Real Story: Battling My Thyroid During Pregnancy

Finding a good Endocrinologist was tough, there were so many to choose from and so many recommendations online yet I just couldn’t decide.

I ended up visiting an Endocrinologist who was also a hormone specialist. I visited with an open mind, I knew if I didn’t like him or his advice then I had plenty more to choose from. It turned out however, I felt really comfortable with him. He knew what he was talking about which resonated with me and my personal experience.

One of his first missions was to diagnose the cause of my under active thyroid, this baffled me simply because in England, no one had ever mentioned that there could be a cause or reason for my suffering. He ran a simple suite of bloods and invited me back in a few days for the results – a few days… the same would be weeks in England!

I felt relieved to find out after 15 years that the underlying cause of my under active thyroid is Hashimoto’s which brings with it a whole host of its own characteristics. I went home and googled everything there was to know about this disease to add to help me understand my condition.

My doctor told me that now we know what the problem is we can treat it accordingly, he felt my medication required a slight tweak and we continued to monitor it for 6 months or so and I really started to feel on good form.

Then came the tricky part, I wanted to try for a baby!

Anyone with an autoimmune disease will understand that we all have our unique symptoms, I guess I’ve been quite fortunate overall as I know some people who suffer enormously with their thyroid condition however unfortunate for me we discovered I had Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) which was not helping me to conceive.

Unfortunately my body’s inability to process sugar and fats correctly had contributed to excess weight and in turn the PCOS had developed. This would mean for me that my chances of conceiving (without help) would be difficult.

Luckily for me, my doctor said, after analysing my blood works, that he felt I would be an easy case for him – this was music to my ears!

First things first, I had to adjust my thyroxine dose to a bit less, then we had to address sugars in the body. I was given Glucophage (or Metformin – there are also other meds which do the same job on the market) to aid my body in processing them.

I had to exercise and eat well for months and months, I did not lose much weight which I kind of hoped I would. Perhaps because of the lower thyroxine dose.

After many months of tracking my cycle everything fell into place at the right time, after an additional progesterone injection my doctor was happy that I should release a good size egg and bingo we fell pregnant.

I won’t lie, it did take a lot of hard work and determination however after my experience my recommendation to anyone struggling to conceive is to get your hormones checked and more importantly if you have a thyroid issue – get that checked regularly.

Wishing all fellow thyroid sufferers good luck.

Written by Christina Gray for EWmums