First off, I am not asking for medical advice, I am only seeking to understand a medical condition - I hope this is ok!
Some background: I have Hashimoto’s, but I am not hypothyroid (TSH usually around 2). I am also trying to conceive and so my doctor has put me on Synthroid with the goal of getting my TSH between 1 and 2. The goal is to have my body stop making anti-bodies so that if I do get pregnant, the fetus won’t be at risk.
I had a two-month break in getting my thyroid tested. During that time, I had two menstrual periods that were close to nonexistent (just some spotting on pantyliners, pads not required). I just got my thyroid tested again and now the TSH=2.5. The doctor has upped the Synthroid level to get the TSH back down below 2.5.
My question: Can a TSH of 2.5 cause my period to nearly disappear?
When I asked the nice but not quite helpful nurse, she put me on hold, came back and said, “Yes, hypothyroidism can cause difficulties in getting pregnant.” Ok, but I’m not hypothyroid and I asked specifically about light periods. As far as I know, hypothyroidism would cause heavy and/or irregular periods. Am I wrong?
(I asked the kind nurse if I could speak to the doctor, but she said he had left for the day. Well, if that’s the case, who was she talking to when she put me on hold?)
So, am I misinformed? Could a slightly elevated (not hypothyroid) TSH level be the cause of my super light periods? My question will be answered next month, I suppose, after taking a month’s worth of increased Synthroid, but I am curious now!
I am not a Dr, but I also have Hashimoto’s. I am also mildly hypothyroid, but my TPO levels were sky high, that’s how I got diagnosed. I highly recommend the book The Thyroid Solution by Ridha Arem. He addresses thryoid problems as they affect mind and body, not just take a pill and it’s cured. He advocates a Cytomel and Synthoid regimen, as opposed to just Synthroid. You may want to talk to you doctor about it. I hope you are seeing an Endocrinologist, and not just a general practioner–a GP may not be willing to explore all the treatments.
Hashimoto’s sux–since it’s autoimmune, it can put you at higher risk for RA and such. And it makes me feel like crap most days.
ETA–also forgot to mention, Dr. Arem addresses a case where too HIGH a TSH level causes a woman’s infertility. I’ll have to read some more again to see if he addresses skipped periods. I take BC pills, and haven’t had a period since October, but my OB-GYN thinks it may be the pills, not the thryoid.
I do see an endocrinologist. My old endocrinologist (the one I was seeing before I moved) told me that while some people claim that Cytomel helps them, it is actually much harder to control T3 or T4 levels directly because the T3 and T4 hormones have a shorter half-life than TSH. If you have a pituitary issue, then regulating TSH itself may not help and you may need to take T3 or T4 directly. In my case, I know that it’s genuinely a thyroid issue, not a pituitary one.
The thing is, I otherwise feel fine, aside from my weird periods. Since I’ve just upped my Synthroid dosage, I feel a little jittery, but I expect things to balance out in the next few days. My thyroid still functions, so hopefully with the higher level of Synthroid, it’ll turn off altogether and just let the Synthroid do the work.
A TSH of 2.5 isn’t very high, which is why I was puzzled by the nurse’s response. Thanks for recommending the book, I’ll take a look and see what Dr. Arem says.
No, slightly low thyroid hormone shouldn’t cause light menstruation. Autoimmune and endocrine disorders tend to run together, though, and there might be another condition besides your hashimoto’s thyroiditis causing your light period. Its worth getting it checked out.
As heavyarms stated, a TSH of 2.5 shouldn’t have any effect on a woman’s menses. In fact, a TSH of 2.5 is in the normal range (at least everywhere I’ve practiced).
As an aside, hypothyroidism (with, say, a TSH of 40) tends to cause heavy periods (menorrhagia). The only exception to this (AFAIK) is when the hypothyroidism has developed in a woman on oral contraceptives; in that case, if/when the woman goes off the pill, she may have very light and scanty periods (oligomenorrhea) notwithstanding that she is hypothyroid. So long as she stays on the pill, her periods will remain normal.
Perhaps this is stating the obvious, but you’ve taken a pregnancy test, right?
I can’t tell you how many friends who are TTC have come to me with worries about scanty or skipped periods and yet never considered that they may have conceived!
