THYROID DISEASE AND PREGNANCY

In a post last week, I wrote about how having a thyroid condition can affect your fertility.

http://onereachinganother.blogspot.com/2011/06/thyroid-disease-and-fertility.html

For this post I will focussing on having a thyroid condition and being pregnant. Having a thyroid condition means that you either have hypothyroidism (having an under-active thyroid gland) or hyperthyroidism (having an overactive thyroid gland).

Pregnant women who are experiencing tiredness and weight gain, because these are some of the usual signs of pregnancy, will often not think that these symptoms could be associated with hypothyroidism. A blood test, measuring your TSH level, is the best way to know if you have hypothyroidism.

If you have been diagnosed with this condition, then your doctor will look at treating you with thyroid hormone medication to normalise your thyroid functions. This medication is completely safe to take during pregnancy because it is the same hormone that is produced by the body, for the normal function of the thyroid.

Although hypothyroidism is the most common thyroid condition known to affect pregnant women, your pregnancy can also be affected by hyperthyroidism as well. In the same way that tiredness and weight gain, (signs of hypothyroidism) can be overlooked as just pregnancy symptoms, nervousness, weight loss, nausea, feeling warm among others(all signs of hyperthyroidism) can also be overlooked as mere pregnancy symptoms.

A pregnant women who has been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, must seek to have this condition controlled because miscarriages and birth defects very often will occur.  Treatment includes taking antithyroid medications, which will cut down the thyroids overproduction of hormones.

For much more on this subject, please visit the site below:-

http://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/thyroid/thyroid-problems-pregnancy

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WHEN YOUR EARLY PREGNANCY SYMPTOMS SUDDENLY DISSAPPEARS

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For a couple of my miscarriages, my early pregnancy symptoms just suddenly disappeared and I knew something was wrong.  As a result of this, when I was pregnant with my son and had days when my pregnancy symptoms would be mild or not even present at all, I immediately began to worry.  I remember when I went for my first visit with my OB/GYN, I hardly had any symptoms and I was very terrified that I might have miscarried.

I always wondered why this is so, as this very troubling for those of us who struggle to become pregnant, and then have to worry that we might be miscarrying when our pregnancy symptoms, one day, just disappear.

Upon research I have found out that pregnancy symptoms can in fact be very intense one day and the next you feel like your normal self again. Sadly, there has been no mention in the research material why this is so, but many women who have ever been pregnant can attest to this. Please note though, that you could be miscarrying if your pregnancy symptoms disappear, and especially if there is evidence of spotting. It is therefore advised that you see your doctor immediately if this is happening to you.

Early pregnancy symptoms can be very challenging to cope with, but it is very comforting to have them stick around because they are a sign that your pregnancy is progressing as it should. My doctor told me once that women who experience symptoms like nausea, are very unlikely to miscarry early in their pregnancies.