The birth of a child is a happy event in the life of every woman. But it is during this period that various serious diseases can appear. Postpartum thyroiditis is a common phenomenon.
Thyroid inflammation
Postpartum thyroiditis is a fairly rare type of thyroiditis. There is a loss of normal thyroid function in this disease. The disease is most prevalent in women who have recently given birth to a child. It appears with a frequency of 5-9% of cases in all pregnancies. It occurs during the first year after childbirth as a violation of the thyroid gland.
Disease Description
What is postpartum autoimmune thyroiditis? Thyroid hormones accumulate in the thyroid gland. They are necessary to maintain the body for 2-3 months. The place where they gather is called a colloid. It is localized in the follicular region. The immunity of a woman during pregnancy weakens, which provokes the development of thyroiditis. The destruction of the follicular components against this background occurs, which contributes to the transition of thyroids into the blood vessels. This causes thyrotoxicosis and its unpleasant symptoms.
Women with pathological or chronic diseases (type 1 diabetes mellitus, for example) are most susceptible to postpartum thyroiditis. This is proven by scientific research. If a woman has antibodies to thyroid peroxidase, then she is also at risk.
Main reasons
The function of the immune system is significantly reduced due to pregnancy, resulting in postpartum thyroiditis. Immunity becomes autoaggressive against the thyroid gland. A consequence of postpartum thyroiditis is a mild form of hyperthyroidism. Its duration can be different, depending on the individual characteristics of the woman. It can last an average of 2-3 months, and sometimes lasts up to a year or does not pass without specialized treatment.
The sooner the disease is diagnosed, the better. This will reduce the likelihood of developing various complications. It happens that the cause of thyroiditis is that immunity at the end of pregnancy rises sharply. This provokes stress for immune cells, which does not always safely affect the body. This situation can cause an imbalance of all organs.
Repeated births increase the risk of developing the disease, unlike the first. The degree of manifestation of thyroiditis after it depends on the state of the thyroid gland before pregnancy. Therefore, it is better to take care of your health before motherhood. A scheduled examination by a doctor is recommended. If there are various ailments, it is better to eliminate them. It should also be clarified when it is better to conceive a child.
A very serious approach requires postpartum thyroiditis. Symptoms and treatment are often interconnected. About it - further.
The main signs of thyroiditis
Some known symptoms can help you recognize postpartum disease. Let's consider them in more detail:
- nervous, fussy, too energetic behavior of a young mother;
- frequent change of mood - only a woman laughed, after a while she already cries, and vice versa;
- sharp fluctuations in body temperature;
- with an increase in appetite, weight decreases, which is strange;
- the heartbeat begins to work more often and irregularly;
- trembling can run through the body for no particular reason.
A common occurrence after childbirth in a woman is depression. Therefore, it is necessary not to confuse thyroiditis with it. These signs characterize hyperthyroidism, which can lead to hypothyroidism, and this disease is much more serious than the first. Hormones begin to be produced in smaller quantities, after which the disease can manifest itself with some additional symptoms:
- weakness, fatigue at any number of loads, not even too significant;
- drowsiness, apathy, depression;
- distraction, forgetfulness;
- swelling throughout the body, sweating, fever;
- gradual weight gain due to a drop in the intensity of metabolic processes and nevertheless a weak appetite.
If the symptoms are not given proper attention, which quite often happens, since there is confusion with postpartum depression, then chronic postpartum thyroiditis occurs. Symptoms should therefore be recognized.
What is a risk factor?
With age, there is a gradual increase in the number of thyroid antibodies in the blood of a woman. A young girl risks less thyroiditis than an elderly woman, and this difference is 18-20%.
Also, the risk group consists of women who have significantly weakened immunity, as well as those who have chronic diseases. If you are planning a pregnancy, then you need to consult a specialist. It is necessary to take measures in advance to increase the body's immune defense. It is not too late to do this during pregnancy, but only with special drugs that are safe for the baby.
It is also worth paying more attention to the manifestations of the disease, do not write off everything for postpartum depression. It is better to undergo an examination once again to begin therapy as soon as possible. Symptoms can be very similar - fatigue, drowsiness, depression, apathy. But it should be alerted that after a few months these manifestations do not stop. If this happens, you should immediately consult a doctor for advice.
The disease may not give any obvious signs. That is why there is a misunderstanding of the seriousness of the situation. But in some cases, even specialists find it difficult to determine that this is a violation of the thyroid gland. For treatment, special thyroid hormones are required.
Postpartum thyroiditis: treatment
As a treatment for postpartum thyroiditis, two methods are used:
- drug therapy;
- computer reflexology treatment.
Thyreostatics destroy the excessive amount of hormones secreted by the thyroid gland. Therefore, doctors recommend taking them for this disease. They are not contraindicated during lactation, so breastfeeding can not be stopped during treatment. But with the help of this therapy, postpartum thyroiditis with hypothyroidism can be replaced.
If hormones are insufficient in the blood, then hormone therapy will be required. In this case, thyreostatic drugs are also prescribed. But, unfortunately, there is no guarantee that the body will begin to produce the missing hormones themselves. This will only improve the tests, and a complete recovery of the endocrine system will not occur.
The general condition can also improve, but the main symptoms of the disease will remain, and thyroid function will not recover.
Computer reflexology can stabilize the production of hormones during the prevention of postpartum thyroiditis.
In this case, a stable current is applied to the active points of the body. They are biologically active and interconnected with the brain center through the nervous system. In addition, additional medicines will not be needed.
This method of computer reflexology helps to fully restore the function of the thyroid gland, as well as the normal production of hormones in the body. She will feel great, all systems will work in a coordinated and organized manner.
Doctors' reviews confirm the effectiveness of reflexology in comparison with drug treatment. And they have recently been trying to prescribe just this therapy with a diagnosis of postpartum thyroiditis. How to distinguish this disease from DTZ (diffuse toxic goiter) is well known to specialists, and it is necessary to differentiate these ailments in time so that treatment is correct and timely.
How long should treatment last?
The effectiveness of preventive methods and the degree of the disease affect the duration of therapy until complete recovery. This approximately lasts 2-3 months. Treatment will not be necessary if the woman does not want to have children in the future. Then it will be enough to plan to visit a doctor for an examination once every two months.
When planning a subsequent pregnancy, “Thyroxine” is prescribed. To prevent hypothyroidism from becoming chronic, it is necessary to regularly donate blood to hormones.
Postpartum thyroiditis: diagnosis
Hyperthyroidism is very difficult to detect, namely it is the first stage of thyroiditis. There are no symptoms as such. But at the first suspicion, you need to consult a specialist for advice. He will prescribe an analysis for thyroid hormones.
What is the forecast?
Postpartum thyroiditis completely disappears within a year with the right treatment. This distinguishes him from other thyroiditis, which most often do not completely cure, but become chronic.
Therapy should be approached with extreme responsibility, because so many women run the risk of getting sick for life. This is dangerous postpartum thyroiditis.
BelMAPO (Belarusian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education), for example, trains doctors to make the correct diagnosis and prescribe treatment. Therefore, often a lot depends on the qualifications of a specialist, and you should pay attention to this when choosing a doctor.
Which doctors should I contact?
A gynecologist or endocrinologist can help deal with the disease. They will conduct a high-quality diagnosis, prescribe tests and a course of treatment if necessary. It is also possible to determine the degree of postpartum ailment. Therapy is selected individually, depending on the characteristics of the female body.
Conclusion
Postpartum thyroiditis is a serious disease, so it should be taken seriously. Especially if there are signs, but it is not yet clear what they are talking about. Therapy should be comprehensive and immediate, this guarantees effectiveness.