Pregnancy and childbirth is a crucial period as women may face a certain risk of suffering from diseases as many hormonal changes takes places in a woman’s body.
Postpartum thyroiditis is a condition when the mothers becomes inflamed after having a baby which may turn it overactive (hyperthyroidism) and then underactive after some time (hypothyroidism). This health condition affects about 3 in 100 women to 2 in 25 women.
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The woman who has developed antithyroid antibodies before pregnancy, type 1 diabetes, and a family history of thyroid problems are at a greater risk of suffering from postpartum thyroiditis.
It is to be noted that certain symptoms like nervousness, anxiety, fast heartbeat, and weight loss can be observed in the first phase of this disease while in the next phase, one may feel tired, have constipation, muscle cramps, weakness and weight gain.
Approximately 20 to 30 percent of people with postpartum thyroiditis have also the characteristic of suffering from hyperthyroidism which begins from one to four months after the delivery of the baby and lasts two to eight weeks, followed by hypothyroidism, which lasts from approximately two weeks to six months and then recovery.
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Hyperthyroidism has mild symptoms and includes fatigue, weight loss, palpitations, heat intolerance, anxiety, irritability, tachycardia and tremor. Similarly, hypothyroidism is also mild, leading to lack of energy, cold intolerance, constipation, and dry skin.
Moreover, the diagnosis of postpartum thyroiditis depends on clinical symptoms and thyroid function tests (level of TSH and free T4). Thyroid function tests may fluctuate during the course of postpartum thyroiditis, and changes in TSH concentrations lag behind changes in serum-free T4. In case the TSH is low, T3 should also be measured.