I saw my endo on Wednesday and was diagnosed with postpartum Thyroiditis.

Has anyone had this? What course did it take for you? Only hypo? Or hyper to hypo? What was the time frame?

I am currently hyper, with undetectable tsh, and t3 in the 50s and t4 in the 20s. The doc said it will most likely swing to hypo, so ordered two weekly blood tests, then thyroxine when it does.

I'm hoping it swings soon so I can take some meds and start to feel half normal again!!

Did you have it in subsequent pregnancies?

Thanks

Anyone?

Hi, sorry I have to head out in a sec but thought I would give you a quick reply and write more later.

I actually don't know anyone else that has had this so I have never spoken about it. But basically it started as hyper. The first thing something didn't feel right was the anxiety and heart flutters. It was quite scary. I had bloods taken when I went to the GP about PND with my son and it was realised then that the problem was PPT.

Anyway it did go hypo... I had huge weight gains in the 1 year following BOTH of my children (yes it happened twice) and am now working at losing weight now that my levels are all normal again. It took approx 1 year each time for thing to go back to normal but my doctor said I could be at risk so keep an eye on the signs. I was on medication with my son for awhile but for various reasons my doctor took me off it.

Hi Op,

I had Hyper after DD and it took a few months before I sought treatment as I thought I was just exhausted from two children including a new bub. Everyone kept telling me that. I remember trying so hard to stay awake at times falling asleep with children climbing on me. This made me realise something wasn't right. I wished I had of gone with my gut and seen a doctor earlier.Part of me feels like I missed out on a lot of DD early days 'getting by'.

I can't remember what meds I was on but they did the job. I don't remember any drastic changes with the swing and from memory was only on the meds before all went back to normal for a few months.

I felt like a new person

I continued to have regular blood tests after and during my next pregnancy and thankfully all has been normal since.

I hope you feel better soon!

Yep, I was hypo. I may have been hyper first but was so knackered and anxious and hormonal with a new baby it possibly went undetected. They tested my thyroid when bub was about 5 months old as I had put on a stack of weight and was showing signs of PND.

I was put on Thyroxine and felt like a new person within about 4 weeks. I was pregnant again when first bub was 8 months old so I never came off the meds but was blood tested every 4 weeks throughout the pregnancy. I am still on the Thyroxine, and bub number 2 is now 11 months old so I really should be thinking about coming off and seeing if I actually still have it or not.

Hi. I found out when I was TTC no. 2 that I was hypo. This was about 9 months after giving birth to my son. In my case I never recovered and am still hypo 5 years later. Still take thyroxine daily and will I guess until I take my last breath! Apparently there is a really high percentage of mothers become either hyper or hypo post partum but only a small percentage of those do not recover.

All the best.

Yes, I became hyper after DS pregnancy, it was awful. I had palpitations, what I thought were panic attacks, couldn't sleep but was exhausted, lost heaps of weight. Took almost three months to be diagnosed (before which I was diagnosed with PND). Once I was medicated, it took a little while to feel "normal" again (about 6 weeks). I did not go hypo, but stayed hyper and was on medication through DDs pregnancy, and for the next few years until I had Radio Active Iodine treatment.

Hoping you get some treatment soon, I've never heard of waiting for it to turn hypo, have you been given a timeframe that they will start treating you if you don't go hypo?

Yes I was hyper after my first couple of pregnancies & didn't have to take meds for it or anything as it settled down on its own. My gp just kept an eye on my levels from memory.

By the time I had my 3rd pregnancy I had had a thyroidectomy (thyroid cancer) & didn't have to worry about it. I thought that I would find the baby weight way harder to lose the 3rd time round as I had always assumed that being hyper had been a big reason it had been so easy the first two pregnancies but haven't found any difference at all.

Thanks for the replies everyone,really appreciate hearing your stories.

IMac - the specialist said 3 - 6 months postpartum it will go hypo, DS is 3 months now so hopefully soon. She didn't want to medicate me as the meds have been found to affect babies through breastmilk, wasn't willing to risk it, and that would mean frequent blood tests for DS as well as me, and I didn't want to do that to him! Thyroxine is safe as it's naturally occurring, so hopefully that'll set me right soon enough!

Njops - that's good about the baby weight! I think it's the only perk of feeling crappy, easy weight loss!

Thanks everyone else, you've all made me feel better already!

So my latest blood work shows I've gone hypo. Started on 50mg of thyroxine and monitored weekly. Funnily I knew it had gone hypo as I started feeling a different type of exhausted, hard to explain! So hopefully the meds kick in soon, the exhaustion is killing me!! Thanks for all the replies.

This happened to me,
But my story is quite different...

Was diagnosed Hyper after the birth of DD7, and had all the symptoms mentioned. Went on medication didtn really work, this went on and on got diagnosed with Graves disease. Then I got pregnant with DD5, then pregnancy hormones take over... So I felt the healthiest I have ever felt (like first pregnancy- loved it!!)

After birth of second daughter, crashed terribly ended up in hospital couldnt breastfeed. My specialist did all she could to get my levels back to normal over the next 2.5 years. But I never stayed stable. she kept wanting me to ahve surgery but I didnt want it.

Then I finally had the surgery - she gave me no choice. A total thyroidectomy. The surgeon said it was one of the most diseased thyroids she had seen - LOL. I was told that now with thyroxine my levels would stable and I would be one continuous dose for the rest of my life.

My levels stayed ok for about 3 years with only minor med changes and I felt well and happy. then I went hypo... the thyroxine had stopped being absorbed by me. so they changed my dose, and put me on Vitamin D, which is really good for autoimmune diseases and can help thyroid problems getting worse.

Now I am pregnant with Bub 3 and have to be monitored closely and Thyroxine increased. Also I have to be at a major hospital as there is risks to bub aswell after birth. They are quite rare though.

All the best for you! PM me if you want to know anything else

Wow sg - what a journey!! Thanks for sharing. The doc thought I might have had Graves, but the blood test was negative. Hope all goes well with your pregnancy and delivery!

I have had post partum thyroiditis after both my pregnancies. Both times I didn't pick up on the hyper symptoms, only hypo symptoms. I was on thyroxine for about 10 months both times, then the dose was cut in half for 6 weeks, then no thyroxine once it was established that my thyroid is working properly again.

I have a strong family history of hashimotos thyroiditis and apparently if you get post partum thyroiditis you are more likely to develop this later on. So, I need to have my thyroid checked annually.

OP - glad to hear things might be looking up now you are able to take the thyroxine!

Sg- that's is so very similar to my story! I developed thyroid problems after the birth of Dd2 - but there was no missing the hyper symptoms cos it was awful. I had tachycardia, extremely high blood pressure, shakes, insane anxiety and pretty astounding weight loss. I was diagnosed with Graves but didn't respond to the meds properly and had a complicated presentation in that I also had hashimotos (somehow I developed both autoimmune diseases which meant getting things stable was a challenge). I elected to have a total thyroidectomy. I have been stable on thyroxine since, except one period when I got slack about waiting at least half an hr before eating breakfast after taking my tabs. I went hypo and assume it was due to calcium interference.
Although I had my thyroid removed my body has continued to make more and more graves antibodies. During my next pregnancy I did have extra monitoring and frequent scans because of this. Ironically, the thyroxine was really simple to manage during the pregnancy (I did need more as it progressed) but the hypoparathyroidism I was left with after my thyroid surgery was problematic. It was extremely difficult in the last trimester to get my calcium levels correct. But we did it with daily blood tests, daily dose changes and massive amounts of rocaltrol and caltrate. I spoke to my endo almost daily over the last 6 weeks!! Pleased to say a perfect baby emerged and I went back to my pre-pregnancy doses almost straight away.

Best of luck, all!