Pregnancy and Beta-Blockers

[Guest guest]

Hi Deanna, I too had a very difficult time getting off the beta blockers.

What I ended up doing was cutting down REALLY REALLY slowly. As in, it took

me a month to get from 30mg to 0. I also used the herb hawethorne berry to

help but maybe you won't need that. I don't think hawethorne berry is safe

for pregnancy either, so keep that in mind too.

So what I did was cut the pill in half and then quarters and took a little

less every week or when I felt I could handle it. I also split the dose over

the day.

Hope that helps you figure out what works for you,

Pam B.

[Guest guest]

Hi Deanna,

I have heard that it is not good to be on beta blockers while pregnant. How

are your labs (Free T3 and Free T4)? And how are you weaning off the bb?

Maybe you are going to quickly, or maybe you need more ATD?

At 02:10 PM 9/5/2003, you wrote:

>My husband and I are considering trying to start a family soon. I

>currently take 50mg of PTU a day and 25mg of Atenolol a day. My

>doctor says that I should ween off the Atenolol, but I have tried and

>it doesnt seem to work. When I do I honestly loose my breath all the

>time and my heart will race after doing the simpliest things. I

>explained this and he continues to say that I need to get off the

>beta blocker in order to carry a child. Anyone have any experience

>with this?

>

>Thanks in advance!

>Deanna

[Guest guest]

I starting weaning with half an Atenolol a day. So I cut it from

25mg to 121/2 a day and i did that for 3 weeks and then I tried 121/2

every other day and that didnt work at all. So I stayed with half a

pill a day and then I started to notice the shortness of breath. All

my numbers are really good and my endo said he was surprised that I

had any problems at all weaning off. I will try again soon. I was

taking 50mg a day of PTU, but I spoke with my endo a little while ago

and he said to cut that back to 25mg a day. It seems that this whole

thing is such a roller coaster.

> >My husband and I are considering trying to start a family soon. I

> >currently take 50mg of PTU a day and 25mg of Atenolol a day. My

> >doctor says that I should ween off the Atenolol, but I have tried

and

> >it doesnt seem to work. When I do I honestly loose my breath all

the

> >time and my heart will race after doing the simpliest things. I

> >explained this and he continues to say that I need to get off the

> >beta blocker in order to carry a child. Anyone have any experience

> >with this?

> >

> >Thanks in advance!

> >Deanna

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Deanna,

Do you actually have your lab results? I always get a copy and keep

everything in a binder.

If you have your results, you can post them, with the ranges.

At 02:44 PM 9/5/2003, you wrote:

>I starting weaning with half an Atenolol a day. So I cut it from

>25mg to 121/2 a day and i did that for 3 weeks and then I tried 121/2

>every other day and that didnt work at all. So I stayed with half a

>pill a day and then I started to notice the shortness of breath. All

>my numbers are really good and my endo said he was surprised that I

>had any problems at all weaning off. I will try again soon. I was

>taking 50mg a day of PTU, but I spoke with my endo a little while ago

>and he said to cut that back to 25mg a day. It seems that this whole

>thing is such a roller coaster.

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the advice. I will try again and let you know how it

works out.

Deanna

> Hi Deanna, I too had a very difficult time getting off the beta

blockers.

> What I ended up doing was cutting down REALLY REALLY slowly. As in,

it took

> me a month to get from 30mg to 0. I also used the herb hawethorne

berry to

> help but maybe you won't need that. I don't think hawethorne berry

is safe

> for pregnancy either, so keep that in mind too.

>

> So what I did was cut the pill in half and then quarters and took a

little

> less every week or when I felt I could handle it. I also split the

dose over

> the day.

>

> Hope that helps you figure out what works for you,

>

> Pam B.

[Guest guest]

I do not have my latest results ( I went for blood Tuesday ). My

endo called today to tell me that they were really good and that is

when I informed him of the bb situation. Normally I do keep copies

of all results.

> >I starting weaning with half an Atenolol a day. So I cut it from

> >25mg to 121/2 a day and i did that for 3 weeks and then I tried

121/2

> >every other day and that didnt work at all. So I stayed with half

a

> >pill a day and then I started to notice the shortness of breath.

All

> >my numbers are really good and my endo said he was surprised that I

> >had any problems at all weaning off. I will try again soon. I was

> >taking 50mg a day of PTU, but I spoke with my endo a little while

ago

> >and he said to cut that back to 25mg a day. It seems that this

whole

> >thing is such a roller coaster.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Deanna,

Good. You have copies of the labs.

Track your progress compared to the labs and your success and lack of

success weaning off the beta blocker with the labs.

High BP can be caused by both hypo and hyper.

The Free T 4 is the best number to judge by.

PTU must be taken every 8 hours.

Once down to 25 mg. twice a day works for most people though.

It is not unusual at all to take several months of slow reductions to wean

off a beta blocker. To be told otherwise only ands to the problem causing

panic and more trouble getting off of them.

This is normal. :-)

-Pam L-

3 1/2 years Graves', TED, and PTU. Remission due to SLOW reduction of PTU

(despite an incompetent endo ! ), improved lifestyle, excellent nutrition,

herbs, and looking at the big picture.

Pills alone only help the symptoms. We must help our bodies to heal.

-- Re: Pregnancy and Beta-Blockers

I do not have my latest results ( I went for blood Tuesday ). My

endo called today to tell me that they were really good and that is

when I informed him of the bb situation. Normally I do keep copies

of all results.

> >I starting weaning with half an Atenolol a day. So I cut it from

> >25mg to 121/2 a day and i did that for 3 weeks and then I tried

121/2

> >every other day and that didnt work at all. So I stayed with half

a

> >pill a day and then I started to notice the shortness of breath.

All

> >my numbers are really good and my endo said he was surprised that I

> >had any problems at all weaning off. I will try again soon. I was

> >taking 50mg a day of PTU, but I spoke with my endo a little while

ago

> >and he said to cut that back to 25mg a day. It seems that this

whole

> >thing is such a roller coaster.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Pam

Thanks for the advice. I will try again to wean off. Hopefully I

will be successful this time. I have heard that you should take PTU

every 8 hours. So I should split the 50mg pill into half? It is so

funny how doctors neglect to inform us of these things. Actually

when I first asked him about getting pregnant I was taking

Methamazole and he said that was fine and that I didnt need to switch

to PTU, but I had insisted that he switch me to PTU and he did.

Thanks again for all your help.

Deanna

> > >I starting weaning with half an Atenolol a day. So I cut it from

> > >25mg to 121/2 a day and i did that for 3 weeks and then I tried

> 121/2

> > >every other day and that didnt work at all. So I stayed with half

> a

> > >pill a day and then I started to notice the shortness of breath.

> All

> > >my numbers are really good and my endo said he was surprised

that I

> > >had any problems at all weaning off. I will try again soon. I was

> > >taking 50mg a day of PTU, but I spoke with my endo a little while

> ago

> > >and he said to cut that back to 25mg a day. It seems that this

> whole

> > >thing is such a roller coaster.

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Hi Deanna,

Not to be cynical, but I've found that many doctors tend to give advice based

on how best to avoid a malpractice suit if something were to go wrong rather

than their honest assessment of the scenario. I was already pregnant when my

doctors advised me that continuing the beta blockers would not hurt the baby.

Since there's always a chance of something going wrong during pregnancy, my

guess is that your doctor isn't willing to advise you to get pregnant or

breastfeed while on medication.

My pregnancy went very well. During the first trimester, my thyroid levels

plummeted and I was able to significantly reduce my PTU dosage. From that

point, my levels remained slightly above normal range, which is where my doctors

wanted me since it's better for the baby if the mother is hyper rather than

hypo. I felt fine and by all indications, the baby was healthy. At 32 weeks, I

saw a perinatologist to have an ultrasound to determine if the baby had a

goiter. The ultrasound tech repeatedly told us that she couldn't get a good

view

of the baby's neck. After she left, we thought everything was fine and we'd

soon be on our way. We were incredibly shocked and scared when the

perinatologist came in and announced that the baby has a goiter, I should stop

taking PTU

immediately, and we needed to have an amnio and induce at 37 weeks. It was

his opinion that the PTU along with TPO antibodies had caused the baby to go

hypo and resulted in a goiter. This opinion was based on the idea that the baby

looked too healthy to be hyper, so he must be hypo and since I have both TPO

and Graves antibodies, it was plausible that the baby could be hypo even

though I was hyper. I had just seen my endo that morning, and he told me I was

doing great and should continue the PTU, now this guy is telling me that if I

continue the PTU, the baby's goiter could get worse. All this at 5:00 on a

Friday afternoon, so I'd have to wait out the weekend before getting a second

opinion. Well, by Saturday morning, I was at my wits end and thought I'd try

leaving a message for my endo, not really expecting a response. His partner

called

back within 10 minutes! She told me to continue the PTU and it sounded to

her that the perinatologist didn't know what he was talking about. Ugh! I

continued the PTU over the weekend and on Monday, the perinatologist agreed to

confer with my endo after i pleaded with him while crying hysterically. my endo

agreed that I could get off the PTU. I had weekly ultrasounds and twice

weekly fetal monitoring from that point, and the goiter was never confirmed.

docs

continued to pressure me to induce, but the more i thought about it, the less

i thought it was a good idea. i held them off until 39 weeks, when i had

acupuncture, drank chinese herbal tea, and had a membrane sweep to induce labor.

it worked! within an hour of the membrane sweep, i was in labor. thirty-one

hours later, gaven was born, absolutely perfect without any signs of goiter.

initial labs came back very odd: both TSH and FT4 were very high. a

pediatric endo said that that was actually normal due to all the stress the baby

goes

through during birth and true levels can't be determined until at least 3 days

after birth. when the labs were repeated, everything was normal. when i saw

my endo several weeks later, he commented on how great gaven looked and

grinned when i told him that gaven had no signs of thyroid problems. he told me

that i've kept his streak alive, that in all the years he's been in practice,

he's never seen the baby of a Grave's mom have any problems or have the mom need

a c-section because of thyroid issues in the baby. he said that i can't

really blame the perinatologist for everything he did because if he hadn't and

the

baby did have problems, we could've sued him. i'm grateful that Gaven is

healthy, but my blood boils every time i think about what could have happened if

i had listened to the doctors and induced at 37 weeks. he could have been

born with immature lungs and forced to stay in the NICU and would have been very

small--he was only 6 lbs 4 oz as it was.

the reason i shared that long story with you is to let you know that it is

quite possible for a woman with Graves to have a healthy baby. in fact, i was

much more hyper than you are. doctors have to tell you everything that can go

wrong. as long as you're healthy and stable, i don't think you have to worry

about being completely weaned off your meds. listen to your body and trust

your instincts. get as many opinions as you need to feel comfortable. i know

it's difficult, but try not to stress, that only makes you feel worse and need

the meds more.

take care, deanna. i'm sure you'll be a wonderful mother.

tori

In a message dated 9/8/2003 8:57:59 AM Pacific Daylight Time,

olsendea@... writes:

Thanks Tori

My endo told me that I really should be off before getting pregnant

and I never really heard that before from anyone so it freaked me out

a little. You breast feed? That is also great to know. I was told

that that would not be possible also. I feel like there is always so

much confusion regarding Graves.

Thanks again

Deanna

[Guest guest]

Re: Pregnancy and Beta-Blockers

I have another question. About the same time that I was diagnosed

with GD I was also diagnosed with a saggy Mitral Valve. I have read

a little about this recently and I have found some interesting

articles on WebMD that says about 28% of people with GD have Mitral

Valve Prolapse (MVP). I was wondering if you have heard of this. I

immediately called my endo and faxed to him a copy of the echo

results that determined this and he doesnt think that the GD is

related to the MV at all. Just wondering if anyone else has ever

heard of this.

Much thanks always

Deanna

Hi Deanna,

I have a mild mitral valve prolapse, which was diagnosed nearly 20 years ago

in the course of investigating chest pains and blacking out. (I think the chest

pains were probably fibromyalgia type and the passing out due to very low blood

pressure, which I wish I still had!) I never had shortness of breath from the

prolapse but do have mild asthma so never took a beta blocker--that made me

short of breath. Instead I took a calcium channel blocker, apparently the choice

for asthmatics. I had a lot of heart symptoms when first starting treatment and

it helped somewhat.

I had the prolapse checked again recently and it still is functioning OK, some

thickening of one valve. And yes I also read of the connection between Graves'

and the mitral valve prolapse so your doctor is doing the standard, " If I've

never heard of it, it's not true. " In fact, I'm ready to bet that 98% or more of

what we're told is not related to Graves' or thyroid levels actually is, but in

any case this one's documented. (I've also heard that the prolapse is frequent

in " narrow " women-- " built on the vertical " is how one dr. put it.) I can't give

a reference for either assertion but I'm sure you can find one for the

connection between mvp and Graves'.

Best wishes,