Thyroid Chat - Part 9

[Orchid-1]

Nervous - hun, I paid around £15 from Fertility2u for 6 months supply of levothyroxine. Just ordered online and posted my prescription. Hang on in there and fight for what you and need.  The private endo will write to your GP on your behalf if you want. x

[FertilityFriends]

[alittlenervous]

Thank you so much Orchid for your help!  £15 that's good as I thought I was going to have to pay a silly price.  I'll definitely get booked in with that private endo as be worth it in the long run even though money tight at the moment with saving for all this fertility help x

[Flipsy]

I had my TSH tested last week & have been prescribed 50mcg of levothyroxine. When is it best to take it?? I heard 20 minutes before food, with food, before bed. Confused to say the least!!!

[Calluna]

Hi Flipsy,

It's absorbed better away from food so either first thing in a morning then ideally wait an hour before breakfast or last thing at night ideally at least 2 hours after you last ate. I think the official advice is morning but there is some evidence that evening may be better:

http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/mobile/article.aspx?articleid=776486

/links

[Orchid-1]

Hi Calluna

Relieved to hear that. I originally used to take it just before bed.

Most recently the endo said in the morning 2 hours before breakfast, which does not work out well for me.

 

[Wishings15]

Can I ask everyone just in general, for antithyriod antibodies when do you start taking steroids and what does? It's just so I can compare x

[mmj]

Hi Wishings
On my FET I took 25mg from day of Progynova (estrogen) and on a fresh cycle I took 10mg (but that was a different consultant and I now know it was too low) when I started stimulation (I think - it was over a year ago so can't remember exactly...)

[Mrs.AT]

Mamai,  I also have a higher tsh, 3.4 and ideally they would like it closer to 1 or 2. My clinic said that they will treat the higher tsh during my cycle with steroids and there is no need to start taking medication before as it's only slightly elevated. You are right, a gp will not prescribe you medication if it's below 5 and they are not very understanding or perhaps knowledgeable regarding thyroid issues and fertility anyways, at least from my experience. My advice would be to clarify with the clinic whether they will treat your elevated tsh during your cycle and if not get a private endocrinologist to look at your results and decide whether that should be treated before.
Regarding your t4 there should be a reference scale on your test results that will tell you whether yours is within range. Again, an endocrinologist might have a better understanding of how tsh, T4 and fertility interact. There are also some very knowledgeable ladies on this board who may be able to help

[Mrs.AT]

I have had a few heated discussions with my GP and I have also heard from other ladies that they won't be able to help but it's worth a try. I think your best bet is a private appointment with an endocrinologist as there are also further tests in order to get the whole picture. My clinic also tests thyroid antibodies and a whole range of other thyroid functions and I think they wouldn't do it if they would not consider it important to get it right during your cycle. Thyroid health plays a major factor in fertility and ivf and I tbelieve that the more they know the better they can adjust the cycle to your bodies  needs.

[Orchid-1]

Mamai - Andrea's experience has been similar to mine.

Also TSH can take time to go down. The private endocrinologist can tell you:
- if you need to stay on the medication throughout pregnancy or not [or even throughout life].
- can provide prescriptions,
- monitor TSH etc during pregnancy and
- provide a report for your GP.

I opted not to go through my GP. Everything I asked them to do was half-hearted or refused. It was just a waste of time going through them. Time which I can't get back now.

All the best.

O