Check out the Antibodies!
You may have read the tip that I wrote in regards to thyroid and the importance of testing thyroid antibodies. If not please refer to the tips about thyroid to get more information.
But I wanted to go a bit further to illustrate the importance of ruling out this issue.
Many doctors will tell you that there is no need to test thyroid antibodies if TSH is normal. But I can tell you now that I have many patients whose TSH is perfectly normal and even FT4 and FT3 (thyroid hormones) are normal, but their thyroid antibodies are elevated and in some cases through the roof. Our therapist Julie just walked into my office yesterday with a case to illustrate this point exactly.
For example normal thyroid antibodies are less than 34 or 60 depending on which lab test you look at and some of my patients have slightly elevated levels around 100 or so. But others have had normal TSH, normal FT4 and FT 3 production and their antibodies are through the roof at 6500, 8500, and in one 10,500!
The problem with elevated thyroid antibodies is that it can affect your ability to get pregnant but also if they are elevated it is also likely that a woman could have a preterm labor, postnatal depression, and other issues that are correlated with elevated thyroid antibodies. So please be persistent and get these checked.
Recently there has been some debate about whether testing thyroid antibodies should be standard for pregnant women because of the issue I just listed above. Wouldn't it be best however to know this before the person gets pregnant and address it as soon as possible in case it is impacting fertility.
Another point to keep in mind is if they are elevated, the then testing the antibodies for Coeliac Disease as well can be beneficial as those with elevated thyroid antibodies according to some studies may be 3 times more likely to have Coeliac Disease than those whose antibodies are not elevated.
Coeliac disease is the result of gluten intolerance and the body is unable to absorb nutrients effectively eventually creating a state of malnutrition. Coeliac disease is directly related to Fertility issues. Check with your physician as to which blood tests are appropriate, but the most common blood test is Iga Gliadin. Also when iron is low and liver enzymes are high this can be another clue to possible Coeliac Disease. Simply switching to a gluten free diet can make a world of difference and return health to normal as well as improve your fertility.
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