my childs blood test results and broken bones

[denapet]

Could a doctor please tell me if I am taking this in the right direction.

My daughter is 10 years old and weighs just 56 pounds. She has had 5 broken bones in the last 2 years from slight injuries, such as stubbing her toe. She also has delayed healing. She currently has a broken elbow from being pushed into a wall. The orthopedic doctor ordered blood work because he was concerned why her bones keep breaking and healing so slowly. Listed below are the things that were out of range on that blood test:

ALT- slightly high
Lymphocytes- slightly high
Monocytes- slightly high
Creatinine- slightly low
TSH- high
(Urinalysis)PH- high

Her pediatrician subsequently ordered specific thyroid blood test. One of the levels came back high on that test. He told me to take her to a pediatric endocrinologist. He would not tell me which level was high -Tsh, T3 or T4. Very frustrating. He said I don't need to know he will send the results to the Endo!
I have an appointment with a ped. endo. on May 8th.

Family History- I have hypothyroid- which was diagnosed while I was pregnant with my daughter. All of the females in my immediate family and my husband's also have hypothyroid.

Can thyroid disorders in children cause bones to break more easily? Can her bones ever catch up to the strength they should be? Are the elevated ALT, Lymphocytes and Creatinine related to untreated thyroid disorder? Would you think that this in hypothyroid, hyperthyroid or not even related to thyroid?
Should I post this to a different topic area on this website?

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

If the ortho eval showed TSH high as you stated - then it's likely hypothyroid -- agree with endo eval -- can't easily expalin other lab abnormalities on the thyroid.  WIll need full endo eval and yes, that is the right direction.  The low creatinine is okay (normal kidney function) but the high ALT suggests a possible liver dysfunction (could be thyroid if thyroid is severe -- in which case waiting to may 8 is not acceptible).  

Bone strength can be evaluated by pediatric endo as well --  need to look at vitamin D, cacium, phosphorous levels and perhaps bone density.

[Josleas]

It would probably be worth requesting a blood test for celiac disease also as it is often associated with autoimmune thyroid disorders. A symptom of celiac is loss of bone density due malabsorption of calcium.

[Jonimb]

My daughter, 10, was diagnosed in December with Hypothroidism.  Looking back she has a lot of subtle and not so subtle
symptoms.  A lot of the symptoms were not identified on
the internet web sites.

She had a bad case of athletes foot that took two months to heal.  About twice a month she would wake up in the middle
of the night complaining of a stomache ache.  She would
throw up and have a bout of diahrea. The next morning she
would be so tired she could not go to school. (I thought it
was a virus)but it was related to her thyroid.  She did complain of itchy skin.  She also starting blinking her
eyes-like a tic.  She had a birthday sleepover--two days
later she woke up so dizzy and tired she had to stay home
from school.  All of this happened from Sept-Nov when it
finally clicked that something was wrong.

I'm not sure what her first TSH levels were.  She's been on
.25 for three months.  Her latest test 2 weeks ago was
12.48.  Now she is on .50mg Feeling much better, but still
not 100%

[itskt2u]

This does sound very suspicious for celiac disease, since osteoporosis and autoimmune thyroid disorders are very common in celiac.  My son and I were both Dx'd with celiac this past February after many years of illness.  American doctors have not been trained to look for it, as it was considered "rare".  Studies done by University of Maryland show it to be close to 1% of the population of the US that has this, although they estimate that less than 3% of those have actually been diagnosed.  Also, negative bloodwork doesn't rule out celiac, as 30% of biopsy proven celiacs have negative bloodwork for it.  See the books Dangerous Grains and Celiac Disease, A Hidden Epidemic.  Your family history is also suggestive of celiac.  The treatment is a gluten free diet.

Kate

[itskt2u]

This does sound very suspicious for celiac disease, since osteoporosis and autoimmune thyroid disorders are very common in celiac.  My son and I were both Dx'd with celiac this past February after many years of illness.  American doctors have not been trained to look for it, as it was considered "rare".  Studies done by University of Maryland show it to be close to 1% of the population of the US that has this, although they estimate that less than 3% of those have actually been diagnosed.  Also, negative bloodwork doesn't rule out celiac, as 30% of biopsy proven celiacs have negative bloodwork for it.  See the books Dangerous Grains and Celiac Disease, A Hidden Epidemic.  Your family history is also suggestive of celiac.  The treatment is a gluten free diet.

Kate