Welcome Alice!

[jknutsen]

Congrats on your pregnancy! May it be completely complication & PE free!

I'm Joyce, here in Denver. My son, Anton, just turned 1 last month. He's a handful for sure. But we're looking to begin ttc when he turns 2 next year. Just have to get some stuff checked out first.

I am very curious about the hypothyroidism. Glad to hear they finally diagnosed you. I didn't know the guidelines had changed though. Any idea what the new ones are? I've been procrastinating on setting up an appt with a new doc for a full physical before TTC. I guess I shouldn't wait anymore. lol

Welcome again! Nice to see more Colorado participation on here!!!

[allish]

The new guidelines can be found at http://www.aace.com/clin/guidelines/hypo_hyper.pdf. The numerics are on page 462 of the journal article, page 6 of the PDF. The new levels for TSH are 0.3 - 3.0. TSH works inversely to your thyroid levels - the higher your TSH is, the more hypothyroid you are. My levels were testing right around 5.5 as early as 6 or 7 years ago, but I wasn't diagnosed until late last spring. (I hadn't mentioned it to my current doctor, since I had had so many doctors tell me that, yes, my thyroid was normal, all my symptoms must be due to something else, so I had gotten used to just ignoring the symptoms.)

It can take a while to get your thyroid medication levels ironed out, so I would go ahead and have them checked to be safe if you are concerned at all that you have hypothyroidism. They can't even do your first set of levels after you are on your medication until about six weeks after the test. Make sure your doctor is aware of the new guidelines, too - my doctor's nurse was not aware of them, and when she called me with my first set of results she thought they were within range when they were still a little bit out. (My doctor's nurse handles stuff if I call before my doc has a chance to review my labs - my doctor had already told me about the change in the accepted levels when I had the test done.) We've been bumping my levels a notch every couple of months for the past year, and they are finally staying at the lower end of the normal TSH range.

If you are diagnosed, it will be very important to stay on top of your levels - have them checked at least once every trimester. Both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism can cause preeclampsia. My doctor told me how often she was planning on checking mine during my pregnancy, and it sounded like it would average out to about every 6-8 weeks, more often if I am out of range.

I around the age of 2 is a good time to TTC - we were going to start trying when Rhys was a little over 2, but we wanted to get my thyroid straightened out before we started trying. Rhys is getting the hang of potty training, so a bonus to waiting is that we will have a few months with no diapers, but I would have liked to have them a little closer together in age.

Whew! Can I ramble or what?!

[jknutsen]

Hey Thanks! I STILL haven't set up my appt. yet, but that's only b/c I need to change my PCP first. Getting a hold of customer service reps is a pain! But, in the meantime, thanks for the info. My mom was diagnosed with hypothyroidism after she got preggo with my youngest sister, #3 of 3. That sister is pg now with her first (I should say second as she had a MC in Nov. at 10 wks) & I'm praying everyday that she doesn't have any complications. I think she's about 22 weeks now. Our mom is an LPN & b/c of everything I went through, she makes sure to check my sister's BP every week or so. They live in PA, about a mile away from each other. I'm always asking her if she has any PE sypmtoms & stuff. Talk about protective big sister! lol. I think she's got a good OB though. I still don't trust the hospitals in that town, but her OB sounds like she's staying on top of things for now.

Ok, I guess my turn at rambling is done. [:D]

[allish]

Whew! Sounds like your sister is getting it from both sides, with you asking her about PE symptoms and your mom checking her blood pressure all the time! I'll keep my fingers crossed for her that it's all worrying for nothing...