Hyperthyroidism Pregnancy Questions- How to deal with infertility if you have Hyperthyroidism or Graves' Disease? Facts, Myths and Researches

Hyperthyroidism, Graves’ Disease and Pregnancy

I’ve been asked many times by clients via email about how Hyperthyroidism or Graves’ Disease may affect their ability to get pregnant, to stay pregnant, to deliver a healthy baby and what are the possible consequences. I tried to research this subject, to the best I can, even though I don’t have very much personal experience. I had my daughter before I got sick with Graves’ disease.

It is considered that you can get pregnant if your test results- TSH, FT3 and FT4 are normal. By normal I mean in the normal ranges- TSH- 0,3- 3,0 mIU/L (mU/L), FT3 = 230-420 pg/d, FT4 = 0.8-1.5 ng/dl. However, this is not the only requirement. Your Thyroid Antibodies (anti-thyroid peroxidase and anti-thyroglobulin antibodies (collectively referred to as anti-thyroid antibodies (ATA) should be in the normal range as well.

In 1990, Stagnaro-Green demonstrated in a prospective analysis that thyroid antibodies were markers for "at-risk" pregnancies. So said, you can get pregnant, even if your tests results are not normal, but the risk of miscarriage is greater than in other women- about 50%. It can be presumed that infertile patients who demonstrate ATA can be classified as having the reproductive autoimmune failure syndrome (RAFS).

Possible Solution: Treatment for Antithyroid Antibodies

In IVF (in vitro fertilization) patients for example, antithyroid antibodies (ATAs) are treated with intravenous immune globulin (IVIg) before the IVF transfer. The intravenous immune globuline (IVIg) therapy is also used for treating people with Thyroid Eye Disease. Check with your doctor if this could be a solution for you as well.

To read more what tests exactly you need, if you are willing to resolve a pregnancy issue, click here:

Other reasons for thyroid patients’ infertility

1. Anvulation (no ovulation, or release of an egg) and menstrual irregularities. With no egg to fertilize, conception is impossible.

2. Short luteal phase. The luteal phase is the timeframe between ovulation and onset of menstruation. The luteal phase needs to be of sufficient duration -- a normal luteal phase is approximately 13 to 15 days -- to nurture a fertilized egg. A shortened luteal phase can cause what appears to be infertility, but is in fact failure to sustain a fertilized egg, with loss of the very early pregnancy at around the same time as menstruation would typically begin.

For more information about pregnancy issues and how to deal with them, click here:

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