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thyroid problems

hi there everyone

my name is Kate, my husband and i have been trying for a year to get pregnant. seeked fertility doctors help and realized that my husbands sperm counts are quite low do to the fact that he has hypothyroidism, he was started on thyroid medications to help to regulate everything and we are to have him retested in now four weeks to see if his levels are better for his thyroid and his counts, my question to you ladies is has anyone else had this problem and how soon after did you conceive or did you need further assistance such as IUI/IVF? they have told us that would be the next step but im hoping we will get lucky without any further assistance? thanks in advance for any advice :)

Replies

  • I have it.  From god knows how long,  only found out when went to my gyno privately...  A year after we signed off(6months send with them with no result) the clinic. The clinic doc mentions something,  gave me some pills for one month just to cheackthe levels, connected to the fertility... I had not taken it as there was no other help offered toward the hypothyroidism  afterwards.  He was very funny,  off-putting guy, even a bit pushy towards only the operation(directly pointing that it shall only be him performing it,  thought the clinic had several surgeants available while this guy was travelling a lot). (the operation was to do with my PCOS ovaries, so it's not confusing a lot).

    So, yes,  went on privately, as it was a gyno she had me do a FULL thyroid panel and an  ultrasound of my thyroid, full blood works,  checking all vitamins levels, which I was on a verge of the min.level vit.D, apparently IT IS strongly connected to the thyroid function.( the defficiency). Personally also had anaemia, and other low levels.

    Also affecting my chances of getting pregnant, plus hubby is only about 48% fertile...  Which by now only leaves us with a choice of a private IUI or IVF...  Or our own risk and waiting, based on that his levels should be enough and:

    - I have been on a medication for hypothyroidism,  from a year now...  And still adjusting a dose!!  Maybe it is different that I am a female,  but thyroid organ need time to adjust to the new dose,  side effects, etc. So blood works done every 2months,  dose starting at the lowest,  upping to the highest needed, and you will mostly know by a consultation and blood works to keep it a nicely working level, for me it would be 1.0 or even less :)

    I know TTC with problems popping out and a waiting time for the better dose and adjustment is, rather a difficult time and 1000 thoughts and assumptions if this month is IT! 

    I have also been taking vit.D 2000(whatever unit was that)since Sept. last year. Dropped for Summer time,  and will be taking it most of my future years during the Autumn-Spring time.  Only dropping it for summer,  as it really is not good to be in direct sun while taking it... And honestly after 6 months of taking the pills for thyroid n vitamin it really has improved my 3year ongoing anaemia after giving birth was gone,  and thyroid functions much improved,  started to feel much better moodwise and my ovary functions improved as well. 

    So there is hope if you are asking if the pill will help your husband...  But it might take time,  because docs will be happy with any dose...  I think you should see a private specialist that will tackle the hypothyroidsm in a full way.  I think that as I am not really sure. That fertility clinic will care that much about having it properly sorted,  for them the goal is to get you pregnant,  for him it won't be a quick fix.  Usually you have to takes meds for that for the rest of your life.  And having and ultrasound on it will help determin whether or not there are lumps, bumps or any kinds of changes,  as in long run it will affect his life and your future fertility journey together.

    And finally, diet!  Low sugar as possible,  I have also cut dairy out(as much as I could). ANY SOY PRODUCTS WILL BE "BAD" FOR IT,  and the protein will be even in a "traces of soy"... Same like if you had a person allergic to an Ingr. you would not serve it to her. And believe it or not this diet helped me loose weight(10kg dropped pretty fast) and kept me at nice levels where TTC is possible again. My gyno even said that any adult should not consume Dairy, soy, refined and fake,  ready made produce as it is really bad for our health generally(..and she gave me a good list of logical reasons for which there is proof).

    Sorry,  I do write a lot,  try to pass on as much info as I can in a chaotic way. And also the diet way,  seems like a pushy thing since there is so many pros and cons to this 2017 diet trends...  But doing just so little for our own bodies can have a bigger impact for better of course.  There are also different types of thyroid problems, so it made me now curious if you have had been to a That specialist or only been given a fertility advise? 

    Speak to you soon.... 

  • Hi there mamaash

    thanks for the post, my husbands family doctor is an idiot so we haven't talked with him about the thyroid, once we had been ttc for a year I asked my doctor to send us to a fertility doctor here in Belleville ont. Canada, the one we were sent to is one of the best in the area. He has sent both my hubby and I for lots of blood work/ ultrasounds and tests, everything on my end is perfect, unfortunately for hubby his sperm counts were low  on 2 different times so he tested his blood, as well as a few other things and he come back that the thyroid could be effecting his counts, been on the meds for just over 2 weeks now so have to wait another month until we test him again to see where hes at after being on meds for 6 wks, keeping fingers crossed they come up and we can get pregnant naturally and fast lol, thanks for the advice :) 

  • Your welcome Katie;) 

    I really wish you guys all the best. Hopefully with time and the right dose of pills it will work wonders!! 

    Good luck guys;)

    Speak to you....  Later ;) 

  • Hello :p how ale thing going so far??  

  • How are the things going on so far..  ** ?

  • He goes for blood work on Friday to see how it's going, I'm waiting right now for af to show up, kinda hoping she doesn't but we will see what happens :) 

  • Oh,  so hopefully they can adjust the does for him  for the best. Hope that your AF will not show up, fx :) mine should be in a week time, also fx,  hoping it will not to arrive too;) 

  • Hello! My experience with IVF was very good. I tried to conceive for a long time. My fallopian tubes are blocked. We went for several treatments. In this case, I am the problem. My husband did very well on his sperm test.
    My IVF was with an embryo. My husband's sperm and a donor. It was a bit painful, but the first shot worked. Before that I prepared myself with a good diet, doing yoga and following all the indications of my doctor.
    In your case, your husband's sperm is slow, which means they die before reaching your ovule. I can tell you that the IVF is a good option in your case. I can not say that there is not the possibility of being able to conceive naturally with this problem, I hope you can achieve it. But if the IVF is your choice, do not worry.
    However, it may not work at first. You never know it can happen. It works for me at first try. 
    I hope everything improves and you can achieve having your baby soon.
    Xx

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