects fertility, and I'll being speaking at length with my doctor once all of the results are in, but I thought there might be ladies here with some information about hypothyroidism. I'd appreciate anything you can tell me. TIA!

BunnyBerry · July 2014

Congrats on the good FSH and LH numbers!

Sorry about the surprise thyroid issue.

Glad you are able to start meds right away. Hope they do the trick with minimal side effects. You may actually feel more energetic!

My mom has hypothyroid and her doctor will only keep her on the bare minimum of Synthroid to put her in the low end of normal, because he doesn't want her to be overmedicated for the rest of her life I guess (it drives her crazy because she'd love to lose weight, lol). But I looked into it (so far I've tested normal for thyroid) and for fertility, I guess it's common for the RE to use thyroid medication to get women well within the healthy range as even slightly low thyroid can harm fertility.

I know that my mom and lots of people have a hard time on the generic, and need brand name Synthroid to avoid side effects.

BethKate2 · July 2014

Thanks, ladies.

What's interesting is that I don't seem to have any symptoms. I'm not really lacking energy, my weight isn't an issue (I've actually lost 11 lbs in the last two months), my cycles are regular, no constipation or other issues that I was reading could be symptoms. I don't know. Clearly it's high and needs to be taken care of. Hopefully it helps with TTC. That would be nice, huh?

jennym25 · July 2014

My first TSH came in at 2.6, my re had me retest (she wanted 2.5 or less) and the second one came in at 3.09. She put me on Synthriod. Wanted me to retest in a month. When my period showed up two weeks later with no medication she asked me to retest on cd2 prior to cd3 u/s. Within two weeks my levels came down to 2.5. I still continue to take Synthroid and I have been told that I will need to continue during a pregnancy.

bris3jbt · July 2014

My TSH was 8.0. I was put on Synthroid when they first discovered it. It wasn't the cause of our infertility though. It was MFI. So, we knew we wouldn't be able to do IVF for like 6 months so I stopped taking my medicine. When it came time for IVF they rechecked my levels and it went back to 8.0. So, I basically have to be on this medicine my whole life even though I don't have any symptoms either.

BethKate2 · July 2014

bris3jbt said:

My TSH was 8.0. I was put on Synthroid when they first discovered it. It wasn't the cause of our infertility though. It was MFI. So, we knew we wouldn't be able to do IVF for like 6 months so I stopped taking my medicine. When it came time for IVF they rechecked my levels and it went back to 8.0. So, I basically have to be on this medicine my whole life even though I don't have any symptoms either.

@bris3jbt, that's the part that I'm trying to wrap my head around too. I had no idea this was an issue, and now I'm looking at probably having to continue these meds long-term.

BethKate2 · July 2014

lhbphd said:

I've never had symptoms but I've been treated for hypo for 10 years, after my thyroid was removed after a Grave's Disease dx. The only symptom I have when I'm either really high or really low is a mildly irregular heartbeat (skipping a beat every once in a while). I don't think it's uncommon to be asymptomatic.

Also, as another poster mentioned, generic levo doesn't work on me. I've been on generic, Levoxyl, and Synthroid and only Synthroid works. Never tried Armour. Not to say one of these won't work for you, just kind of throwing it out there that sometimes it's a guessing game. If they still have trouble regulating your levels at your in 6 week and 6 month retesting, the first thing a good endo will do is switch your meds.

@lhbphd, Interesting. That is a symptom I've had.

Thanks for the info.

LuBirdie · July 2014

***** loss(s) mentioned**********

Hi everyone.... Hi Bethkate2,

I am a newbie, I have been an avid reader but not very good at posting (sorry) - but I unfortunately have a lot of experience with hypothyroid issues and maybe it can help. I've had a fresh IVF and 2 FET (2 MC and BFN) in the last year. My thyroid has been under control at/around 1-1.5 since using levothyroxine starting in 2000. I never had any symptoms either, except a little monthly breakthrough bleeding, so my gyn thought it was a good idea to check... luckily she did and I've been on meds since. But, ironically every time I got pregnant in the last year, my levels skyrocketed (to around 17 and higher) and no one ever knew why so they just continued to increase my dosage of levothyroxine and then reduce it after I miscarried . Well, after several more consults and interviews with new RE's a Dr. told me that I was highly sensitive to all of the hormonal drugs that I was taking/injecting/suppositting (I know, not a word :-) verb for the act of using suppositories) and that was causing my tsh levels to get out of whack….not necessarily the BFP. Obviously, it was my body’s own way of reacting to the drugs. If your tsh levels tend to fluctuate, keep a close eye on them until they have steadied, especially if you are looking into other fertility measures. Hope this helps a little.

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