born without a thyroid

[crichards]

I am a single parent raising a little boy that was born without a thyroid. He is 5 years old and so far he is mentally up to par. He is a little on the small side. After reading some of these forums I am a little concerned about his future. We see a specialist and I do trust him. When my son was 3 days old the thyroid test showed his thyroid was underactive - the Dr. sat me down in his office and told me my son would be mentally handicapped. I can say without hesitation that as of right now this has not been the case. We just discovered 2 months ago that instead of an underactive thyroid my son was born without a thyroid at all. My fear is in the future that he may struggle with keeping up with learning and growing. My counselor suggested that I apply for social security for him. As a single mom we barely get by but we do. I guess before I consider applying now and putting the money away for the future if the time comes that we would need that money for him I was wondering if anyone else born without a thyroid recieved social security. I read on here that someone could not find any statistics on boys born without a thyroid graduating high school. I just put my son on the school bus for kindergarden on tuesday. I can't imagine him not graduating. If anyone has any information I would greatly appreciate it.

[gimel]

How about posting your last several thyroid related test results and reference ranges shown on the lab report so that members can try to assess the adequacy of your testing and treatment.

[kwood123456]

I was born without a thyroid back in March of 1994. I'm currently attending Cal State Fullerton, am part of the honors society, and currently am looking at a promising career in accounting. I have always struggled with my weight over the years, at least ever since I was 5. The doctors knew within 2 days of my birth that I had no thyroid gland, but just the surrounding for it. It seems as if the mental state is different case by case as I have always been a straight-A student all throughout elementary, Jr. high, and high school. It's still a tough rode with frequent doctor visits and some people tend to struggle with growth. I'm not sure if my thyroid caused it, but I was also born with a small pituitary gland, and started high school as a 4'11 freshmen, but ended as a 5'9 senior due to the aid of Human Growth Hormone (HGH).

Best of luck to you and your son, I will be praying for the 2 of you as you go along this journey.

[gimel]

If you still struggle with weight and sleep, perhaps your thyroid levels are not optimal.  If you will post your thyroid test results and reference ranges shown on the lab report, members can help interpret and advise.  

[cmtjt]

I was born without a thyroid, I am 29 years old, while I struggled with weight and sleep I am very healthy, and my son has a thyroid and is alos very healthy, the key is to keep up with doctors visits. see an endocrinologist at least every 5 years and take your medication as directed without fail. Its hard and annoying but it wont kill you to do it if you want to live a normal life. I go to college and work. It is just a part of who I am.

[magpieannie]

Was your daughter born without a thyroid gland? Thanks for posting about her. My daughter is 10 and born without a thyroid gland in 2000. It was caught with the newborn screening. She is a very bright 4th grader. Her teacher just emailed me saying she wants to refer her for the gifted and talented class (EXPO). No matter if she makes it or not-it made me proud that she has come this far and that we caught her condition before any intellectual damage was done. This does not mean that she hasn't suffered time to time with the dredded symptom of "brain fog"  and forgetfulness from time to time though when her meds are needing an adjustment-but we always recognize it for what it is and take the proper measures needed to get her "thinking" and feeling better. Any advice or experience that you can share with us would be greatly appreciated since your daughter is" ahead of us" in this life without a thyroid gland.

[Sshadofax]

Don't worry, my daughter is 18 a freshman in college and making great grades. She was born in 1992 before routine testing for thryoid function was preformed in all hospitals. With a good doctor and frequent testing your son will live a normal and healthy life. Hyorthryoidism was the number 1 cause of mental retardation before testing was done early enough. My daughter still gets blood work every three months and I request not only tsh but T3 T4 counts and with that we are doing fine. She take synthriod and Cytomel for the t3 t4 problems but she had an iq of 140 and is of normal stature. So don't let prior 1995 testing and results concern you. There is no reason a child that had this problem found prior to their 1st birthday should not be expected to have a normal and healthy furtur. I did find it helpful to change her doctor every 5 years because doctors forget to be interested in the condition and forget how important frequent blood work is to their future. Expect frequent strength changes and do watch the growth chart for tips testing is needed more often during physical growth years.