My 16 year old Daughter

[dwsmith]

Hello, my daughter was told 6 months ago that she was borderline Aneamic, and told not to worry just eat more meat and no need for further blood tests. After several symptoms (restless legs syndrome, falling asleep at every opportunity except at night, really pale skin and dark circles, missed periods) I took her back to the Dr. Anyway now it seems she is severely Aneamic, told to eat more meat and 3 x Ferrous Sulphate a day andd should take weeks to feel better. Her results were TSH 2.4 (0.4 - 4.9) / Ferritin 4 (5 - 204) / B12 204 (187 - 883) / Folate 7.4 (3.1 - 20.5) /Haemoglobin concentration 80 (115 - 160).

I was told her thyroid is completely normal, but I know her B12 and Folate and Ferritin will be governed by her thyroid, I told her it was in the family but she dismissed it totally and said they wouldn't do her T4 or T3 anyway. Dr was very concerned and anxious to get her blood levels up quickly and is testing again in 2 weeks.

I am self medicating myself but feel very nervous advising my young daughter to do the same, I have ordered some Thyro Gold for myself, would this hurt for her to try, or would Hemp Plex get her Ferritin up more quickly than Ferrous Sulphate? Any thoughts appreciated, thank you.

[shaws]

I'm sorry your young daughter is having health issues. I think it's right that you should be concerned as no-one knows her better than you. I made the mistake of taking the doctor's words (as we used to) when I took my 12 year old several times with the same symptoms (not hypo) and he was so angry with me when I made a 'suggestion' as I was 'putting ideas into her head' - considering a close relative had the disease. She is now so severely disabled and a proper blood test done at the time may have prevented/reduced her illness.

Your daughter's blood tests are also the cause of her ill-health and she will feel much better. I think sometimes if your stomach are not working as they should (ie low thyroid = low acid) she may not be absorbing the nutrients from her food i.e. iron etc. (I am in no way medically qualified). In case her stomach is affected some Raw Apple Cider Vinegar in juice at mealtimes is helpful

This is from Thyroiduk.org and if your daughter has clinical symptoms this might be helpful. It would be if good GP could do the tests recommended - if not I don't know if you can get private ones. There is a page on the same link below re Getting a Diagnosis.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

[dwsmith in reply to shaws]

Thankyou so much Shaws I will read those links now, I very much hope my Daughter isn't Hypothyroid, I really don't want her to have an uphill battle every step of the way like I have, but at the same time I don't want it dismissed if it could be an underlying cause. My elder Daughter was diagnosed by DrSkinner, as I was, but my Gp does not agree as our TSH were 'normal'.

[shaws in reply to dwsmith]

Dr Skinner is sadly missed. He also treated my daughter who had 'normal' thyroid too. He was also horrified at the 'parlous situation' (his words) for patients.

[Marz]

Just a thought as I am not medically qualified either - maybe it is just worth getting her Iron - Ferritin - Folate - B12 - VitD up to speed - high in their respective ranges and Ferritin at least halfway. Without these vits and minerals being optimal the thyroid cannot do its work efficiently. It can make a huge difference....

I was deficient in most things once I had learnt the importance of them all from this forum Oh yes I do have Hashimotos. Did your daughter have her anti-bodies tested. It takes years for auto-immune issues to show in the blood ....

[Jo5454 in reply to Marz]

I definitely agree Marz. I've always been told it's 'fine' to be on the borderline of ferritin and any symptoms have always been blamed on M.E. My ferritin went down to 12 before Christmas so I'm finally on iron supplements, so I can appreciate how fed up and poorly your daughter must be feeling dwsmith :(. Thanks to this fantastic site and the b12 one, I've also discovered my vitamin d is very low, and that my b12 although okay at 492 3 months ago has now dropped to 292, and someone has suggested this could possibly be because the iron I'm taking is now using more b12 to repair, so again it makes you realise how it's so important to keep a check on these levels and how one can affect the others. So that could be worth keeping in mind when your daughter is taking iron. I'm on ferrous Fumarate and my levels had raised after 3 months, but I'd just gotten over a virus and apparently that can give a result higher than it actually is. I'm eating liver twice a week ( pigs liver has 3 times the iron than other types apparently?), beetroot, red cabbage and corned beef to help, also just read cashews are high in iron, 15 mg for 20 cashews!

At least once all the levels are up you can feel confident that everything is at an optimal level and can push further for more help...hope your daughter soon sees some good improvement...Jo

[dwsmith in reply to Jo5454]

Thankyou jo5454, all of that nutritional information is really helpful and informative, i think i will also look at B12 site. Think i will have to disguise the pigs liver in some nice pate!! xx

[Jo5454 in reply to dwsmith]

You're welcome. Know what you mean about the liver, I put it in a casserole with plenty of veggies and then mush it up and kind of lose it in the gravy! having those anti-body tests sounds a good idea, I'm going to look into those too. It's ridiculous that these things are t done automatically isn't it. On advice from these sites I've requested printouts from my last two tests and there's things on there they never mentioned! I've discovered my fasting blood sugar is high, when my mum had the same result last year she was called in to see a diabetic nurse, I wasn't! This time I discovered my b12 had dropped that amount, not mentioned either! Doesn't give you much faith, does it. Anyway, good luck with the liver, and hope the tests go well xx

[dwsmith in reply to Marz]

Hi Marz no she didn't have an anti-bodies test done, should this have been done automatically with TSH?

[Marz in reply to dwsmith]

It seems nothing is automatic these days If anti-bodies are raised it means the person has Hashimotos in most cases. Hashimotos is the most common form of thyroid illness throughout the world. Even if they are low in the range it means you can look at things differently - in that she has auto-immune issues going on and may be take steps to address them....and monitor them.

Many GP's seem to want to ignore the auto-immune aspect of thyroid conditions - which is not good. Think it is because they do not have the understanding.....

When I was diagnosed here in Crete all the TFT's were in range but the anti-bodies were high and so I began treatment - hence why it is always good to have them tested

[dwsmith in reply to Marz]

Thankyou Marz have to have them tested again next week, i will request anti-bodies, why don't they look for the full picture to start with, these Drs are just not receptive to the idea of it being a thyroid issue even with family history, , I am hoping its not her thyroid to be honest , I wouldn't know which Dr to turn to xx

[Marz in reply to dwsmith]

When Ferritin - B12 - Folate - are low it can mimic Hypothyroidism....

Hope all goes well with the blood tests

[dwsmith in reply to Marz]

Thankyou Marz, will keep you posted after next blood results xx

[dwsmith]

Thankyou reallyfedup, you would think Drs would link these by now…? xx

[aliveandwell]

I don't know anything about thyroid issues. But had low iron myself and can relate to all her symptoms. Maybe you can focus on getting her iron levels up. Her ferritin level 4 is really extremely low. That is the level of the store of your iron, and being so low is like she has very little stored iron in her body.

Floradix although lower in iron than the tablets, it is liquid and can be better absorbed. Maybe that would be good to give her for to begin with as well.

Also, how about iron injections, since it is so low, you could ask your (new) doctor!

[aliveandwell]

While her b12 is not low, I would mention that it is in the lower range, so worth taking a b complex also.

[claudiasmum]

I so sympathise with your situation. I just got my ferritin tested and it came out low at 10 (range 20-200) and was also told just to eat an iron rich diet - I already do - so nothing in my diet is going to help.

It has been low twice in the past and each time then, with different doctors, I had to take iron tablets for a year to get the levels up to a reasonable level. So there's obviously more going on than just a poor diet!

The same applies to B12 and Vit D - I am one of those people who lies in the sun at any opportunity - but nothing except supplements gets those up to anything but low normal ranges.

I do hope your daughter's health improves soon. It's such a worry when it's your children.

[eeng]

Ferrous sulphate can be quite hard on the stomach, it gets prescribed because it's cheap. My young adult daughter has problems absorbing iron from food (she is currently trialling going gluten free although coeliac test are negative) and she takes ferrous fumarate 210mg 3 times a day when she needs to get her levels up. It is also suggested that taking vitamin C with the iron helps it get absorbed better and mitigates constipation caused by the iron. I hope your daughter improves soon. It can be a vicious circle - low iron causes heavy periods which makes the anaemia worse. It's awful watching your kids suffer!