Usage of energy in our body is regulated by the Thyroid hormone. It affects the functioning of every organ of the body.
Sometimes the thyroid gland becomes overactive and produces too much thyroid hormone is called hyperthyroidism. However, with proper medication and lifestyle, you can still have a healthy pregnancy.
Role of thyroid hormones in pregnancy?
Thyroid hormones play an important role in the baby brain and nervous system development. In the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, the baby completely depends on the mother’s thyroid hormone.
Post that baby thyroid starts producing its own thyroid hormone. However, baby still needs mothers thyroid hormone for the ingestion of iodine.
According to WHO, the mother should intake 200 micrograms/day during pregnancy to maintain the thyroid hormone levels
In a healthy pregnancy, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and estrogen elevate the level of thyroid hormone in the blood. So it becomes difficult to rule out the hyperthyroidism in pregnancy. Your doctor will try to differentiate on the basis of symptoms and thyroid profile tests.
What are the symptoms of hyperthyroidism in pregnancy?
Signs and symptoms of hyperthyroidism are similar to normal pregnancies symptoms.
- Increase or irregular heart rate
- Fatigue
- Shaking hands
- Severe nausea and vomiting that leads to dehydration
- Weightloss
- Loss of sleep or insomnia
What causes hyperthyroidism in pregnancy?
Hyperthyroidism in pregnancy is commonly caused by Graves’ disease. The symptoms subside in the 2nd and third trimester of pregnancy. The high level of thyroid can harm your health and your baby’s.
Apart from this increase in the levels of hCG, that may lead to morning sickness and dehydration along with weight loss.
How can hyperthyroidism affect me and my baby?
An untreated hyperthyroidism during pregnancy can lead to
- The fetal tachycardia may cause stillbirth, premature birth or congenital malformations.
- Miscarriage
- low birthweight
- Preeclampsia
- Impair the baby’s thyroid function
How do doctors treat hyperthyroidism during pregnancy?
If you have mild hyperthyroidism no treatment is required. If your hyperthyroidism is associated with hyperemesis gravidarum, treatment for vomiting and dehydration is need.
If your hyperthyroidism is associated with Graves’ disease, treatment your doctor may prescribe antithyroid medicines.
Hey can you please share about hypothyroid too. Loved the article.
Oh, lakin jiska thyroid gland remove kiya ho, uske sath kya problems aa sakti hain? Kya unka baby normal hoga ? Kya ma koi koi problem ho sakti hai? Plz reply jarur kariyega
I had a slightly under active thyroid gland so had to take tabs every morning. I didn’t have any symptoms though. N it vanished after pregnancy.
This is very informative. Thyroid imbalance during pregnancy can be risky and one needs to act on time to control it.
Pregnancy is a very crucial stage for both mom to be and her baby. Knowing about such issues is always helpful. Not just for ourself buy also to pass on the information to others as well.
A informative post these days most of the women are having thyroid ty for sharing.
This was a total eye opener. So many facts that were unclear on hyper thyroidism are now understandable to me.
Most of them these days suffer from hyper or hypo thyroid…This is a great article to keep us aware about the effects. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the information. It clears few doubts.
such an informative article buddy, I had absolutely no clue about the same. Thank you for sharing your vital knowledge
Such a crisp, informative and to the point article. Sharing it with friends and family.
One of my friend has hyperthyroidism during her pregnancy but nothing serious happened luckily. This is very helpful and informative .
Thankfully I didnt have a problem, but i know of a friend who suffered during pregnancy because of this. Very helpful post.
I have thyroid since more than a decade. It can completely screw up your body and your body systems. You article is surely gives guidance to all those who are embarking upon their pregnancy journey.
Very informative post. A friend of mine is suffering from the same in her pregnancy. Thankfully she got the right guidance from her doc.
This is such a crucial topic that often isn’t discussed during an important aspect of life.. thanks for starting this conversation.