A worried mum

Any information would be very grateful x

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

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

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.

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