thyroid disease in children, Dr?

[ShannieK]

Hi, I have a question, You have all seen me on this forum many times discussing my problems that I have asscociated with Hashimoto's, but now I have a question regarding my daughter.  I had twin girls 5 years ago, at that time I was hyperthyroid, but did not know that I had a problem, now what I don't know is whether I in fact had the thyroid problem, while I was preganant or if it kicked in after delivery.  I had tests done to show whether my girls are identical or fraternal, they came back, identical.  I am concerned having this disease, could i have passed it on to my girls?  My girls do not look anything alike.  I have one who is real tall, and the other is so small, in fact she never seems to grow at all, she also is the one that always gets sick, and I've been noticing for awhile that she's kind of hairy.  She has tuffs of blonde hair growing under her chin, and is just real fuzzy everywhere, They were born a month early, with no complications however, this praticular twin had to stay in the hospital due to jaundice. I have never noticed either of them having health problems, except just the one as I mentioned, If something is going around the little one gets it.  She is very active, very happy, and playful, basically the physical has just made me wonder.  I Know us women get facial hair and such and things are often hormone related, I'm just confused as to why she would have so much hair on her face, can it be thyroid related do you think?  The growth is what concerns me the most.  She is probably now a good 3 to 4 inches shorter than her sister.  any comments?

[ShannieK]

Hi, thanks!!!  Will also be anxious to hear about your tests as well.  I agree, I have been sick with all this stuff, which seems like forever, after awhile you start to notice the symptoms, It just started to seem like my daughter had a lot of mine, but maybe not, I guess we try to make sense out of all sorts of things.  I hope your tests come back ok, as well, will talk to you soon. Shannon

[Aunt Em]

Hmmm.  Glad to know everything is ok.  That makes me feel a little better about my kids.  Sometimes I try to "connect the dots" where there probably aren't any to be connected and make the symptoms fit.  I hope that is the case with my kids.  We will have the blood tests next week and I'll let you know.  

Thanks for keeping me informed about your situation.  I am happy everything turned out o.k.

[ShannieK]

Hi, just a quick note, I got the results back on my daughter, and everything was normal.  I guess she can just be little, hairy and cold, So far, nothing is abnormal, and according to growth, she is still in normal range, so I'll keep checking later on if, she shows any more signs of anything.  I'll keep getting her check ups, and we'll just stay on top of it.  Good luck to you. Shannon

[ShannieK]

Hi, Went to have blood tests for my daughter this morning.  She cried and me too.  How hard.  I won't have results till probably the end of the week.  The are doing a thyroid panel on her, an ANA test to test for any auto immune diseases, Because she has excess facial hair, they are checking her male hormones, I think testosterone and DHEA, there is a third hormone, can't think of it right now.  Will let you know the results, I hope all is well, and I will post back soon.  Shannon

[Aunt Em]

Thanks for the info.  My kids had an appointment with their allergist today.  Both are due for allergy testing.  Since they will be having blood drawn anyway I asked if she could check thyroid and any other general tests for autoimmune diseases.  I didn't know specifically which tests to ask for so I hope they are some that will tell us something.  

Isn't it awful to have to have your childs blood drawn?  I had to do it last year with both of mine for the allergy tests.  I made  my husband go too because I just didn't think I could handle it!

Good luck with your daughters tests.  Thanks for keeping me informed with what you find out!

Kim

[Aunt Em]

Thanks for letting me know.  I'd also like to know (if you don't mind) what tests they ran.  Good luck.  Hope the tests turn out good.  Let me know.  Thanks!

[ShannieK]

Hi, just got back from the pediatrician.  Not much info, but she said there is significant reason to run blood tests to test for auto immune disorders, as well as thyroid and other hormonal imbalances, She said that growth and everything looks normal, when you just look at her, and not in comparison to her identical twin sister.  However, she thinks it's  good idea to check this stuff out, given our family history of such illnesses.  She said the thyroid tests will only take 24 hrs to check, but the other ones may take a few days to get the results, will post back, with whatever I hear.  Shannon

[Aunt Em]

I am so looking forward to hearing what you find out.

[ShannieK]

Hi, thanks for your response, I take my daughter tomorrow, and will post back and let you know what they say, but it is funny, I didn't think about it until you said something, but my daughter also is freezing all the time, for now reason, even on really nice days, when everyone else is warm.  I am concerned, she eats like crazy too, and is very active, if she is sick, it doesn't seem like it, but I had some major problems during that pregnancy,  I didn't think of it one bit, until her sister started growing and she didn't.  Very rare for this family.  I am 6"3, and my husband is 6"1.  My family, is just like giants, we are not small people, looking at my one twin, she's following suit, just as my older son, who is also tall, but to see such a tiny in this family, makes me wonder.  i will post back tomorrow, after her appt.  I am taking her sister as a comparison, I know all children are different, but they are suppose to be identical, I think this might prove helpful for the doc, we will see.  Thanks again, for your post.  Shannon

[Aunt Em]

I would be very interested to hear how your appointment goes.  I ,too, am concerned about both of my kids - especially the younger one who is just like you describe - sick all the time, very small for his age, etc.  My ped just keeps blowing me off and says he is small because he has severe food allergies.  The kid eats like a horse and is also cold all the time.  Let me know what your ped says.  I may insist on them being tested!

[ShannieK]

Hi, No I was not treated for any thyroid problem while I was pregnant, and even have a hard time remembering if i was tested, but I think it is standard practice to do so.  I know that I was definatley hyper after delivery, with my girls, because that is when I lost 100 pounds, hair started falling out, and I had alot of anxiety and headaches, and so on, However I never went to the dr, and just figured my body was out of whack from having my twins.  I'm not sure as to whether i had the problem yet, or the birth of my twins triggered the onset, I'm thinking that is probably the case.  But it's just a guess.  I took your advice and scheduled an appt. with her pediatrician for Monday, to check her out and I am going to take her sister with us to the appt, just to see if that might be helpful, i'm not sure.  After my hyper stage after the girls were born, I went hypo, and lived with those symptoms for 4 years until, I was finally diagnosed last Ocotber with Hashimoto's  Even at that stage, my TSH, showed nearly a normal reading. I hope my worrying is for nothing, and that my daughter is just little.  Will post a comment on Monday after the appt, to let you know what he said.  Thanks Shannon

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

While I am not a pediatriatic endocrinologist, I think it is reasonable to ask her doctor to check thyroid function and growth hormone.  Identical twins should have similar physical characteristics in my understanding so comparing her to her sister is appropriate.  If your pediatrician cannot help, then I think a pediatric endo evaluation would be a good idea just to be certain that she is okay.  

Were you treated for hyper during pregnancy (doesn't sound that way)?  It's difficult to know 5 years later what effect your thyroid status had on your daughter....

[ShannieK]

Hi Ar, Yes, I am doing good, how have you been?  Yes, after stopping my Propranalol, I have felt great, no more palps and chest pain, shortness of breath and weight gain has stopped, and now my hair is starting to grow back, I have stubble!!!!!!  Never thought one medication could make me feel so crummy.  I miss getting on here and talking with you and everyone else.  I don't even see any familiar ones here anymore. So it's good to here from you.  How is everything been going?  i have had my daughter to the dr, for other things of course over the years, and it hasn't been until recently that I have wondered about the growth thing.  I guess cause she just appears so healthy, and nothing has been said by any doctors, except he would question the test they did to check for identical or fraternal, because like i mentioned they do not look alike.  If in fact there was a mistake and maybe they are fraternal, than I wouldn't be as concerned, simply because my husband has alot of shorter people in his familiy, especially the women, ranging in height from like 4"11 to 5"0.   I don't even know what thyroid symptoms in children are or if she is even experiencing any.  I know that growth is, but I thought it was more on a developmental level, and she seems to be doing fine there, at least what I can tell from a kindergartner.  Thanks for your response.

[ar1281a]

Hi Shannon, good to hear from you. How have you been doing? I guess that all your problems got resolved after stopping the b-b. I'm glad for you :-)

Now, in regards to your daughter, I just wonder if you have pointed this out to your pediatrician? does s/he think she is under developed? growing at a slower rate than she should? that could give you some guidance. Take care and hope everything turns out ok.

Take care

[ar1281a]

Hi Shannon,

Yep, I miss the old forum as well. It's not the same since medhelp limited the # of questions ans some people have not come back as well. I'm doing better than at the beginning but still get the "dizzy spells", which are better and farther appart but I still get them...I'm going for more tests in a couple of weeks. My endo is trying to get to the botton of this, so we'll see. In the meantime, I have just to wonder when the next dizzy episode will be.....

I'd ask your pediatrician if s/he thinks your daughter is not growing at the pace she should. I wouldn't worry too much about the fact that she gets sick when s/t is around. I use to be like that when a little girl and my sister, who is year and half older than me would never get sick. I guess some have a better immune system as there was nothing wrong with me. So check w/your pediatrician.

Take care and keep in touch