Holy crap you guys! I've been staying away from this thread after my initial 'input'... but after seeing so many responses I couldn't help myself. This whole thing got cray Sending out all the love-tits because it's too hard to go back and comment on it all
It's really helpful to see the posts about hypothyroidism. I was diagnosed with it in my first pregnancy but it didn't go away between pregnancies. And looking back, I bet this had something to do with some weight and health issues between college and pregnancy.
Hmmm...interesting. Thanks for sharing your stories! Never would have realized that on my own.
I was also diagnosed with hypothyroidism when I was 17. I was really bad about taking my meds and had a really hard time losing weight that I was gaining after I stopped taking my meds regularly. Mine actually runs in my family. My grandmother has it, mother has it, and also my aunt.
Once I started up again they had to increase my dose by a quarter which is a lot of you're familiar with synthetic thyroid hormone levels. When I went for my blood work at my first OB appt after having taken my meds like clockwork again, they found it on the high side so my doc was able to lower me back down to my original level. Yay hooray! Thyroid is no joke when it comes to gaining/losing weight and a lot of people don't realize that. I never took it seriously until I wanted to get pregnant. I'm really glad you ladies got diagnosed and hope it helps!
I was also diagnosed with hypothyroidism when I was 17. I was really bad about taking my meds and had a really hard time losing weight that I was gaining after I stopped taking my meds regularly. Mine actually runs in my family. My grandmother has it, mother has it, and also my aunt.
Once I started up again they had to increase my dose by a quarter which is a lot of you're familiar with synthetic thyroid hormone levels. When I went for my blood work at my first OB appt after having taken my meds like clockwork again, they found it on the high side so my doc was able to lower me back down to my original level. Yay hooray! Thyroid is no joke when it comes to gaining/losing weight and a lot of people don't realize that. I never took it seriously until I wanted to get pregnant. I'm really glad you ladies got diagnosed and hope it helps!
This too. It's not a shocker for me because a lot of women on my Mom's side of the family have it as well. Once she put me on meds and I looked up the symptoms it all made sense. You don't realize how all the little things that you never think to mention, could come together and indicate a bigger problem. And we wouldn't have thought to check it until I went to get pregnant. Now I'm going for bloodwork every 4 weeks. She initially put me on 25mcg and through all my tests I'm now up to 100mcg. Had bloodwork yesterday and she said now I'm just a little too high so to cut back to 75mcg twice a week (still taking the 100mcg 5 days / 75mcg for 2). But quite a change in the meds over the course of the pregnancy.
I'll go ahead and throw another hand in the air for thyroid issues. I have Hashimoto's and I was diagnosed at 16. I'm 31 now. I religiously take my medicine and still have symptoms even though my blood work comes back in the normal range. I felt better than I ever have on Armour, but my endocrinologist switched me to Levothyroxine after I got pregnant again. Apparently it's come out in the last few years that Armour doesn't cross the placenta so it's not as safe during pregnancy. It'll level the mom's hormones, but not the baby's. My Levo dose is 175mcg. My thyroid is barely functioning. I never even linked my higher weight gain until this discussion so I'm glad I've continued to read!
I've struggled with weight ever since I was diagnosed. It's never affected my fertility, thankfully, but it's definitely affected my weight. When I had DD 3 years ago, I weighed 200lbs. I gained a total of 25lbs with her and I never lost any of it. I didn't get any of the weight off until I joined weight watchers and started walking and eventually running in 2015/2016. I lost a total of 85lbs. I'd put a little back on before I got pregnant this time because I was training for a half marathon. Some was muscle mass. Some was from food intake. I was 155 when I got pregnant. I'm 171 already now, and like I said in an earlier post, I run and do the elliptical 4-5 days a week plus I'm still eating fairly healthy. My diet really hasn't changed hardly at all since before I was pregnant. I'm willing to bet my Hashi's is the culprit.
I was lucky my first two pregnancies, I gain just over 15 pounds with both and lost the weight immediately. This pregnancy I weighed as much going into it as I did full term with my other two. I think the culprit is stress, between having my son and this pregnancy (1 year) we opened and subsequently closed a business, got married, had two deaths in the family, began work on our new house, and sprinkle in a few health issues/problems with some growing pains between my husband and I as we figure out this circus we call life and I see stress in the rear view mirror on a good day. So I haven't gained but my starting point was higher
Add me to the hypothyroid train as well. I also have Lupus but hypo is what messed with my weight. I actually had an RE diagnose me and put me on both synthetic T4/T3 but no one wanted to raise my mess despite having a ton of symptoms remainand my weight not going any where despite working out an insane amount and tracking food. My nutritionist threw her hands up and said my metabolism was screwed. Finally about 3 months after DD I found a doctor that was holistic minded and put me on NaturThroid (like Armour) and between that and breastfeeding the weight just fell off. Almost to an all time low. Then as I weaned and started crossfit I stabilized with more muscle mass but a lower body fat %. I was 163# and 20% BF before I got pregnant this time. This morning I weighed 182#. As I said above I workout 5-6 days a week 60-75min 3x a week weights and elliptical intervals and 2-3x swim practice clocking 2 miles a practice and I eat the same actually I cut carbs a bit. Yet here I am. I also got my thyroid labs drawn in December after waiting too long and my Free T4 was below the normal range when it should be in the upper 1/3. I have now had to raise a full grain (which is a lot for those who know). I am positive it has had an impact on my weight gain but it's odd as usually you have to decrease thyroid meds in pregnancy.
Add me to the hypothyroid train as well. I also have Lupus but hypo is what messed with my weight. I actually had an RE diagnose me and put me on both synthetic T4/T3 but no one wanted to raise my mess despite having a ton of symptoms remainand my weight not going any where despite working out an insane amount and tracking food. My nutritionist threw her hands up and said my metabolism was screwed. Finally about 3 months after DD I found a doctor that was holistic minded and put me on NaturThroid (like Armour) and between that and breastfeeding the weight just fell off. Almost to an all time low. Then as I weaned and started crossfit I stabilized with more muscle mass but a lower body fat %. I was 163# and 20% BF before I got pregnant this time. This morning I weighed 182#. As I said above I workout 5-6 days a week 60-75min 3x a week weights and elliptical intervals and 2-3x swim practice clocking 2 miles a practice and I eat the same actually I cut carbs a bit. Yet here I am. I also got my thyroid labs drawn in December after waiting too long and my Free T4 was below the normal range when it should be in the upper 1/3. I have now had to raise a full grain (which is a lot for those who know). I am positive it has had an impact on my weight gain but it's odd as usually you have to decrease thyroid meds in pregnancy.
Really? I've had to increase. I don't look too much into it all myself because I really trust my doctors, and they watch it closely.
Add me to the hypothyroid train as well. I also have Lupus but hypo is what messed with my weight. I actually had an RE diagnose me and put me on both synthetic T4/T3 but no one wanted to raise my mess despite having a ton of symptoms remainand my weight not going any where despite working out an insane amount and tracking food. My nutritionist threw her hands up and said my metabolism was screwed. Finally about 3 months after DD I found a doctor that was holistic minded and put me on NaturThroid (like Armour) and between that and breastfeeding the weight just fell off. Almost to an all time low. Then as I weaned and started crossfit I stabilized with more muscle mass but a lower body fat %. I was 163# and 20% BF before I got pregnant this time. This morning I weighed 182#. As I said above I workout 5-6 days a week 60-75min 3x a week weights and elliptical intervals and 2-3x swim practice clocking 2 miles a practice and I eat the same actually I cut carbs a bit. Yet here I am. I also got my thyroid labs drawn in December after waiting too long and my Free T4 was below the normal range when it should be in the upper 1/3. I have now had to raise a full grain (which is a lot for those who know). I am positive it has had an impact on my weight gain but it's odd as usually you have to decrease thyroid meds in pregnancy.
Really? I've had to increase. I don't look too much into it all myself because I really trust my doctors, and they watch it closely.
I was also surprised by this. I have had to triple my dose so far.
I had to raise my dose last time with DD. It never went back down. This time it's stayed the same since my thyroid is barely doing anything anymore. My endocrinologist told me he doesn't expect to have to change it much, if at all, because of how high my dose is. I'm definitely going to have to check into NaturThyroid @JAM85! Does it run out like Armour does? Armour works so much better than Levo for me, but it's a pain to try to track down sometimes.
@PurplePoppy424 yes Naturthroid is easier to get and I believe cheaper although I was never on armor myself. I pay $45 not with insurance for a three month supply. Oddly enough for some reason I would actually end up paying more with my co-pay from insurance then just not filing with it.
I may be mistaken about reading that people lower their doses when they're pregnant since so many people had to raise theirs which makes me feel better!
@PurplePoppy424 yes Naturthroid is easier to get and I believe cheaper although I was never on armor myself. I pay $45 not with insurance for a three month supply. Oddly enough for some reason I would actually end up paying more with my co-pay from insurance then just not filing with it.
I may be mistaken about reading that people lower their doses when they're pregnant since so many people had to raise theirs which makes me feel better.
Hmm. Yeah. I'm definitely going to have to talk to my doctor about trying it out once this baby comes. I was paying $40 for a 30 day supply of Armour!
I love how this thread has evolved. I can just imagine admins about to come in here with their "This thread has been closed due to change in topic," when all of a sudden it turns into an actual helpful conversation about the original topic
@PurplePoppy424 Yes, not being able to lose weight and/or gaining is a tell-tale sign. I suspect that your Hashi's is the culprit as well! (But I don't know much about it so being the research queen that I am, I'm curious so I'm going to Google haha!) Kudos to you for losing at 85lbs! That's great! I went into college around 125 and came out around 165/170. I have been pretty "skinny" (I don't really like that word) my entire life before then. This wasn't my first time going to school so at that time I was 20/21. As I said, nothing changed and I wasn't stressed (until my last semester when my life literally crumbled. Uncle committed suicide, parents split up for a period of time, Aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer and then my now husband had a stroke. It was tough!) I haven't been able to lose it since ... until now.
@JAM85 My sister had to increase her's and my friend had a very odd situation with her TSH. She was literally all over the place (initially low) and her Dr's had a hard time figuring it out. She's in normal range now but it was an interesting first few months for her. She was going for blood draws almost weekly the poor girl! Before trying to get pregnant it really wasn't something on my radar or that I knew anything about so this whole situation has opened my eyes to the condition.
@AdaByron I was literally thinking the exact thing. They only close it when the change of topic goes off the rails...but that's taking all the fun out of it!
TTC: 1/2014
BFP: 9/24
EDD: 6/8/2015
Sorry for the poor man's siggy...ticker won't load regardless of how many tips I read.
Add me to the hypothyroid train as well. I also have Lupus but hypo is what messed with my weight. I actually had an RE diagnose me and put me on both synthetic T4/T3 but no one wanted to raise my mess despite having a ton of symptoms remainand my weight not going any where despite working out an insane amount and tracking food. My nutritionist threw her hands up and said my metabolism was screwed. Finally about 3 months after DD I found a doctor that was holistic minded and put me on NaturThroid (like Armour) and between that and breastfeeding the weight just fell off. Almost to an all time low. Then as I weaned and started crossfit I stabilized with more muscle mass but a lower body fat %. I was 163# and 20% BF before I got pregnant this time. This morning I weighed 182#. As I said above I workout 5-6 days a week 60-75min 3x a week weights and elliptical intervals and 2-3x swim practice clocking 2 miles a practice and I eat the same actually I cut carbs a bit. Yet here I am. I also got my thyroid labs drawn in December after waiting too long and my Free T4 was below the normal range when it should be in the upper 1/3. I have now had to raise a full grain (which is a lot for those who know). I am positive it has had an impact on my weight gain but it's odd as usually you have to decrease thyroid meds in pregnancy.
Really? I've had to increase. I don't look too much into it all myself because I really trust my doctors, and they watch it closely.
I was also surprised by this. I have had to triple my dose so far.
+1 for surprised by this. My dose had to be increased twice during the first trimester.
Add me to the hypothyroid train as well. I also have Lupus but hypo is what messed with my weight. I actually had an RE diagnose me and put me on both synthetic T4/T3 but no one wanted to raise my mess despite having a ton of symptoms remainand my weight not going any where despite working out an insane amount and tracking food. My nutritionist threw her hands up and said my metabolism was screwed. Finally about 3 months after DD I found a doctor that was holistic minded and put me on NaturThroid (like Armour) and between that and breastfeeding the weight just fell off. Almost to an all time low. Then as I weaned and started crossfit I stabilized with more muscle mass but a lower body fat %. I was 163# and 20% BF before I got pregnant this time. This morning I weighed 182#. As I said above I workout 5-6 days a week 60-75min 3x a week weights and elliptical intervals and 2-3x swim practice clocking 2 miles a practice and I eat the same actually I cut carbs a bit. Yet here I am. I also got my thyroid labs drawn in December after waiting too long and my Free T4 was below the normal range when it should be in the upper 1/3. I have now had to raise a full grain (which is a lot for those who know). I am positive it has had an impact on my weight gain but it's odd as usually you have to decrease thyroid meds in pregnancy.
Really? I've had to increase. I don't look too much into it all myself because I really trust my doctors, and they watch it closely.
I was also surprised by this. I have had to triple my dose so far.
+1 for surprised by this. My dose had to be increased twice during the first trimester.
+2. My dosage had increased with each pregnancy and never decreased between.
I love how this thread has evolved. I can just imagine admins about to come in here with their "This thread has been closed due to change in topic," when all of a sudden it turns into an actual helpful conversation about the original topic
It's as if *gasp* weight really is one potential indicator of health, which is why some of us would like to discuss it!
Re: the thyroid meds. My husband has to take Levothyroxin, since his brain cancer wiped out his pituitary, and now his thyroid doesn't get hormones to tell it to produce whatever it needs to produce. His doctor just increased the Levo from 88 to 125(ish?) to see if it would help with the temperature regulation issues he is experiencing. I was on board with this increase, since his levels were not in the upper third of the normal range, anyway, but have any of you noticed that increasing your levo has an impact on your body temp? It may just be him, and his unique situation, but I am not sure it is helping.
Re: the thyroid meds. My husband has to take Levothyroxin, since his brain cancer wiped out his pituitary, and now his thyroid doesn't get hormones to tell it to produce whatever it needs to produce. His doctor just increased the Levo from 88 to 125(ish?) to see if it would help with the temperature regulation issues he is experiencing. I was on board with this increase, since his levels were not in the upper third of the normal range, anyway, but have any of you noticed that increasing your levo has an impact on your body temp? It may just be him, and his unique situation, but I am not sure it is helping.
I went from 50 to 75, and am sweatier at night and colder during the day, but assume that's from pregnancy. No non-pregnant experience to share, I'm sorry. I really hope it works for him. You guys go through so much - you're a strong ass woman, Chiquita!!
Re: the thyroid meds. My husband has to take Levothyroxin, since his brain cancer wiped out his pituitary, and now his thyroid doesn't get hormones to tell it to produce whatever it needs to produce. His doctor just increased the Levo from 88 to 125(ish?) to see if it would help with the temperature regulation issues he is experiencing. I was on board with this increase, since his levels were not in the upper third of the normal range, anyway, but have any of you noticed that increasing your levo has an impact on your body temp? It may just be him, and his unique situation, but I am not sure it is helping.
I know that since I've been diagnosed my body has a really hard time regulating temperature I go from drenched in sweat to freezing in minutes.
@chiquita928 so one of my big symptoms of my thyroid being too low is feeling cold or colder than everyone around me. That and hair loss are two red flags both of which I had before raising to this final dose I'm on now
Re: the thyroid meds. My husband has to take Levothyroxin, since his brain cancer wiped out his pituitary, and now his thyroid doesn't get hormones to tell it to produce whatever it needs to produce. His doctor just increased the Levo from 88 to 125(ish?) to see if it would help with the temperature regulation issues he is experiencing. I was on board with this increase, since his levels were not in the upper third of the normal range, anyway, but have any of you noticed that increasing your levo has an impact on your body temp? It may just be him, and his unique situation, but I am not sure it is helping.
For me this is a hard one. I'm generally always cold but night sweating has been a problem for me. Unfortunately I can't say whether or not it's because of the thyroid because in the beginning my anxiety meds left me literally drenched in sweat in the middle of the night. I still have some minor side effects like that going on. I definitely think the sweating is those meds though as opposed to the thyroid thing. I can contribute the cold to thyroid since it was there even before the anxiety disorder, but not the sweating. So not sure if that helps?
@chiquita928 Body temp regulation is a definite side effect from hypothyroidism. It can go either way. The thyroid controls so much in our bodies it's a wonder that so many people have dysfunctional ones. Before I lost the 75 lbs I lost prior to getting pregnant I was ALWAYS hot. I could never get cool. After losing it, I'm pretty much always cold. My body has a really hard time regulating it's temperature. When my coworkers have tower fans on, my heater is on high.
For levothyroxine, I was started at 100mcg and took it regularly, but as previously mentioned I then got annoyed by having to wait to eat and remember to take it every morning so I stopped taking it for six months. My levels got so low that they had to up me to 125mcg about a year ago. When they ran my labs at my first OB appt they said it was slightly on the high side and dropped me back to 100mcg. They want to follow up in a few months and possibly raise me to 112.5mcg depending on my levels.
Symptoms I've experienced from hypothyroidism include poor body temp regulation, hair loss and thinning hair, very difficult to lose weight, fatigue, and dry skin.
With my hypothyroidism, before pregnancy I would be checked every 6 months. Now I get checked monthly. My levels change but they are always still within the "normal range" which makes me wonder what "normal" really is. I take 50mcg of Levothyroxine; it's never been changed since my diagnosis, but my symptoms have definitely become way more noticeable as I have gotten older.
When my mom was pregnant with me and then with my brother, she never realized that she had hypothyroidism and Lupus SLE. Eventually she developed thyroid cancer and had to have it completely removed. She now takes 2-3 thyroid medications to stay regulated. All of the women on my mom' she side have hypothyroidism. My paternal grandmother has hyperthyroidism.
My symptoms include: -weight gain -difficulty losing weight -poor temperature regulation -slow heart rate (my resting heart rate is in the low 40s) -dry skin -swelling in my face -fatigue -irregular menstrual cycles (I would bleed every 2 weeks)
Thank you all...I am sooooo hoping that this simple medication adjustment helps my husband out. One less thing to think about all the time would be incredibly welcome. He was dropping to 93-94 degrees all the time lately I am constantly panicked that we'll miss it, and he'll suffer serious problems from it. FX that the levo will help him with the temp regulation.
Re: *TW* Weight gain at the half way point
Hmmm...interesting. Thanks for sharing your stories! Never would have realized that on my own.
Once I started up again they had to increase my dose by a quarter which is a lot of you're familiar with synthetic thyroid hormone levels. When I went for my blood work at my first OB appt after having taken my meds like clockwork again, they found it on the high side so my doc was able to lower me back down to my original level. Yay hooray! Thyroid is no joke when it comes to gaining/losing weight and a lot of people don't realize that. I never took it seriously until I wanted to get pregnant. I'm really glad you ladies got diagnosed and hope it helps!
Me: 26 Him: 27
Dating: 5/2011 Married: 6/2014
Mirena out/TTC: 02/2016
BFP #1: 12/01/2016
EDD: 07/24/2017
Edit: for clarification
Met: 08/2001 ~ Dating: 07/2004 ~ Engaged: 11/2009 ~ Married: 06/2011
TTC: Since 09/16 ~ BFP 10/28/16 ~ EDD 7/5/17
Team Pink * Canadian Bumpie
I've struggled with weight ever since I was diagnosed. It's never affected my fertility, thankfully, but it's definitely affected my weight. When I had DD 3 years ago, I weighed 200lbs. I gained a total of 25lbs with her and I never lost any of it. I didn't get any of the weight off until I joined weight watchers and started walking and eventually running in 2015/2016. I lost a total of 85lbs. I'd put a little back on before I got pregnant this time because I was training for a half marathon. Some was muscle mass. Some was from food intake. I was 155 when I got pregnant. I'm 171 already now, and like I said in an earlier post, I run and do the elliptical 4-5 days a week plus I'm still eating fairly healthy. My diet really hasn't changed hardly at all since before I was pregnant. I'm willing to bet my Hashi's is the culprit.
I may be mistaken about reading that people lower their doses when they're pregnant since so many people had to raise theirs which makes me feel better!
@JAM85 My sister had to increase her's and my friend had a very odd situation with her TSH. She was literally all over the place (initially low) and her Dr's had a hard time figuring it out. She's in normal range now but it was an interesting first few months for her. She was going for blood draws almost weekly the poor girl! Before trying to get pregnant it really wasn't something on my radar or that I knew anything about so this whole situation has opened my eyes to the condition.
Met: 08/2001 ~ Dating: 07/2004 ~ Engaged: 11/2009 ~ Married: 06/2011
TTC: Since 09/16 ~ BFP 10/28/16 ~ EDD 7/5/17
Team Pink * Canadian Bumpie
DS1 - 7/2011, DD 12/2012, DS2 - 4/2014, MMC - 12/2015
Met: 08/2001 ~ Dating: 07/2004 ~ Engaged: 11/2009 ~ Married: 06/2011
TTC: Since 09/16 ~ BFP 10/28/16 ~ EDD 7/5/17
Team Pink * Canadian Bumpie
For levothyroxine, I was started at 100mcg and took it regularly, but as previously mentioned I then got annoyed by having to wait to eat and remember to take it every morning so I stopped taking it for six months. My levels got so low that they had to up me to 125mcg about a year ago. When they ran my labs at my first OB appt they said it was slightly on the high side and dropped me back to 100mcg. They want to follow up in a few months and possibly raise me to 112.5mcg depending on my levels.
Symptoms I've experienced from hypothyroidism include poor body temp regulation, hair loss and thinning hair, very difficult to lose weight, fatigue, and dry skin.
Me: 26 Him: 27
Dating: 5/2011 Married: 6/2014
Mirena out/TTC: 02/2016
BFP #1: 12/01/2016
EDD: 07/24/2017
When my mom was pregnant with me and then with my brother, she never realized that she had hypothyroidism and Lupus SLE. Eventually she developed thyroid cancer and had to have it completely removed. She now takes 2-3 thyroid medications to stay regulated. All of the women on my mom' she side have hypothyroidism. My paternal grandmother has hyperthyroidism.
My symptoms include:
-weight gain
-difficulty losing weight
-poor temperature regulation
-slow heart rate (my resting heart rate is in the low 40s)
-dry skin
-swelling in my face
-fatigue
-irregular menstrual cycles (I would bleed every 2 weeks)