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 not uncommon.
Inflammation of the thyroid gland
Thyroiditis after childbirth is a rather rare type of thyroiditis. There is a loss of normal thyroid function in this disease. The disease is most common in women who have recently given birth to a child. It appears with a frequency of 5-9% of cases for all pregnancies. It occurs precisely during the first year after childbirth as a violation of the thyroid gland.
Description of the disease
What is postpartum autoimmune thyroiditis? Thyroid hormones are stored 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. There is a destruction of the follicular components against this background, which contributes to the transition of thyroids into the blood vessels. This is what causes thyrotoxicosis and its unpleasant symptoms.
Women with pathological or chronic diseases (type 1 diabetes, for example) are most susceptible to postpartum thyroiditis. This has been 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. The immune system becomes auto-aggressive against the thyroid gland. The 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 go away 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 the immunity after the end of pregnancy rises sharply. This provokes stress for immune cells, which is not always beneficial for the body. This situation can cause an imbalance in 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 he alth before motherhood. A scheduled checkup with a doctor is recommended. If there are various ailments, it is better to eliminate them. And you should also clarify when it is better to conceive a child.
Postpartum thyroiditis requires a very serious approach. Symptoms and treatment are often linked. More on that later.
Main signs of thyroiditis
Some known symptoms will help you recognize postpartum illness. Consider them in more detail:
- nervous, fussy, too energetic behavior of a young mother;
- frequent mood swings - only the woman laughed, after a while she was already crying, and vice versa;
- drastic fluctuations in body temperature;
- with an increase in appetite, weight decreases, which is strange;
- heartbeat begins to work rapidly and irregularly;
- shiver can run through the body for no particular reason.
A frequent 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 may manifest itself with some additional symptoms:
- weakness, fatigue with any number of loads, even not too significant;
- drowsiness, apathy, depression;
- absent-mindedness, forgetfulness;
- swelling all over the body, sweating, fever;
- gradual weight gain due to a drop in the intensity of metabolic processes and yet weakappetite.
If the symptoms are not properly addressed, which happens quite often because there is confusion with postpartum depression, then chronic postpartum thyroiditis occurs. Symptoms should therefore be recognized.
What is the risk factor?
With age, there is a gradual increase in the amount of thyroid antibodies in the blood of a woman. A young girl is less likely to get thyroiditis than an older 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 plan to become pregnant, you need to consult a specialist. In advance, you need to take measures to increase the body's immune defenses. It is not too late to do this during pregnancy, but only with special preparations that are safe for the baby.
It is also worth being more attentive to the manifestations of the disease, not to attribute everything to postpartum depression. It is better to undergo an examination once again in order to start therapy as soon as possible. Symptoms can be very similar - fatigue, drowsiness, depression, apathy. But it should also be alert 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 show 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 what it is.dysfunction of the thyroid gland. Treatment requires special thyroid hormones.
Postpartum thyroiditis: treatment
There are two methods used to treat postpartum thyroiditis:
- drug therapy;
- treatment with computer reflexology.
Thyrostatics destroy excessive amounts 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 can be replaced by hypothyroidism.
If there is not enough hormones 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 itself will begin to produce the missing hormones. This will only improve the tests, and a complete recovery of the endocrine system will not occur.
The general condition may also improve, but the main symptoms of the disease will remain, and the restoration of thyroid function will not occur.
Stabilize the production of hormones during the prevention of postpartum thyroiditis can computer reflexology.
In this case, the effect of a stable current on the active points of the body is carried out. They are biologically active and interconnected with the brain center through the nervous system. In addition, additional medicines will not be needed.
This methodcomputer reflexology helps to fully restore the function of the thyroid gland, as well as the normal production of hormones in the body. You will feel great, all systems will work smoothly and in an organized manner.
Reviews of doctors confirm the effectiveness of reflexology compared to drug treatment. And they have recently been trying to prescribe this particular therapy for the diagnosis of postpartum thyroiditis. How to distinguish this disease from DTG (diffuse toxic goiter) is well known to specialists, and it is necessary to differentiate these ailments in time so that the 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. Approximately it lasts 2-3 months. Treatment will not be mandatory if a woman does not want to have children in the future. Then it will be enough to visit a doctor for a check-up once every two months.
When planning a subsequent pregnancy, "Thyroxin" is prescribed. To prevent hypothyroidism from becoming chronic, it is necessary to regularly donate blood for hormones.
Postpartum thyroiditis: diagnosis
Hyperthyroidism is very difficult to identify, namely it is the first stage of thyroiditis. There are no symptoms as such. But at the first suspicion, you need to contact a specialist for advice. He will order a thyroid hormone test.
What forecast?
Postpartum thyroiditis completelydisappears within a year with the right treatment. This distinguishes it from other thyroiditis, which most often do not completely heal, but become chronic.
Therapy should be approached very responsibly, because many women risk 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, a lot often 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 high-quality diagnostics, prescribe tests and a course of treatment if necessary. It is also possible to determine the degree of postpartum illness. Therapy is selected on an individual basis, depending on the characteristics of the female body.
Conclusion
Postpartum thyroiditis is a serious condition and 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.
