[Babygirly]

in reply to: Coping with rage #1169267

I think something you said there is really valid – about not being able to think rationally. I have read so much information about ATDs and breastfeeding you wouldn’t believe. I just struggle to assimilate that information into something useful in my situation. It is so complex and I just can’t muddle through it.

Since writing the first post I have started weaning, and now I only breastfeed once a day. That will make it easier to stop all together – which I am pretty sure is what needs to happen. I am not comfortable continuing in spite of lots of positive stories, I just can’t get my head around it.

I don’t really know where to go from here though. OK I accept I need to start taking the meds. I have some ptu in the cupboard but I reacted badly to it. The endo said she would give me something else if I started taking them again. But I don’t see her until December. I will have to go back through my gp but it could take a while to go through the system from the start.

Thanks everyone for your input, it really helps.

[Babygirly]

in reply to: Coping with rage #1169264

I tested positive for antibodies (sorry, I dont know which), but i was told they would be present in both ppt and graves – just at different levels. A lower reading would indicate ppt, a higher graves. My endo was not forthcoming with any figures, she just keep pressing that it is graves due to the time post partum. My first results were about 8 months pp – she says this means it is graves, but the research i have done seems to suggest ppt can start up to 12 months pp.

When i last saw my endo we agreed to wait for the next bloods – due in about 5 weeks. If they were higher or the same i would start treatment, lower would indicate ppt and just be monitored. Problem is i felt pretty good at that time and was happy to wait. I cant manage another 5 weeks like this though.

I am tempted to get an earlier blood test, but the last one was only 2 weeks ago – surely they wont be that different? Would it be worth it?

[Babygirly]

in reply to: Coping with rage #1169262

Thank you for your reply. It was very hard to read.

I feel i need to explain a little. I have not refused treatment for selfish reasons, but for my daughters benefit. No-one can give me a definite answer that the meds are safe while bf. Every person i speak to, everything i read, it all says different things. ‘Probably safe’ is a phrase i come across a lot. Most things say that id the infants thyroid status is monitored then there shoudl not be a problem. My endo said they wouldnt test my daughter. I am sure you can understand my reluctance.

Secondly is the possibility that i might not have Graves. Post partum thyroiditis does not need treatment and there are a few things that suggest I have this condition rather than graves. Firstly the time period post partum, secondly the gradual decrease in t3 and t4 levels. From what i understand graves does not spontaneously disapear, ppt does.

Thirdly throw in some emotional instability which makes it really hard to tell what is really happening. Part of me really thinks i have ppt and will be fine soon, part of my thinks i have an obsessive delusion that i am fine and will do anythign to prove it and should really get a grip, just accept that i am unwell and get on with my life.

That is why i have refused treatment so far.

Add a whole load of guilt about trying to be a good mother by not exposing her to the drugs but failing spectacularly by exposing her to a tyrant instead.

I dont even know what my point was in the first place. i swear this time last week i was fine. i was convinced it was gone.

[Babygirly]

in reply to: Post partum graves? #1169455

Thank you for your replies.

I have since had another blood test which is still going in the right direction. My ft4 level is within normal range (just).

I have talked to my endo to try and figure out what is going on. Post partum thyroiditis does not usually need treatment and that was what I was hoping it would be, seems as my levels are slowly coming down. However, the endo thinks I am more likely to have ‘grumbling graves’. We have decided to not start treatment yet until i get another blood test in 6 weeks.

It is pretty obvious I don’t want graves, I am finding every possible other option. But it still isn’t certain that I will need treatment.

I must admit I feel the closest to normal I have in a while, but I can barely remember what normal is so who knows!

[Babygirly]

in reply to: New to Graves #1169537

Thank you all for your replies!

I find it really hard to make a final decision about bf and taking the meds. My endo although supportive, doesn’t seem to know much. All the literature says the benefits of bf outweigh the risks but this seems to be based on a new baby. For a new baby bf has many many benefits, for a 12 month old, not so many. My endo said it would ‘probably’ be ok. Probably is not good enough when it is my child at risk!

LaurelM – did your doc say anything about dosage. Or timing feeds between meds? I can get lo down to 2 feeds a day, morning and night so could maybe take meds straight after so there is 12 hours between meds and feeds? Would this make a diffence?

And just mto make matters more complicated, my recent bloods show an improvement- without any treatment. That makes me want to hold off treatment even more!

I worry that the emotional instability is becoming the norm though, I think I have forgotten what it is like to feel normal.

[Author]

Posts