pre natals and iodine (kelp)

[djh]

does anyone know if the iodine in my prenatals would mess up my thyroid? I am just trying to figure out why my tsh levels jumped for 4.84 in may up to 8.11 in august. The only different thing i started in those months was the prenatal (took those right after i got the 4.84 reading) and i started acupuncture in those months as well. From what i understand, acupuncture is suposed to help level off your hormones so technically it shouldnt have made my levels increase. Also, the iodine should have been helping me, not hindering...but those are the only 2 things i can think of that were different....any ideas ladies? I have stopped the prenatals (was taking them for the iron as my dr suggested..but my iron levels are back up again) and i am only having one more acupuncture treatment.. then i will have 4 weeks to wait to get my tsh levels checked again as i am on levothyroxine for 6 weeks..I wanted to have a "clean" 4 weeks with no acupuncture or pre natals to see if that made a difference..what do you guys think?

 

[silvermyth82]

Hi...this is my actual first time posting here but I just saw your question here and thought maybe I could help ..maybe haha. What time of the day do you take your thyroid meds and your prenatals? If you're not already doing this...you should definitely NOT take them together...example take your thyroid meds in the morning and the prenatals at night. Any kind of multivitamin can interact with your thyroid medication. I personally have Grave's Disease and Hashimoto's was treated with RAI so now I take a combo of Synthroid and Cytomel. Its taken about 10 years since my diagnosis to get straightened out...so I definitely sympathize with you on the fluctuation of your levels! Other than that do you have any hormonal issues...insulin resistance etc? I only ask because one of the reasons it took so long for me personally to get my levels under control was because my insulin resistance wasn't being controlled properly...as soon as I got on the correct dosage of metformin it helped tremendously in the regulation of my thyroid hormones...just in case this applies to you...since its pretty common to have both issues

 

[djh]

thanks for your reply. I have been taking them at separate times as i was aware of the absorption issues. I just switched to taking my thyroid pill to the afternoon to see if it will help me to sleep (since i started taking it it seems like i am awake all night)

i do not have any issues with insulin resistance..the only thing so far that has been preventing me must be my tsh levels...as they were not at optimal levels even back in may.. 4.84 which is high enough when optimal levels are up to 2.5..so i was over.

just getting so frusterated as my ovulation days keep switching around.. first they were cd 18, then back to 15 for a few months and then cd 18 this month..and dh is all bd'd out... i got my positive opk today and he wont dtd...very upset... he doesnt want to have to go to the ferility clinic but will not co-operate with me.. i feel like this month has been a complete bust as we bd'd too early!! so annoyed and upset.. i dont even want to be around him right now.. i try to explain how the whole process works.. he just doesnt get it..and how important timing is! pulling my hair out! it seems like everyone around me is having babies or getting pregnant..then theres me.. a year later and nothing.. i think i need a good cry, so beyond frusterated!

 

[silvermyth82]

I'm sure it definitely has to do with your thyroid levels. From what I understand your thyroid levels can have a direct effect on ovulation. Did you previously take your meds at night or in the morning? I don't know how often you get your levels checked but in general do they tend to jump around a bit? I know a lot of people have success with natural thyroid hormone...I personally have never tried it but that's a thought. For myself, I was originally started on generic Synthroid and I had a horrible time keeping my levels consistant...doctor switched me to brand synthroid ( which I've been on ever since) and that's helped a bit. In theory generic shouldn't be any different than brand but my endo said that some people can be sensitive to slight variations in the medication and when you take generic it can be made by different labs and just slightly different...enough to cause issues in some folks. With my first baby we had tried for over a year and I had honestly given up...periods were all over the place as well. I had missed my period for a couple of months and didn't think much about it until I started getting really ill so it finally clicked that I needed to test and I did...low and behold I was about 8 weeks along haha. My levels were absolutely crazy..you're right, they say around 2 or so is where you should be in pregnancy..at one point mine were at 14. Don't give up...hopefully I haven't annoyed you with my ramblings...just trying to throw some things out there that maybe you or your doctor haven't thought of. I will say that shortly after I got started on Cytomel( synthetic T3) my levels were and have been pretty perfect...I've felt great and with baby number 2 it only took 1 month of trying to get pregnant. They do have to limit Cytomel when you're pregnant because the baby doesn't use T3...but my physician still allowed me to have a little and that seems to help. Pretty much my saving grace was finding an Endocrinologist that really was willing to work with me and try new ideas and having an OBGYN that was on board with the process.