worried about my 13 year old sons TPO Antibodies.

[maky1972]

I was diagnosed with pernicious anemia 2 yrs ago so decided to get all my children tested if they needed blood tests, my daughter was diagnosed a year ago with PA, my other children so far so good. When I took my son to the doctors as he had some of the symptoms of PA the doctor noticed he had a goitre and done B12 and thyroid tests. It was found he had high thyroid antibodies however i do not know the levels at that time 1 year ago. He recently had more tests done at my requests and the results are as follows:

TPO Antibodies - result 340 unit IU/ml range (0-60)

Free T4- result 7.7 unit pmol/L range (6.3-14)

T.S.H- result 0.99 unit mU/L range (0.3-6)

I understand that his antibodies are high and the others are in normal range. I am also concerned his FBC showed some low levels, results as follows :

Haemoglobon- result 12.2 unit g/dl range (13-17)

HCT- result 0.361 unit l/l range (0.4-0.5)

red blood cell count

result 4.05 unit x10^12/l range (4.5-5.5)

Neutrophils result 1.6 unit x10^9/l range (1.8-8)

all other levels were within normal range.

My concern is that I am wondering if my son should be on treatment for this, he has very bad mood swings which i know could be his age, he suffers from headaches and has bags of energy followed by fatigue which seems to go in a cycle, he also suffers from very painful legs which we have put down to growing pains and also fidgety legs. Any advice greatly recieved.

[helvella]

First of all, I must say how sensible to get tests done. Even if there is nothing wrong at all, they do provide a baseline which can be looked back at if the need arises.

Ranges do vary between laboratories. But the Free T4 range you quote seems odd to me. Have a look here:

pathology.bsuh.nhs.uk/Patho...

You have not supplied his age but you can see that Free T4 ranges quoted are all very much wider than you have posted. And the TSH range you posted seems to have a somewhat high top end.

I am also a bit surprised that you have not mentioned Parietal Cell Antibodies which are closely related to B12/PA. I would have expected them to have been measured in your circumstances. See here:

pathology.bsuh.nhs.uk/Patho...

If he really does have a free T4 of 7.7 then that is low and it looks like thyroid hormone supplementation is in order.

And you need better advice than I can give regarding the FBC results - maybe a consultant referral?

All the best

Rod

<b>Updated on Nov 11 2010 7:49PM:</b> Ooops - you HAVE posted his age - walked straight past that. So have a look at the links and see the ranges mentioned - age 12-19 free T4 12.0 to 20.6 - much higher than the range you posted.

[Muffy in reply to helvella]

Can't quote the references at the moment, but if thyroid patients are treated for their high antibodies sooner rather than later, then apparently less damage is done to the thyroid.

[helvella in reply to helvella]

Trouble is, how do you treat their antibodies?

[Hidden in reply to helvella]

You can't treat antibodies. If you have high antibodies then you have Hashimotos and it doesn't go away until the thyroid has been destroyed, although selenium is supposed to help.

People with hashimotos should be given thyroid meds sooner rather than later and this stops the thyroid struggling and avoids all the other consequences associated with high TSH and low thyroid hormone levels.

Nel

[Muffy in reply to helvella]

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/378...

Just one paper on the subject

[helvella in reply to helvella]

I certainly agree that treatment for thyroid hormone levels should be commenced as early as practicable.

But I have seen so many stories about antibody levels rising and falling - sometimes apparently randomly - that I am not convinced we know how to control them at all.

Rod

[pegs]

hello

I am hyperactive sorry no info on doctors -but k

now think had tendancy as a child.

does your son excersize and relaxation techniques do help even at this age ,,

Pegs