Did you know your thyroid demands go up 60% when you’re pregnant?
It’s no wonder a thyroid issue could prevent you from conceiving
There may not be ANYTHING wrong with you – in fact, your body may be doing EXACTLY what it’s supposed to do!
Not cool, though, when you have an UNDETECTED thyroid issue keeping you from getting pregnant!
Nearly 60% of women with a thyroid issue who are TTC, pregnant, or postpartum go undetected!
So what affects thyroid function?
There are a number of things like environmental toxins, missing nutrients, infections…the big one is cortisol
Cortisol affects thyroid in 3 ways:
1. Decreases T4 production
2. Interferes with conversion of T4 to T3 (active form)
3. Creates cellular resistance to T3
The reason is this: when you face a stressor (physical, mental, emotional), your adrenals allocate resources to SURVIVE & RECOVER from said stressor – this takes away resources to keep thyroid & metabolism a blazing
The result? Hypothyroidism…
-fatigue
-constipation
-feeling cold
-dry hair & nails
-weight gain around middle
-irregular / anovulatory cycles
-infertility
Why is this important for fertility?
Simple: if thyroid’s low, you won’t get adequate energy to the reproductive system
I highly recommended to get a thyroid work up if you have irregular periods, are struggling to get pregnant, or have had recurrent miscarriages
Normalizing your TSH, T4 & T3 not only improve your chances of getting pregnant & carrying baby full term, but it drastically decreases your risk of pregnancy complications, fetal development issues, preterm labor, poor milk production & postpartum depression
Already pregnant?
Get tested
If you know you’re already hypothyroid, you’ll likely want to increase thyroid medication by 30-50% during pregnancy – consult your doc on this, obvi
Finding the right provider
Just remember, doc may know anatomy & physiology better than you, but you know YOU better than anyone – so trust in what your heart, mind, body & soul are telling you and don’t settle on being dismissed if you think you have thyroid issue <3
The road to finding a trusting provider is not easy, but I’m here in your corner rooting for you mamma!
xoxo