Postpartum Thyroiditis happens when a woman’s thyroid gland is inflamed after she has a baby. The thyroid gland is in the front of the neck, and it controls hormone production, weight, energy, and development. When the thyroid is not balancing hormones and energy levels in the body, patients can suffer from a variety of symptoms.
Postpartum thyroiditis can make your thyroid overactive (hyperthyroidism), or it can make it underactive (hypothyroidism). Both conditions can be uncomfortable and bring a host of unwanted symptoms. In some women, postpartum thyroiditis is a permanent health condition that must be treated for the rest of her life. In other women, the condition improves over time and resolves within a couple of years of her giving birth.
The symptoms of postpartum thyroiditis differ depending on whether your thyroid is too active or not active enough. The symptoms for each of the two variations of this condition are:
Thyrotoxicosis
Hypothyroidism
You might not start experiencing symptoms of this condition until a few months after you have had your baby. The symptoms of this thyroid problem can sometimes also be mistaken for other normal signs of recovery from childbirth.
If you had a history of thyroid problems before you were pregnant, you should not ignore the symptoms you are experiencing. You might need testing to adjust your current thyroid treatment plan to meet your needs now that you are postpartum.
The causes of this condition are not completely understood, some of the known risk factors are:
Diagnosis for postpartum thyroiditis is made through a blood test. Looking at the thyroid level in your blood will tell your doctor if you have an overactive or underactive thyroid. This will impact the treatment protocol that is used to manage your symptoms.
Your doctor will also collect a full medical history in most cases so that it is easier to track your case over time. Postpartum thyroiditis can sometimes resolve over time, so your doctor will want to monitor your progress to see if your hormone levels are returning to normal on their own.
Since the cause of this condition is unknown, prevention can be difficult as some people develop this condition postpartum, while others do not. People with the above risk factors are more likely to have postpartum thyroiditis, but these factors are not a guarantee you will end up with postpartum thyroiditis after your pregnancy.
Treatment is based on the severity of your symptoms. Both hyper and hypothyroidism are managed primarily with medications that help make your thyroid less active or that replace the level of thyroid-produced hormones in your blood. In some women, treatment can be stopped after a year or two, and thyroid function can return to normal in many cases of postpartum thyroiditis. Your doctor will monitor the hormone levels in your blood to see if you need to continue treatment or if you can be taken off thyroid medications.
In some cases, a woman’s thyroid will not recover over time, and treatment for thyroiditis will continue for the rest of her life.