Is Thyroid Genetic?

[debber]

I'm just curious and I don't know, but is thyroid problems genetic. Just curious. I remember being a kid and having problems with dry skin, hair and being cold all the time. I just wonder if I had it as a kid and didn't know it. Also my mother had the same problem too. Is it genetic?

[Julia187]

I think it must be, my aunt (Dad's sister), her daughter and I all have an underactive thyroid, that can't just be a coincidence.

[debber in reply to Julia187]

I think it is in my family too, Julia, as when I look at my sister she suffers from extreme hair loss but she is on a ton of meds for epilepsy. I always ask her to have the doctor check her thyroid and she says oh, he says its normal lol I tell her it's not and to go to my doctor and she chooses not to. I feel my mom had it too. I don't think my dad did. You can almost look at a person and tell they have it too. I recognize the symptoms.

[Marz in reply to debber]

livestrong.com/article/4662...

I think it is very important your sister is tested for thyroid - and in particular for Hashimotos. Everyone should know whether or not they have auto-immune thyroiditis.

Over a 100 years ago - many people died of their thyroid symptoms and complications. It was therefore more common for just one parent to have a thyroid family issue. Now that people survive - it has increased the possibility that both parents can have the pre-disposition to Thyroid weakness....and more likely to be passed down through the generations.

Have no scientific data to support this - but have read something similar somewhere whilst grazing through the hedgerows of life.... ( the internet

[debber in reply to Marz]

I have tried to get her to go and she hides her head in the sand. She thinks it's all related to her epilepsy and I know it's not. I've struggled with this for a long time without realizing there was something wrong and I have just figured it out when I got in my 40s. I wish someone had brought it to my attention and I could have not struggled with all of this. My mom has a heart problem, she as copd and congestive heart failure and looking at all of this I believe it's due to this, I really believe this. Now my niece is struggling with her hair I see and falling out and I am going to talk with her and get her on the right path. She's only 20 but I believe she has it, too. I see it. I can spot it now. I remember waking up and my mother would have all kinds of hair in the sink and she always complained about her skin being so dry and I remember bouts of her being depressed really bad. I believe it is genetic and now I have it but I will do something about it and I want to pass it on to my family to educate them so they don't struggle and suffer like myself and my mother and my sister. We need to pass our knowledge down so we can make it a better generation to come for our kids. My niece said her hair is falling now and it's knotting really bad and tangling and it's all due to thyroid, I know it is. I need to talk with her. I had a doctor one time that sat at my moms table when I was a kid and she was visiting my mom because she had an accident and was checking on my mom and she said I had a deficiency and I should get checked and I was a teenager at the time. Well, she was right, there was something wrong. I wish I had pursued it but I was a kid and my mom just thought that that's the way it was. I wish I could go see that doctor today but she's probably gone now. She was so right. We need to pay attention to our bodies and to things like that as we just let it go and struggle when we don't have to.

[debber in reply to debber]

Hindsight is so much clearer!

[Marz in reply to debber]

That's what this site is all about - ACTION ! People who really want to be well will keep seeking answers and improving their health with the excellent information that is shared within this forum. It is priceless and we need to give thanks to each and everyone and not take it for granted...

So now for the testing - TSH FT4 FT3 Thyroid Anti-bodies Anti-TPO and Anti-Tg.

Also B12 - FERRITIN - FOLATE - VITD - IRON.

LOW Ferritin ( Stored Iron ) can cause thinning hair....so now it's time to start reading and learning more....

[debber in reply to Marz]

Yes, I'm going to go get tested for sure. I have a doctor who I just love and I will be making an apptmt to get back to see her. The thing is I have moved and so I'm going to make a trip there to visit my family and go see her so I can get tested for ferritin. It truly is complexing! Yes, if it wasn't for this site I would be even more lost and also the support I get to feel I'm not alone with all of this. It truly is priceless! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!

[PennyR]

Hypothyroidism is an auto immune disease and as such runs in families (not quite the same as genetic). I have Hashi's, my cousin had Type 1 Diabetes and Coeliac disease, my grandfather had diabetes, my niece has Hashi's. I'm pretty sure my mother had hypothyroidism but it was never diagnosed. She also has rheumatoid arthritis so lots of familial links.

[debber in reply to PennyR]

I think so too Penny. What does Hashi do? I'm trying educate myself on this. I think was not diagnosed like it should have been with our parents and yeah I think my niece have it too.