A worried mum

[Mariadempster13]

Hi my daughter has recently been diagnosed with hypothyroidism she's only 12 years old her little head is upside down I'm looking for any helpful information or any help groups we could attend to try and get a better understanding of her illness as a parent i will always be there and stand beside my daughter in everything that she achieves and does in life threw the good and the bad I'm struggling with this illness as I can't just take it away or make things better for her 😘

[Mariadempster13]

Any information would be very grateful x

[valley28]

hiya sorry to hear about your daughter i was diagnosed with an over active thyroid when i was 12 im now i had a my thyroid removed when i was 16 im 48 now since then i have been under active and taken thyroxine since then and led a completely normal life few changes to strenth of tablet over the years but honestly she will befine. its worring when you dont know so much about it. my own daughter also has been told shes over active and since she was 15 and now has to have it removed its much safer to be under active its easy to control no need for hospital appointments thats why the remove the thyriod so she will be left under active like your daughter. hope this reassures you a wee bit and good luck

[Mariadempster13 in reply to valley28]

Thank u so much for ur kind words it's so reassuring to hear a think once we understand it a bit better and get the right dose of medication a do realise we are in it for the long hall thank you for all your advice 😘❤️

[TupennyRush]

Hi there

It must be so worrying for you both but it's a very treatable condition. Assume she's been prescribed Levothyroxine? Hopefully they said to take it at least 1 hour before food or two hours after aa it needs to be absorbed on an empty stomach.

To get her body used to it they will start on a small dose and gradually increase if necessary. Normally you take a dose for a couple of months, have a blood test and increase if necessary.

Thyroid meds don't work like paracetamol, it takes months before you get back to normal once you're on the right dose. But you get better and better week on week

While you're ramping up dose she may feel worse initially but stick with it and she will feel better.

There are some vitamins where being hypo can mean that you're deficient. Its good to get these tested and take supplements; look at ferritin, b12 and folate (Grey Goose or Clutter are good on this stuff)

While you're get to the right dose your hormones can be up the Creek a bit. If she's pubescent you may find that her hormonally challenged times are worse. Again these will get better once she's on the right dose

Hope that helps. Above all don't worry, it's very treatable and she will be completely normal once she has been properly medicated.

Good luck

[Mariadempster13 in reply to TupennyRush]

Thank you very much for all the advice and help do you know of any help groups or organasations that I could take her to really just to get a better understanding of she understood it a bit better a think she would be able to cope a bit better 😘❤️

[TupennyRush in reply to Mariadempster13]

I know there are some local support groups run for people from this forum. It depends where you live. It may be worth asking on a new thread whether there's a group in your area, with this as the title of the post.

You may find that the group is mainly consists of ladies over 35 so she might not feel at home/comfortable in this peer group (men and younger people do get thyroid issues so I'm not saying it's only women over 35 before anyone picks me up on it just that it may be mainly this demographic

I did a very quick Google for people on this forum with children with thyroid problems. It may be worth pm' ing them to see if they found anything that helped to explain it simply. The following is not a full list but gives you a starting point.

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu....

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu....

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu....

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[eeng]

I imagine it can be quite difficult for your daughter to remember to take the Levothyroxine every day. Mornings are often a hectic time. Many people, including me, find it fits in with our routine better last thing at night. So long as I haven't eaten recently it's not a problem. Another tip is that when she goes for a blood test (probably every 6-8 weeks until her condition is stable and her symptoms have abated) she shouldn't take her Levothyroxine during the 12-24 hours before the test. Levothyroxine builds up in the system over 6-8 weeks but each time you take a dose the levels in the blood spike for an hour or two, so if you have a blood test when you have just taken a dose you get artificially high readings, so the doctor leaves you on too low a dose.

Make sure she has her blood tests done first thing in the morning because the TSH level, which most doctors go by, varies throughout the day and it is most representative of someone's thyroid status first thing in the morning. Your doctor should be aiming to get your daughter's TSH result somewhere close to 1 to begin with. Then he should also be trying to get rid of your daughter's symptoms.

It must feel awful to be a mother in this situation because you can't just give her a hug and a kiss and make it better, however people learn more of life's lessons through adversity than if nothing ever goes wrong. In the scheme of things hypothyroidism, if properly treated, shouldn't affect her life in the long term. The best thing you can do is to be strong for her and encourage her.

[Mariadempster13 in reply to eeng]

Thank you very much for all the advice and help and the great tips on her t3 and t4 and your right she struggles taking tablets so it's been really hard work to get her to take thyroxcin so now she has to put it in a cereal bar and just takes a bite out it to take the tablet do you know of any help groups or organasations that I could take her to really just to get a better understanding of it so that she understood it a bit better a think she would be able to cope a bit better if she knew more about it and what to expect her systems have got worse since she stared the medication to 😘❤️

[TupennyRush in reply to Mariadempster13]

Taking levothyroxine with food is a problem as it means that it won't absorb. It needs to be taken on an empty stomach and to not eat for an hour after taking it. Just having milky tea will cause a problem.

You can get liquid thyroxine if taking pills is an issue

medicines.org.uk/emcmobile/...

I don't know how available it is but I have seen it mentioned elsewhere on the forum

[Chippysue]

Although I am not a fan of British Thyroid Foundation they do have a section for children you could look at.

[Mariadempster13 in reply to Chippysue]

Thank you 😘❤️