High level of TSH for my newly born baby

[andy674]

Dr. Deanna,
My son was born on 09.06.10.  Premature by 3 weeks. After 3 days TSH level were checked and they were 5.67. then again on 18th day TSH level were checked and they increased to 6.13.
His mother is having Thyroid.........but her levels are under control.

What does this indicate, is my baby normal. what should be the course of treatment.

[magpieannie]

I will be off line for a few days, however I wanted to give a quick reply as my daughter was born without a thyroid gland. She is now 9 and perfectly nmormal in every way. She must, however take thyroid hormone replacement for the rest of her life. She began taking Synthroid (t4) at the age of 3 weeks. She now is on a desiccated porcine thyroid replacement which has both t3 and t4 in it. Most babies, as mine was, are usually only on Synthroid and they do well with this. Your babies TSH should be decreasing and not increasing .I agree that if this continues to rise then you will need to take your son to a pediatric endocrinologist for further blood testing tio check the actual thyroid hormone levels (free t3 and free t4). If these are low then your child will need to begin thyroid hormone supplimentation/replacement medication ASAP. Brain and bodies of babies are growing VERY quickly and this can be slowed due to low thyroid hormone. Brain and body growth/development are dependant on thyroid hormone being kept at a high enough level. If caught early enough, then your son will develop normally, if not, then there could be lasting damage, so don't wait too long and it's always better to err on the side of caution. God Bless!

[TamraW]

Hi there. This is not a doctor forum, but a patient forum.

MagiePieAnne's daughter was born without a thyroid. I will alert her to this message. In the meantime, please get a thyroid ultrasound of your baby and make sure to get a full workup on the pituitary gland. This could be pituitary or a thyroid issue.

Also, the FreeT3 and FReeT4 tests are direct measurements of thyroid hormone. TSH is actually a pituitary hormone, the message that the pituitary gland sends to the thyroid.

I've never heard of a child so young getting Hashimoto's thyroid disease, which will lead to low thyroid hormone, but the tests for that are the TPOab and the TGab.

Here's a wikipedia link on congenital hypothryoisim which happens to infants. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congenital_hypothyroidism

This needs to be addressed pronto because lack of thryoid hormone will adversely affect his brain and physical growth. The good news is that you can give your son thyroid hormone pills to compensate for the lack of hormone.

Make sure the doc addresses both FT3 and FT4 levels. Most doctors give their young patients a T4 drug like Synthroid and the child is still left sleepy, overweight and unwell. This is a shame, when a simple T3 pill or a dessicated combo T3/T4 pill will give the child the hormones he needs.

:) Tamra