Postpartum thyroiditis is inflammation of the thyroid gland that occurs at any point within the first year after childbirth. Around 5 percent of new mothers will experience it.
During pregnancy, the mother's immune system is partially suppressed. It is thought that this is to keep the mother's body from making antibodies that could reject the developing baby. Postpartum thyroiditis is thought to be a rebound reaction of the immune system suppression that occurs during pregnancy and causes antibodies to be formed that attack the thyroid gland.
Symptoms
Postpartum thyroiditis can lead to hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism (producing too much or too little of the thyroid hormone). Symptoms include:
• Feeling overly warm or not coping with cold weather
• Rapid heartbeat
• Anxiety
• Lack of concentration
• Loss of memory
• Fatigue
• Weakness
• Muscle cramps
• Weight gain (or loss)
• Constipation
During the postpartum period, it is common for women to suffer from mood symptoms such as anxiety and loss of concentration. Sometimes these symptoms may be mistaken for the normal stresses and strains of adjusting to life with a new baby or even postpartum depression, when they are in fact caused by thyroid dysfunction.
If you are having any of these symptoms, see your doctor for blood testing as it may not be caused by the "baby blues".
Women who have had thyroiditis before, or who have had postpartum thyroiditis after a previous pregnancy are at a greater risk of having it again.
Women who have smoked, even if they have quit, are also at a greater risk of thyroid inflammation after pregnancy. There is some evidence that women who have had postpartum thyroiditis may have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease when they are older.
Diagnosis
A blood test can be given to check for levels of thyroid hormones and thyroid-stimulating hormones that can indicate whether the thyroid is over or underactive, and paired together, a physical examination can check for an enlarged thyroid gland.
A test called radioactive iodine uptake can also be done. This measures the amount of iodine taken up by the thyroid gland and is used to assess how well it is functioning. However, you cannot have this test if you are breastfeeding.
Treatment
Postpartum thyroiditis often corrects itself after a few weeks or months and treatment is not always necessary. If the inflammation of the thyroid does lead to hyper- or hypothyroidism, it may need to be treated with hormone replacement therapy.
Levothyroxine, an artificial thyroid hormone can be given. This is considered safe to use for breastfeeding mothers, as only a trace amount goes into the breast milk.
Sources:
Postpartum Thyroiditis, Children’s Hospital of the Kings Daughters. Web. 14 January 2012.
http://www.chkd.org/healthlibrary/Content.aspx?pageid=P02503
Postpartum Thyroiditis and Autoimmune Thyroiditis in Women of Childbearing Age: Recent Insights and Consequences for Antenatal and Postnatal Care, Endocrine Reviews October 1, 2001 vol. 22 no. 5 605-630. Full Text: http://edrv.endojournals.org/content/22/5/605.long
POST PARTUM THYROIDITIS, Thyroid Australia. Web. 14 January 2012. http://www.thyroid.org.au/ThySoc/ThySocPPTD.html
Radioactive iodine uptake, Medline Plus. Web. 14 January 2012. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003689.htm
Joanna is a freelance health writer for The Mother magazine and Suite 101 with a column on infertility, http://infertility.suite101.com/. She is author of the book, 'Breast Milk: A Natural Immunisation,' and co-author of an educational resource on disabled parenting.
Reviewed January 17, 2012
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jessica Obert