Up to five percent of women in the United States is suffering from some kind of thyroid disease. Two percent of that number are within the age range of having children-because of this, thyroid problems are not uncommon during pregnancy.
They are generally rooted in an autoimmune disease, which means that the body is naturally creating antibodies which are attacking your thyroid cells, which in turn affects the function of this system.
This problem can present itself in a number of ways, including Hashimoto's disease, hypothyroidism, Graves' disease, and more.
If you feel like you are having a problem, be sure to contact your doctor right away. They can perform certain simple tests to help diagnose a problem, and help you to get it under control before it has the chance to become a problem.
Usually a simple blood test is all that is needed to identify a problem. If hypothyroidism is suspected in a pregnant patient, the physician can perform a TSH blood test.
Just as in non-pregnant women, the TSH will be increased if hypothyroidism is present. If a woman is already being treated with thyroxine when she becomes pregnant, she should continue to take this medication throughout her pregnancy, as her doctor directs.
It is safe to take, and is well absorbed while you are expecting. Although there is usually no need for a dose change, some women require somewhat higher doses during these nine months.
If you are diagnosed as hypothyroid during pregnancy, you should be treated without delay, with the goal of restoring your levels to normal as quickly as possible. During the first trimester, the TSH should be maintained at less than 2.5 ml.
After initial diagnosis, function tests should be reevaluated within each month. When you are four to six weeks expecting, you may need to increase your medicine dosage by anywhere from thirty to fifty percent.
You should also make sure that you are getting regular exercise, which is low impact in nature. Walking on a treadmill or outdoors is a great way to keep your body balanced, and energized.
After all, any kind of thyroid disease can make you feel sluggish, and void of energy. Regular exercise can certainly help to combat this problem.
If you have hyperthyroidism, perhaps due to Graves' disease, this can cause you to have more severe morning sickness than the average woman. If you let this go untreated, it can evolve into thyrotoxicosis, which can greatly increase your risk of having a miscarriage, or your baby being stillborn.
However, the earlier you catch the problem, the less likely you are to encounter these complications. When you are being diagnosed with this issue, there will be some physical signs such as prominent eyes, enlarged thyroid gland, and exaggerated reflexes.
Once again. they will perform a blood test, and look for elevated markers in your serum levels. The treatment is usually antithyroid medication, either propylthiouracil or methimazole, since radioactive iodine cannot be used.
The initial goal is to control the hyperthyroidism, and then use the lowest medication dose possible to maintain the serum hormone levels in the high normal range. In this way, the smaller doses of medications are used, and the risk to the fetus is little to none.
If you begin to have an allergic reaction begins to develop in regards to one of the medications you are taking, there are other substitutes which you can safely take, with the direction of your doctor. In extreme cases, surgery may need to be performed to remove the gland completely.
Naturally, you may find that the disease and your symptoms will become milder as the months go on, and it may transition into remission completely. In many patients, medications can be tapered to low levels, or may even be discontinued.
For those who are not so fortunate, it is important to maintain control of the problem throughout pregnancy to avoid thyrotoxicosis from developing during labor and delivery. It is important that you make sure that you physician is always aware of your symptoms and problems, and that you are completely open and honest with them.
As mentioned previously, the sooner a problem can be detected and treated, the less likely it is to affect your fetus. Talk to your doctor about what you may be feeling, and start the path to recovery right away.
Author Resource:-
Ronald Pedactor has worked in the exercise and health industry for 31 years. When searching for a good deal on exercise equipment he suggests getting someone knowledgeable to home treadmill reviews, and tell you their qualities.
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