[LaurelM]

#1064170

Hi Kelly,

I was diagnosed with Graves about 8 months post-partum with my first child. I was well controlled on Methimazole for many months when we discovered I was pregnant with our 2nd child. At about 3 weeks after conception, I was switched to PTU. I was able to completely stop taking any ATD about 6 weeks into the pregnancy. (I couldn’t keep much of anything down anyway.)

For me it was likely that the first post-partum period triggered the Graves. During pregnancy, the immune system supresses a bit so that the body does not reject the fetus. After pregnancy, it revs back up. This is often a time that an auto-immune disease (of all kinds -not just thyroid) presents itself.

I was lucky the second time around and remained in remission (getting close to 5 years now). I have two happy and healthy children. I feel great. However, it was stressful to know that I was on the ATDs at the time of conception and for those first few weeks. We also fully expected that I would need to resume treatment post-partum. If mother nature hadn’t surprised us the 2nd time, I would have been more comfortable having had a permanent treatment prior to conceiving the second time.

Anyway, that was my experience. I hope it helps.

Laurel

[Kimberly]

#1064171

Hi Kelly – I am not aware of any books that deal specifically with pregnancy and Graves’ Disease, but if you have questions on particular topics related to pregnancy, hopefully someone here can help you out. Many patients with Graves’ who are pregnant end up seeing a “high-risk” ob/gyn, so perhaps you can find one who would be willing to do a consultation with you and answer all of those “what if…” questions.

I was very frustrated when I got diagnosed, as I had spent the last 3 years eating super healthy and being more active than I ever had been before. I felt like it was totally NOT FAIR that I should wind up dealing with a health issue. But Graves’ is not a disease that we can avoid through lifestyle choices. The current theory regarding autoimmunity is that we are *genetically predisposed* to getting an autoimmune disease…and then some "trigger" actually activates the disease. The "trigger" is often stress, physical injury, illness, or some type of environmental factor. So it’s really genetics…and a plain old dose of bad luck.

But with that said, finding positive ways to manage stress is *always* a good thing…I personally find that my symptoms tend to flare when I am going through a long-term stressful situation.

Best of luck to you!

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