I am new here and here to fight another illness with my daughter of 12 years old.

[specks1546]

My daughter, who is 12 years old and already Type 1 diabetic and celiac, has just been diagnosed with another problem.. Hypothyroidism.. She is a competitive swimmer and trains between 2 - 3 hours a day.. reading up on this does that mean she can now no longer do it? I am dreading the answer no as she will be utterly devastated as she has one of the fastest times in her age group for 100 and 200m butterfly and lives and breathes it. She has never let the diabetes get in the way and I don't want this to either. Many thanks for any help.. we are waiting to see the endocrine this week.

[greygoose]

Hi specks, welcome to the forum.

Do you have any lab results for her? I'm not sure how it works for minors, but it's a legal right for patients to have copies of their blood test results.

Whether or not she can continue swimming depends on so many things. But, my personal opinion is that she should take a break for a while until her treatment takes hold - I take it she has been put on levo? How much?

Swimming is a good exercise for hypos, but 2 - 3 hours a day sounds a bit much at the moment. How does she feel afterwards? Does it knock her out? How long does it take her to recover? It's not a question of the hypo getting in the way, but whether or not she is capable of continuing.

I would suggest you start reading about her disease. Where thyroid is concerned, you cannot always trust doctors to know what they're talking about. Their education on the subject is woefully lacking. So, you need to know when they are genuinely helping, and when they are just spinning you a line because they're out of their depth.

However, when treated correctly, people live normal lives, continuing to do what they've always done. At least it's been caught early! There is no cure, of course, the levo she is/will be on is just to replace the hormone her gland can no-longer make for itself. It does not treat the gland. And it is for life. But, there is every hope that she will continue swimming for many, many years to come.

[specks1546 in reply to greygoose]

We have only had the results from the doctor and on his prognosis he said she was hypo.. we are awaiting to see the endocrine whom we see every 4 months anyway.. her results were TSH 6490 and T4 0.72. The whole thing has come as a shock as in January she was only TSH 2430 and T4 1.00.

She has absolutely no problem with the swimming, recovering or anything.. If you didn't know she had any of these autoimmune diseases you would think she is the strongest and healthiest in her group!!

[humanbean in reply to specks1546]

I've never seen a TSH over 1000 before. Is there a decimal point missing?

Can I suggest that you get copies of all your daughter's blood test results from the last couple of years and start keeping meticulous records.

With each set of results, note the time of day when blood was taken, whether she was fasting or not, and her symptoms. It would be a good idea if your daughter scored her symptoms too.

A couple of good lists of hypothyroid symptoms are :

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

hypothyroidmom.com/300-hypo...

For practical purposes the first one is better.

Obviously your daughter won't have many of these symptoms. They tend to develop over many years of being hypothyroid, and untreated or under-treated. Your daughter is young and has presumably been caught quickly, so won't have had the time to develop problems.

For future reference, thyroid blood tests should be done first thing in the morning. Don't take Levo for 24 hours before the blood draw. Take missing doses after the blood is taken then carry on as normal. Get blood taken having skipped breakfast and drink only water. Eat and drink normally after the blood draw.

[greygoose in reply to specks1546]

Yes, I agree with HB, there has to be some decimal points in those TSH results, somewhere! Also, whenever posting results, always put the ranges - the number in brackets after the result. The numbers on their own are meaningless.

If I hazard a guess, and put the decimal point in January's TSH - 2.43? - her gland was already struggling at that point. So, it isn't really surprising for us that it has now gone over-range.

[specks1546]

ahh sorry.. yes TSH 6.490 and 2.430.. the range they give for TSH was 0.280 - 4.300 so I thought 2.430 was fine?

The tests are always done at 8am after a fasting period as she is routinely checked every 4 months for her diabetes and celiac.

My test results were 3.450.. I am celiac also, does that mean I am likely to develop it too?

[jimh111]

Her blood test suggest she is only mildly hypothyroid and if medicated she should be perfectly normal and can carry on her competitive swimming with no problem. Sometimes the blood tests don't pick up hypothyrodism and this is a big problem for us. As hers was picked up by the blood test and not by her complaining of symptoms I assume her case is mild. Your slightlly higher than average TSH means you have a chance of developing hypothroidism which is a little above average.

[specks1546]

Thank you so much for all your replies

[faith63]

If it were me, i would try and reverse this..try this article:

drhyman.com/blog/2015/07/24...

She has 2 autoimmune disease already and she may be developing hashimotos now too. She feels well enough to do things most people with hashimotos cannot do, so you should act quickly.

Also google Isabella Wentz. on reversing Hashimotos. All info applies to all autoimmune issues.

[specks1546 in reply to faith63]

Thank you for your reply but she already has a very strict gluten free diet, swims for 2 -3 hours a day, takes omega 3 supplements.. as much as I would love to reverse her celiac and diabetes Type 1 (not 2) there is nothing I haven't tried trust me.

[faith63 in reply to specks1546]

I don't think you read my link.?

If you can live with thinking, you have done all you can , then that's great. It is not mainstream testing and treatment. If you have done all of that and she is still not well, then she would be in the minority. You have cut all dairy, all grains, all nuts, seeds, nightshades and legumes? Tried the autoimmune paleo reset diet for 30-60 days? Is she is healing her gut/immune system with l glutamine and bone broth and has had stool testing for leaky gut? Dr. Isabella Wentz and others, got their hormones in order, including thyroid and autoimmune disease and get off of thyroid meds, by following protocols to heal and get rid of inflammation and its all free info, online. If she is now on thyroid, there is so much more that you can try. I don't get it , being a mother of a sick child, but we are all allowed an opinion on this forum. I myself am not done trying more, with my son. I will not stop until he is well.

I wish you both well.

[Allyson1 in reply to faith63]

There is a lot of information on the internet, sure, and *some* of it is free, but how are we to reliably sift good from bad?

There are a lot of promises out there, and it's easy to go off the deep end and unintentionally do harm.

There will always be more to try, but a lot of times these things are out ahead of research and are unproven. I would not fault anyone for going by their doctor.

It is not possible to reverse type 1 diabetes or celiac, though, nor to regenerate damaged thyroid.

That said I am giving Isabella Wentz's book a try.

[specks1546 in reply to faith63]

No please I appreciated your reply!! I have tried so many things and of course I want my child to be the healthiest and best she can be.. Everything works differently for everyone, I was just saying that the minute she was diagnosed when she was 4 years old I read as much as I could and tried so many things.. but they have not made any impact into her health.. things may improve for a short while but it has not been the miracle cure to reverse her problems.. I would give my everything to take it away from her believe me.. may I wish you luck also with your son xx

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to faith63]

The name is actually Izabella Wentz.

[specks1546]

She has been prescribed Eutirox 25mcg, and as suggested above she is in the early stages.. so hopefully it will not affect her daily life anymore than anything else she copes with

[Allyson1]

I think it's really wonderful that she loves swimming so much, and it's a positive thing that she's getting timely diagnosis and treatment. Hopefully you will find a great doctor who can advise specifically about exercise. I would imagine that with proper treatment, her activity level will be fine.

The only advice I can give is that with these conditions, it is important for her to learn to read her body, and to feel comfortable confiding her symptoms to adults.

Hopefully she will feel very well, but there may be times when things fluctuate, and it's important that she recognizes when she needs rest or recovery, particularly as she enters the competitive teen years!

I say this as someone who was undiagnosed as a teen, and struggled to keep up athletically. I was very hard on myself.

I switched from swimming to running while undiagnosed hypo, and that was tough on my connective tissues and circulation. I think swimming is great.

Best of luck to you

[specks1546]

Well she has started the Euritox.. has anyone else had weight gain as a side affect as she has put 3kg on this week!! I'm devastated for her! She has trained 6 days this week for 2 hours a time and we were heartbroken when she stood on the scales this week! It's not muscle as you can't out it on that quick