Understanding Mild Hypothyroidism in Early Pregnancy: What You Need to Know

Question
Hi

I have recently gone through an IVF cycle and m 8 weeks pregnant. I got my blood results and I asked for Thyroid test because of my family history.

The results show that my free t4 is 16 (normal range 10-19) and TSH is 4.02 (normal range 0.5-4). BUT the report says that in pregnancy the optimal level should be <2.5 only. It also says probably I am mild hypo however, my GP said no need to take any medicine and will have another test in 4 weeks to recheck it.

Clearly, after doing my research about hypo thyroid, I am freaking about its implications on me and importantly on my baby. Can you please advice what should i do?

Thanks in advance.

Answer
Pregnancy tends to alter thyroid test results profoundly (This does not mean that there is a thyroid problem). Therefore we doctors prefer not to make a diagnosis of either hypothyroidism or hyper thyroid during pregnancy in the absence of clinical signs and symptoms. I understand that you do not have any signs or symptoms like weight gain, lassitude, lethargy, constipation etc. Therefore i would advice you to wait a month and see if you can get the thyroid tests repeated. I do not think any harm will befall your baby in the intervening period as your blood tests are more or less normal for thyroid function.