karen

3 years

I am a hypo thyroid patient

My period is late by a month. I am a hypo thyroid patient.

Dr Ramzdhan,

4 years

  • Hi there! Thank you for your question. So yes having late periods or infrequent periods are symptoms of hypothyroidism. The medical term for this is oligomenorrhea. Hypothyroid is when the thyroid gland (an organ located at the neck) is producing too little hormones.

  • These hormones are the T3 and T4 hormone which are known as thyroid hormones.
    The other symptoms that you should look out for are weight gain. poor appetite, tiredness, poor memory, cold intolerance, change in appearance, depression, low libido, neck swelling, puffy eyes, dry, brittle skin and hair, joint pain, muscle pain/weakness/stiffness, constipation, deafness, hallucination, slow reflexes, low heart rate and voice changes.
    Thyroid hormones are responsible for all the metabolism in the body. Oligomenorrhea can occur from the increase in Thyroid Releasing Hormone (TRH) in women with hypothyroidism.

  • Thyroid Releasing Hormone (TRH) is a hormone that is released by the hypothalamus (part of the brain) to stimulate the pituitary gland (tiny organ, the size of a pea, found at the base of the brain). The pituitary will then release several hormones such as Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (a hormone to stimulate the thyroid to produce more thyroid hormones) and prolactin. High prolactin levels interferes with the production of estrogen from the ovaries, causing infrequent or absent periods.

    Now to the second part of the question. There are a few possible explanations for this:

  1. More time is needed before the levothyroxine (thyroid replacement drug) can actually take effect.

  2. The dose of the levothyroxine given is not adequate.

  3. There are other causes of late/infrequent periods such as pregnancy, birth control pills other medications.
    So when did you start taking your levothyroxine? It needs time to actually take effect. Clinical in improvements may not begin until 2 weeks and complete recovery of symptoms may take up to 6 months. These symptoms can be managed using levothyroxine but it has to be at the right dose. I suggest you go back to the doctor and inform him about the symptoms you are having for him to readjust the dose if needed or even investigate for other possible causes.

    Please click on this link (DoctorOnCall) to talk to us privately online and discuss further about your symptoms and treatment needed. Thank you.

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