Endocrine Problems in Pregnancy - Treatments & Remedies

[prolifeguyswife]

I am pushing my new doctor to test my adrenals, but he is resisting, so we started with thyroid testing. He said my thyroid was on the "high side" at 2.57, and wants to start me on a low dose of medication.

I am all for natural remedies, and have been reading through the threads to learn about them, but it is concerning that thyroid problems can cause so many issues for the baby. Plus, I don't want to just treat the thyroid if that's a symptom of another (adrenal) problem. So I've ordered an adrenal saliva test from an online company on my own, and I plan to take the results in if there is a problem.

Has anyone dealt with adrenal/thyroid issues in pregnancy? Is it imperative to treat it with medication if you're pregnant? Is it possible to have a healthy baby with endocrine issues?

From reading through these threads, I've determined that I should ask the Dr for a T3 and T4 test as well. I'm having a hard time sorting through all of this in the context of pregnancy. I'm also concerned about the effects of adrenal and thyroid issues during labor. With past labors, I've had extreme anxiety, shaking, "fight of flight" panic, (more than is normal, I guess). I can't even imagine what that will look like with things so out of whack this time.

Sorry if I posted this in the wrong place, I appreciate any and all advice!

[Precious]

I don't know the answers to all your questions, but I can tell you that I was being treated for low thyroid function with synthetic thyroid hormone during all 3 of my pregnancies and all my babies were healthy.  A TSH of 2.57 does not sound high to me.  A TSH of 1.8 to 3.0 is considered optimal, but there are lots of other thyroid hormones that should be evaluated if you are having symptoms.

You also need to be tested for Hashimoto's (if you haven't already).  If your low thyroid is caused by Hashimoto's, which most cases are, then you have an autoimmune disorder that needs to be treated.  Your doctor can order lab tests to check for thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPO Ab) AND thyroglobulin antibodies (TgAb). If either one of these antibodies is elevated, the first treatment is to go off gluten.

You might be interested in this blog post by Dr. Datis Kharrazian.

[DHW]

prolifeguyswife, good thinking to get your adrenals tested.  If you treat only the thyroid it can further fatigue the adrenals because the thyroid (and your metabolism) gets boosted and the adrenals can fall further behind trying to keep up.

[ladyhen]

I had severe low adrenal function with a couple of my pregnancies.  I didn't know what was happening the first time and Dr. brushed off my symptoms as 'womanly woes'.  That child has low adrenal function herself.  My body scavenged from her developing adrenals and damaged them. 
But I was extremely ill during that pregnancy. 
I don't know how low the adrenal function needs to be to harm the baby.   My midwife was NOT very happy that we continued to have babies, though.  She considered me very high risk. 
During the rest of my pregnancies I was taking treatment for my adrenals and didn't have too much problem.  I had difficulty with the births and recovery with two of them.  Went into shock, prolonged bleeding after the birth, and very slow recovery.  Those children seem to be fine, though. 

Didn't you say that you are taking a formula for adrenals from Standard Process?  If you are not, you may want to find a source for testing & supplements from a SP distributor.   That would give you an immediate boost.  If it isn't enough to fully support your adrenal function it would also buy you some time to find a Dr..   You may also want to take plenty of vit. C, use good quality salt, drink plenty of water, and keep your sleeping room totally dark.   I also take a hawthorn tincture to strengthen my heart and assuage my fears of a heart attack. 
In my experience, most MDs will not test or recognize low adrenal function.  I went to several with none of them willing to listen.  The Dr that I now see is an MD that practices classical homeopathy, uses herbs, etc.   And, due to another chronic illness, my adrenals completely failed and I now have Addison's Disease. 

Praying for you.  I know this is a huge worry for you.  Please remember that you are doing all you are able and you are a wonderful mom.  ((((hug))))

[prolifeguyswife]

Thank you so much for your responses. I am taking Drenamin, and I haven't had an "episode" in about a month. Unfortunately, I am so ill that I can't get out of bed. My doctor diagnosed me as having severe hyperemesis gravidarum, but I know it is more than that.

The reason my midwife though it was adrenal was that my symptoms were so severe. With both episodes, I woke up with shaking, convulsing, shivering, vomiting, chest pain, unable to swallow food, unable to get to the bathroom without help. After these episodes, I would crash with extreme exhaustion. I began having frequent strong dizzy spells, early waking (like 3am-5am, for no reason), and crazy "fight or flight" responses - like I'd hear any noise and feel like I was having a full blown anxiety attack. At one point, I was having head-to-toe anxiety every three minutes.

I noticed improvement after a week of taking Drenamin, Vit C supplements, and omega 3's. I'm not able to change much, diet-wise, because I still have a hard time eating with the bad nausea.

I didn't think 2.57 TSH was abnormal, but the dr said it was "on the high side" for pregnancy, and with all of my symptoms he wants me to consider medication, but I think I will go ahead with the rest of testing first, including for Hashimoto's (sp?) Disease.

I appreciate the advice a ton! I am a little concerned that the Drenamin will be disguising the problem and my tests will come back normal, even though there is something wrong. But I don't see how I would have gotten by without it.

[ladyhen]

The reason my midwife though it was adrenal was that my symptoms were so severe. With both episodes, I woke up with shaking, convulsing, shivering, vomiting, chest pain, unable to swallow food, unable to get to the bathroom without help. After these episodes, I would crash with extreme exhaustion. I began having frequent strong dizzy spells, early waking (like 3am-5am, for no reason), and crazy "fight or flight" responses - like I'd hear any noise and feel like I was having a full blown anxiety attack. At one point, I was having head-to-toe anxiety every three minutes.

I noticed improvement after a week of taking Drenamin, Vit C supplements, and omega 3's. I'm not able to change much, diet-wise, because I still have a hard time eating with the bad nausea.

Sounds to me like it could be low adrenal, too.  And if you had that much improvement when you started taking the Drenamin, I would call that confirmation! 
The glandulars in the Drenamin are supplying you with cortisol and should, I pray, mean that your baby is safe.  That is what I always told myself while pregnant, and being on treatment seemed to really help me.  The medication that I take also has glandular extract.  Once I was on treatment, the only problem that I had was during & after birth.  So I would recommend being prepared for that possibility; have Rescue Remedy & whatever else your midwife advises on hand. 
What does your midwife say about waiting until after the baby comes to do any testing or changing meds? 

[mykidsmom]

I didn't think 2.57 TSH was abnormal, but the dr said it was "on the high side" for pregnancy, and with all of my symptoms he wants me to consider medication, but I think I will go ahead with the rest of testing first, including for Hashimoto's (sp?) Disease.

My thyroid was almost non-functioning and My TSH was 2.5.  Even my homeopath asked me to get on armour thyroid until my remedy could take care of my thyroid.  Part of your issues may also be thyroid related and quite frankly, that's not something I would mess around with waiting on.  Especially being pregnant.  The adrenals and thyroid are very closely intertwined.  The adrenals will steal from the thyroid in order to try and not have a complete adrenal collapse.  I would suggest that taking armour thyroid for your sake and baby's is a far better idea then risking the long term effects of crashing while pregnant.  It's something you may want to seriously consider while you work at healing your body.  I am still doing natural stuff to heal, but am supporting my body with armour and cytomel while I'm going through the healing process.  There are some parts of our body that cannot wait, I believe thyroid is one of them.  It will cause a person to crash hard.   Please consider supplementing until you've experienced enough healing to not need it.  It's important to make sure your body is converting T4 to T3.  If it is not efficient in doing that you have to supplement with both armour and cytomel. 

[mykidsmom]

I didn't think 2.57 TSH was abnormal, but the dr said it was "on the high side" for pregnancy, and with all of my symptoms he wants me to consider medication, but I think I will go ahead with the rest of testing first, including for Hashimoto's (sp?) Disease.

My thyroid was almost non-functioning and My TSH was 2.5.  Even my homeopath asked me to get on armour thyroid until my remedy could take care of my thyroid.  Part of your issues may also be thyroid related and quite frankly, that's not something I would mess around with waiting on.  Especially being pregnant.  The adrenals and thyroid are very closely intertwined.  The adrenals will steal from the thyroid in order to try and not have a complete adrenal collapse.  I would suggest that taking armour thyroid for your sake and baby's is a far better idea then risking the long term effects of crashing while pregnant.  It's something you may want to seriously consider while you work at healing your body.  I am still doing natural stuff to heal, but am supporting my body with armour and cytomel while I'm going through the healing process.  There are some parts of our body that cannot wait, I believe thyroid is one of them.  It will cause a person to crash hard.   Please consider supplementing until you've experienced enough healing to not need it.  It's important to make sure your body is converting T4 to T3.  If it is not efficient in doing that you have to supplement with both armour and cytomel.

I should clarify by saying supplementing with armour thyroid - not synthroid!  Your body needs both T3 and T4 and synthroid is only T4.  Armour is also made from dessicated thyroid vs. all chemical synthroid. 

[DHW]

I am taking Drenamin, and I haven't had an "episode" in about a month. Unfortunately, I am so ill that I can't get out of bed.

It may be that you need to supplement with minerals, especially magnesium.  I know it must be hard to take anything by mouth, but you might try calcium citrate or magnesium citrate powder stirred into juice a few minutes before meals.  Just a small amount, 200 mg.  This has made a big difference for me when other remedies had no discernible effect and the fatigue was awful.    I also use the minerals if I feel a sinking spell coming on, and within an hour, or less, I am back to normal.  Choose a form that agrees with you: citrate, malate, taurate, glycinate, etc.  Or use a multi mineral supplement like the one by Country Life which includes several minerals.  Note:  I take a women's multi with minerals everyday, and I still need to supplement with the extra minerals.

You can also apply magnesium oil to the skin and bypass the GI tract.  Dissolve epsom salts or mag chloride in purified water, about equal parts.  It should feel oily.  Apply; wait 20 minutes then wipe off residue if desired.  If it is itchy or it stings, apply some coconut oil or olive oil to soothe the skin.  The epsom salts will supply sulfur as well as magnesium - most people tend to be deficient in both.

[prolifeguyswife]

MYkidsmom and DHW, thank you SO much. You have given me a lot of useful information. I have been taking magnesium, and I noticed that it has been making the symptoms that feel like anxiety get much better. What other minerals do I need?

Mykidsmom, I am looking at the thyroid supplement and I'm thinking that I will start one right after my next round of testing in a few days.

My doctor just told me that since my potassium and sodium levels were normal, my adrenal glands must be functioning correctly. Could that be true? I just got the saliva test for cortisol in the mail, so I will definitely do that, but it seems like so many of my symtpoms appeared to be adrenal that I have a hard time believing that my adrenal glands are functioning correctly.

[ladyhen]

Just found an interesting article on adrenal insufficiency that I hadn't seen before.  Might be an interesting read for you. 

Dr. Kaslow - Adrenal Insufficiency

[DHW]

For the minerals, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus are the usual ones to try.  I use either NOW calcium citrate or mag citrate, and sometimes add in a pinch of potassium chloride.  The powder form works best for me.  Be cautious of the citrate form if you have a sensitive stomach, though.  And mag oxide is mostly just a laxative - not much mag gets absorbed.

Here is a combo formula that also includes D and zinc: http://www.luckyvitamin.com/p-9792-country-life-target-mins-calcium-magnesium-zinc-180-tablets

If you decide to try minerals, start with a small dose several times a day.  It may take several days to work up to 200 mg three times a day.  (If you are depleted in a nutrient, it takes some time for the body to be able to switch over to using it once it becomes available, so go slow.)

It is not unusual for adrenal fatigue to cause an imbalance between sodium and potassium, with sodium low in comparison to potassium.  In that case, you need to use sea salt fairly liberally; the adrenals like sodium.  I don't think I would rule out adrenals just on the basis of sodium:potassium.  The saliva test will be much more accurate and give you more information.  Are you doing a single collection or the set of four collections throughout the day?

I hope you get some answers soon!

[prolifeguyswife]

Thanks so much for the replies!

The doctor doesn't want to investigate further, because my cortisol was "low-normal" in the morning, and fine throughout the rest of the day.

BUT my DHEAS level was high, and so was my testosterone - and I guess testosterone is supposed to be low when you're pregnant. I read that elevated DHEAS and testosterone ARE indicative of an adrenal issue - I'm so confused! A second doctor said he would not put me on thyroid medicine, even if my TSh was "slightly elevated" for pregnancy. He said it's not elevated enough to warrant medication.

This is super confusing. I really, truly believe that the Drenamin has helped everything balance out somewhat, but I'd still like to know what's going on with me and baby (girl!), before delivery. Especially because I wonder how high testosterone levels would affect a little girl.

[prolifeguyswife]

Bump!

[born-an-okie]

I don't know if it is possible to tell exactly what is going on while you are still on Drenamin.  Maybe Patti (mykidsmom) would know.  I took a the cortisol saliva test last fall.  Unfortunately I didn't realize that I needed to be off the dessicated adrenal supplement I was taking for at least two weeks before doing the test.  As it was, I was only off it for a week and the test results came back showing really high DHEAS, but everything else in the normal range.  I was disappointed to have wasted the test as it didn't show me what I really wanted to know.  The crash at the end of the second week of being off it was really awful.  I have not gone back on the dessicated adrenal supplement.  I know it did help to a certain extent because after the crash I have felt better than I did before starting the adrenal supplement.  You may not want to do something that drastic while you are pregnant though.?  I don't know how much the supplement you are taking is skewing the test results, but my experience was that the effect was considerable.  Perhaps a doctor familiar with prescribing dessicated thyroid like Armour would know better how to interpret your results?  You could try plotting a temperature graph like on Dr. Rind's website as something simple you can do at home to get a better idea of what's going on.

[prolifeguyswife]

I have a new doctor (yay!) who was willing to test my t3 and t4 levels, even though my TSH has been normal. My T3 level was 183, and the reference range goes up to 181. My morning cortisol level was 40, and the reference range goes up to 22. My DHEAs and testosterone were really high, too.

So these are abnormal, but my doctor says he's not sure what the normal levels are for pregnancy, and that he thinks they just may be higher because of pregnancy? Does this sound right?

In the meantime, I've been taking Drenamin for months, and it's definitely helping my symptoms, but can it hurt me or the baby? I'm 30 weeks now, and I still have bad nausea (hyperemesis), and I'm just hoping that if the doctor is right, and it CAN be normal to have crazy test results in pregnancy, that Drenamin can't hurt if it's not necessary.

I'm wondering if I should keep taking the Drenamin? I'm also doing cal/mag, vitamin C, vitamin d3, etc. Does this sound like a good plan, and I should keep doing?

[boysmama]

was that total T3 or free T3?

I do not believe that pregnancy alone is responsible for that much of a variation.

Ask him to test you for all the thyroid antibodies- TPOab (thyroid peroxidase antibody), TgAb (thyroidglobulin antibody), and either TSI (thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin) and TRab(thyroid stimulating hormone receptor antibody).

[prolifeguyswife]

I will ask for those tests. I think it was regular T3, not free T3. I don't know the difference

[boysmama]

Total T3 is all the triiodithyronine circulating in the body. Most of it is bound up and inactive so free T3 measures how much is biologically active or unbound which correlates with clinical symptoms more reliably than total T3.

Pregnancy IS one of the factors for increased total T3 numbers along with estrogen therapies, and contraceptive useage. Free T3 is the test that will best indicate how normal your thyroid hormone levels are.

The comparative analysis between total T3 and free T3 can be useful in diagnosis though, so it's not like the total T3 test is completely useless....it's just that if you are using ONE test alone free T3 must be "it".

[born-an-okie]

Okay, so my unnatural state of being not pregnant or nursing has ended unexpectedly.  I am excited for a new baby, but terrified about the next few months.  Over the course of a year I felt I had improved quite a bit, though I was still having some issues with adrenal/endocrine problems (that's why we were trying to avoid getting pregnant). Things happen when children pray with faith, and my daughter has been praying for a sister.  The homeopathic remedy I have taken helped, but it is really slow.  I'm still really early in the pregnancy, but already I feel like my adrenals and thyroid are starting to get too stressed.  Is it okay to take Symplex F while pregnant?  And would it be better to focus on just the thyroid and adrenals rather than a total endocrine boost like symplex F?  I am working on finding an endocrinologist to help me figure out what is going on, but I can use some input from those who have been through this!

[boysmama]

Thyroid problems often disappear during pregnancy. I would not take OTC thyroid supplements without testing and professional guidance.

I believe adrenal support could be important though. This one is formulated for use during pregnancy.  I've not used it, but my friend is. http://www.mountainmeadowherbs.com/Adren_L_Aid_II_p/a2000.htm Also important is plenty of rest, a good variety of foods.

[born-an-okie]

Thanks, boysmama.  I appreciate the response.  Unfortunately, thyroid problems also contribute to miscarriage, which is what has now happened.  I honestly feel like my endocrine problems have mostly stemmed from adrenal malfunction, much more than thyroid.  One good thing that has come of this is that I got and appointment with an endocrinologist before the miscarriage.  Being pregnant bumped me up to a two week wait for an appointment instead of a six month wait.  So, I guess we will see where it goes from here once I see the Dr.