Many women don’t know that the thyroid hormone also has a control over the fertility and an under-active thyroid gland could lower your chances of conceiving. Signs that could point to a malfunctioning thyroid gland could be:
- Fatigue
- Irregular periods
- Hair fall
- Mood swings
- Weight changes
How your thyroid affects your pregnancy
Situated just below the voice box, the thyroid gland controls almost every function of the human body including the metabolism, blood calcium levels, energy production, hormonal balance, reproduction and weight maintenance.
A malfunctioning thyroid gland can impact the ovulation cycle in women and lead to an irregular menstrual cycle. It also lowers the chances of conception and makes the body vulnerable to miscarriages. If left untreated, it can influence the chances of conception and may also lead to infertility in some [1].
What research says
A major study was conducted on 346 women to observe the prevalence of hypothyroidism in infertile women and evaluate the effects of hypothyroidism on infertility [2]. Here is what the researchers observed.
What research says and what you must do to find out if you have a thyroid problem
- Of 394 infertile women, 23.9 percent were hypothyroid (TSH > 4.2 μIU/ml). After treatment for hypothyroidism, 76.6 percent of infertile women conceived within 6 weeks to 1 year.
- Measurement of TSH and PRL should be done at early stage of infertility check up rather than straight away going for more costly tests or invasive procedures.
- Simple, oral hypothyroidism treatment for 3 months to 1 year can be of great benefit to conceive in otherwise asymptomatic infertile women.
What you can do
If you’re trying to have a baby for the last six months or so and haven’t been successful, speak to your doctor now and find out if you have a thyroid problem. Your doctor would perhaps ask you to get a simple blood test done to determine your T3, T4 and TSH levels and would then put you on a synthetic thyroid supplement.
Chances are, you’d conceive right after a month of treatment. All the best!
sources:
1. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16794427
2. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3657979/
READ: 6 Doctor recommended strategies for getting pregnant other than IVF
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