Complete thyroidectomy, and want to get pregnant

Question

Hi Everyone,

I had a complete thyroidectomy when I was 19 years old. I never presented any hyper/hypothyroid symptoms, as it turned out I had a cyst on my right thyroid lobe, and on the third biopsy there was a presence of abnormal cells, suspicion that they might be cancerous (first two biopsys were fine, I guess third time's the charm). So I had to have surgery, first they wanted to remove the right lobe, test it and find if it was cancerous at all, but during the surgery they couldn't completely determine, and ended up removing my whole thyroid. (Btw, the full testing after the surgery concluded that no cells were cancerous. And now I had no thyroid at all. Go figure).

I am now about to turn 32 years old, and after many years of ups and downs, and trying different medications, I've finally found some normalcy and have been on Armour Thyroid for the past 4 years (the most successful of all the thyroid meds out there that I tried). My husband and I are going to start trying for a family within the next year, and I was hoping to find out from any other people out there that have had complete thyroidectomys, how they are doing, if they had trouble conceiving, how pregnancy was, etc. Welcoming any and all stories =), thanks.

f4kew0rld · Answer

i had my first IUI 24th april and 25 th april today is 4th day no symptoms.10 years married trying to concive i am v upset crying all day help me .

meg1434 · Answer

I  had a partial thyroidectomy done 3 years ago then a full throidectomy 2 years ago. I have graves diseas and i have been told i will not be able to have kids. Well march 23 i found out i was pregnant. Well over the past month i have been bleeding and last friday i misscarried. I guess this is going to be harder than i thought.

sueHS · Answer

Thanks so much for your reply, I've started taking folic acid and will be having a talk with my obgyn very soon, I'm also going to have my levels checked to see how I am currently on my meds, so fingers crossed! Hope there's a new member to our family soon =).

KMathurMD · Answer

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
Yes, today women with complete thyroidectomy do conceive and give birth to normal babies. They just need to be monitored carefully during pregnancy for hormone levels as a low thyroid level will affect baby's growth. Since pregnancy ups the demand of hormone, very careful planning needs to be done. Hence it is best to enroll under an infertility sepacialst and an endocrinologist to manage you when you conceive. Also, before you try, it would be best to see both these experts for complete guidance. All the best!
Take care!