T4 value and desire to have children

A normal thyroid gland function of the woman is very important if she wants to have children. Therefore the value for the free T4 as well as the control hormone TSH should be in the normal range. Both under- and over-functioning, or too low and too high T4 values can lead to severe permanent damage in the development of the child.

In addition, hypofunction is a possible reason why a woman cannot become pregnant in the first place. However, if pregnancy occurs despite thyroid dysfunction, the risk of miscarriage is increased. An increase or decrease in the T4 value should therefore be clarified and treated if necessary. In addition, the recommended iodine prophylaxis should be adhered to if the pregnancy is successfully started. The T4 value and thus the thyroid function of the man has no direct influence on the desire for a child.

Why is my T4 value too high?

If the T4 value is too high, this indicates hyperthyroidism. This in turn can have various causes, some of which are quite common and others rather rare. One of the possible more common causes is the so-called thyroid autonomy.

This involves uninhibited, excessive hormone production by individual areas of the thyroid gland. The diagnosis is made by thyroid scintigraphy. For this, a small amount of radioactive iodine is added to the blood, which accumulates in the thyroid gland.

If the thyroid gland is autonomous, an area with excessive accumulation is shown in the picture, which is then called the “hot node”.The second frequent cause of a too high T4 value is Graves’ disease. Excessive hormone production is triggered by so-called autoantibodies directed against thyroid receptors. In this way, the thyroid gland is stimulated to produce too much hormone.

The diagnosis of Graves’ disease is made possible primarily by determining these autoantibodies in the blood. Another possible cause of elevated T4 levels is excessive use of thyroid medication, for example, if the dosage set by the doctor is too high. Depending on the cause of the elevated T4 levels, a targeted therapy can be initiated.