The thyroid gland is a small organ located in the front of the neck and its main job is to control your metabolism. An underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism) is where your thyroid gland does not produce enough hormones.
The thyroid controls your metabolism with a few specific hormones of thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). The pituitary gland produces and sends out a hormone called thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). TSH then tells the thyroid gland how much hormones to produce and secrete.
Common signs of an underactive thyroid are tiredness, weight gain and feeling depressed. An underactive thyroid can often be successfully treated by taking daily hormone tablets to replace the hormones your thyroid is not making. There’s no way of preventing an underactive thyroid. Most cases are caused either by the immune system attacking the thyroid gland and damaging it, or by damage to the thyroid that occurs during some treatments for an overactive thyroid or thyroid cancer.
There can be many reasons why the cells in the thyroid gland can’t make enough thyroid hormone. Here are the major causes, from the most to the least common.
The correct diagnosis of hypothyroidism depends on the following:
Thyroxine (t4) replacement: Hypothyroidism can’t be cured. But in almost every patient, hypothyroidism can be completely controlled. It is treated by replacing the amount of hormone that your own thyroid can no longer make, to bring your T4 and TSH levels back to normal levels. So even if your thyroid gland can’t work right, T4 replacement can restore your body’s thyroid hormone levels and your body’s function. Synthetic thyroxine pills contain hormone exactly like the T4 that the thyroid gland itself makes. All hypothyroid patients except those with severe myxedema (life-threatening hypothyroidism) can be treated as outpatients. For the few patients who do not feel completely normal taking a synthetic preparation of T4 alone, the addition of T3 (Cytomel®) may be of benefit.
The only dangers of thyroxine are caused by taking too little or too much. If you take too little, your hypothyroidism will continue. If you take too much, you’ll develop the symptoms of hyperthyroidism an overactive thyroid gland. The most common symptoms of too much thyroid hormone are fatigue but inability to sleep, greater appetite, nervousness, shakiness, feeling hot when other people are cold, and trouble exercising because of weak muscles, shortness of breath, and a racing, skipping heart. Patients who have hyperthyroid symptoms at any time during thyroxine replacement therapy should have their tested. Low TSH indicates too much thyroid hormone, so their dose needs to be lowered.
Hypothyroidism can affect ovulation. Normal women without hypothyroidism have ovulation in every month. In normal women we can see 10% ovulation disorder. But, women with hypothyroidism, don’t have ovulation in every month. In total we can see 25-60% ovulation disorder in women with hypothyroidism.
Hypothyroidism can affect your embryo development too. It can be causes of abortion. Also, if you are pregnant and your doctor can’t treat your hypothyroidism disorder, your baby will be born prematurely, or she/he has weight less than normal babies and also it is possible that she/he has less mental capacity than normal babies.
For infertile couples, assessment and treatment of their thyroid dysfunction is so necessary.
The common drug that use for hypothyroidism treatment is levothyroxine. You should use once a day of levothyroxine. After 4-6 weeks, doctor will evaluate your thyroid function.
You should give blood test regularly for assessment of hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism is often a lifelong and progressive disease. If the dose of thyroid replacement hormone is too high, it is possible that women take hyperthyroidism. It can cause heart palpitations, nervousness and osteoporosis. If you get pregnant, your doctor should assess your blood test every month. Because of your pregnancy, your levothyroxine dose may change by doctors.