[tiff August 30, 2012 at 3:56 pm Post count: 1]

#1059325

I have a 4 month old beautiful boy and went to the doctor cause my heart was pounding they sent me for labs my results were tsh less than .03 ( undetectible) and floating T4 26.6
My Endo said he was not sure if this was graves or post partum hypo.
My only other symptom is flushed cheeks. I have decided that if I have graves the radioactive pill is the best ?? maybe ?

I am unsure because My levels in January were normal and so I dont understand.

Please someone help me understand this…..I dont want to leave my son.

help

[KimberlyOnline Facilitator August 30, 2012 at 5:20 pm Post count: 4294]

#1174083

Hello and welcome to our forum. Your first priority is to make sure that you have the right diagnosis. We are fellow patients on this board, not doctors, so this is an issue where your own doctor will need to give you some guidance.

Hyperthyroidism due to postpartum thyroiditis generally resolves on its own, although some patients later become hypOthyroid after PPT. Your doctor might prescribe a beta blocker to give you some temporary relief from symptoms (rapid heart rate, hand tremors, etc.), but the treatment is more of a “watch and wait” type of issue.

If you do have Graves’, then you will want to select one of the three available treatment options (anti-thyroid drugs, RAI, surgery to remove the thyroid). I don’t know if you are breastfeeding, but if so, RAI is not recommended. There are members on this board who have taken anti-thyroid drugs while breastfeeding, and others who have had surgery. All of the options have risks and benefits, so you definitely want to do your research *if* you are truly dealing with Graves’.

Has your doctor talked to you about antibody testing (TSI or TRAb)? This could potentially help make the distinction.

For more info on postpartum thyroiditis, this is a bulletin from the American Thyroid Association. The section on PPT starts on page 1105 (page 25 of the PDF document). It’s a little technical, but not too bad.

(Note on links: if you click directly on the following link, you will need to use your browser’s “back” button to return to the boards after viewing, or you will have to log back in to the forum. As an alternative, you can right-click the link and open it in a new tab or new window).

http://thyroidguidelines.net/sites/thyroidguidelines.net/files/file/thy.2011.0087.pdf

Take care — and please keep us posted!

[adenure August 30, 2012 at 5:35 pm Post count: 491]

#1174084

Hi,

Welcome I was diagnosed with Graves after my 4th baby was born. I felt fine the first 2 months of his life, and then things went bad pretty quickly! My endo did antibody bloodwork and a radioactive uptake scan to confirm that it was Graves (instead of postpartum thyroiditis). If you’re breastfeeding, and you do the uptake scan, you will have to wean temporarily (the number of days depends on the radioactive material used for the scan).

I would suggest trying ATD’s (anti-thyroid drugs) like methimazole or PTU to start as you’ll be able to continue breastfeeding (if you are nursing) on those medications as long as they don’t exceed 20 mg. daily (methimazole) or I believe 250 mg PTU (not sure on that one though). Plus, you will hopefully get your numbers leveled out (thyroid levels) and you will have time to think about whether you want to continue on ATD’s, choose RAI or surgery. If you choose RAI, you would have to wean your baby completely and not be able to nurse again. But, if you’re not nursing, that’s not too much of a concern.

It’s good to have a choice in treatments because no one treatment or medicine is right for everyone. I would ask for antibody testing though (blood work) to have a more certain diagnosis of Graves vs. postpartum. The uptake scan is the only 100% guarantee for diagnosis, but antibody testing is 95% accurate as my endo told me.

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