7 yr old has Hashimoto's

[lasha12]

My 7 yr old daughter was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis in January after a prolonged period of slowed and then no growth.  She is only seeing a pediatrician but did see a endocrinologist once after diagnosis who referred us back to our Ped.  She is complaining of fatigue, she has joint pain - especially knees, ankles, ribs and  just under her shoulder blades and pain over her left stomach area.  She also has feelings of sadness that she doesn't understand and is prone to crying outbursts.  Since she stoped growing and was tired she has become a target for bullying at her school.  She has only grown 2 cm since January and I am wondering if she needs growth hormone?  She is on 75 ug Synthroid, raised in May.  Her TSH was 2.4, T4 was 12 and she still has all these symptoms - what is going on?  What do I need to do to help her?  Should I insist on a pediatric endocrinologist to follow her?  Many thanks.

[gimel]

Your doctor's objection to Armour is based on erroneous information.  It is just one of many excuses used to justify not prescribing NDT meds like Armour.  If I give doctors the benefit of the doubt, I'd say that they are misinformed.  Otherwise, I'd cynically say that they are overly influenced by the Big Pharmaceutical companies that produce and promote so heavily the use of only T4 meds.

I would be very interested in knowing your daughter's thyroid test results and the associated reference ranges that are shown on the lab report.  I would like to see if she is being adequately tested for her thyroid status.

By the way, I am taking Armour now for a number of years, after not being adequately tested and treated for well over 25 years, while taking T4 meds.

[resilient12]

Thank you for your reply  It is almost three years since my initial post.  My daughter's symptoms are better.  No pain like she was having, no depression, skin and hair is not dry. She is still smaller then her peers but not in a shocking way.  She still fatigues easily and catches every virus in the universe.  Her school marks are better, she can focus and pay attention in class and has made friends.  I do have a ped endocrinologist checking on her twice a year and a new doctor, who even  though the blood work is in the normal range, will still ask my daughter how she is feeling and raise her Synthroid till she feels better- which is amazing and I am truly grateful to her.  But I have not gotten any of her doctors to prescribe her a natural thyroid medication like Armour.  It has been a real battle just to achieve the care we have now.  Her ped endocrinologist's objection to Armour is that the strength fluctuates from batch to batch making it hard to regulate in the body especially she says in a growing child's body.  I don't know what to think.  I assume you are on a natural thyroid replacement - do you have any trouble with fluctuating strengths?  Interestingly, a month ago her Synthroid was raised to .088 mg and she got the biggest hives I have ever seen.  Had them for a month or so.  She is now on .1 mg no hives.

Many thanks

[kates830]

your daughter needs to be on NATURAL DESICCATED THYROID medication! synthroid will not help. find a doctor who is willing to prescribe and her symptoms will disappear! don't let any doctor try to tell you natural hormones are antiquated. sadly, MDs today DO NOT understand how to treat thyroid disorders!!!

good luck.

[JennaRie]

That is frustrating that the doc isn't willing to try to get her TSH closer to 1.0 - I don't understand why they wouldn't since 1.0 is in the normal range too. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure my old endo also kept me around 2-2.5 TSH, and I continued to have symptoms. Sure, I started growing again, but I never got my energy back (I was a very active child before I became hypo). I had zero cold tolerance - I had to wear a jacket or coat in class and got made fun of for it. I believe that being hypo also caused the depression I experienced during and after puberty, making it a much more difficult experience for me than a typical girl.

I never understood why I was still feeling hypo symptoms when the doctor insisted my levels were just fine, so this caused a feeling of hopelessness that this was what my life was going to be like. I am so glad I heard about Armour last year. Since my old doctor would not prescribe it, I switched doctors, and this one that allows me to be on a higher dose. My symptoms are gone and I finally feel myself again after all these years. So I can't tell you whether it is Armour, or just being on a higher dose of the hormones that has made me feel so much better.

Definitely keep an eye on your daughter's symptoms, especially when she goes through puberty. If she shows a lack of energy (sleeping a lot) and signs of depression, I'd explain this to her doctor and beg him/her to try to get her TSH lower in the normal range to see if this gets rid of her symptoms. If they still refuse, you may have to resort to finding a new doc like I did. I found one in my area by using the search tool on the Armour website. And even if you don't want to switch her to Armour, I bet the new doc would be willing to raise her Synthroid dose.

Believe me, I know how your daughter feels. I remember breaking down and crying and asking my mom "why me??" I hated that I always felt bad, and just wanted to be normal again, and going through puberty only made these feelings worse (plus I was a late bloomer - age 16, so I was the last girl I knew to develop and got made fun of for that). I think it is harder to have hypothyroidism as a child than to get it later in life because the normal hormone changes that occur growing up are hard enough to deal with, and being hypo just exacerbates the problem. I know my mom felt helpless too because she didn't know what else to do to fix me. Try to explain to your daughter that there is a reason she feels the way she feels, and that you will do whatever you can to help her get through it. Also tell her that things WILL get better!! I remember when I got made fun of for being short, my mom would tell me they were just jealous because I was little and cute :)

I hope I helped!

~Jenna

[lasha12]

Thank you for your reply.  It is comforting to know that you continued to grow after your peers stopped and very likely reached your normal adult height.  My daughter's pediatrician has refused to try and keep her TSH level closer to 1.0 and says that anywhere in the standard normal range is fine.  I probably have to find another doctor which is extremely difficult to do in Toronto as there is a shortage.  If anyone here reads this from Toronto, Ontario perhaps they can recommend one for me.  This pediatrician is also against prescribing Armour.  Are people completely symptom free when TSH is closer to 1.0?
Thank you.

[JennaRie]

I am not an expert on this, but can tell you my own experience. I stopped growing at age 8 and was not diagnosed with Hashimoto's until 3 years later. We went to an endocrinologist who started me out on half of the lowest dose Synthroid and every few months would do bloodwork and gradually raise my dosage. It took several years to get my TSH down, and I gradually started to catch up to the rest of my classmates in height and weight, and I continued to grow after they had stopped. I kept going to the endocrinologist this whole time and she would track my height and weight on growth charts so we could see that I was slowly approaching the normal range. I would absolutely recommend you keep seeing and endocrinologist until they get her dosage right. At 26, I am still somewhat short (5'3.5") but that could be because my whole family is pretty short, and my weight is at the bottom of the normal range. Last year I switched to natural dessicated thyroid (Armour) because all my symptoms never went away while I was on Synthroid, and feel much better now. In your daughter's case, I would keep her on Synthroid until the endocrinologist gets her to the right dose (I think the TSH is supposed to be as close to 1.0 as you can get it. It would not surprise me if she is having symptoms still with TSH at 2.4). If they get her stable and she still has symptoms, you might want to consider switching her to Armour, though most doctors are reluctant to prescribe it because they think Synthroid is better.