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.

[magpieannie]

Thanks for posting about your son. Being a mother to a child who was born w/out a thyroid gland can be very unsettling at times. Kids don't always know how to explain how they are feeling, so it's good to hear about how well other kids have done with issues like weight and other possible hypo. health issues.Thanks for posting. It's good to know that your son has done well. Take care and God Bless!

[diann59]

my son was born without a thryriod 15 years ago we had a few problems with him being very active and fast he started to settle down at about 10 he went into pubeity very early 10 years old but what a cracking lad he, is is height is 5' 11" normal build not bad to say he was always under weight until he was about 11 years he is very bright doing well at school not bad as the haelth visitor said he would not go through mainstream school he takes thyroixene 200 mg daily and has blood test every 4 months hpoe this helps wish i had found a site like this 15 years ago we were in the dark but there is a lot of help now with tests

[magpieannie]

Thanks for posting! My daughter is nine and also born without a thyroid gland. I'm glad to hear that you have done well other than the anxiety, which is probably related to your thyroid levels being off in one direction or the other. My daughter has never suffered from anxiety, but she has had many hypo. symptoms in the past when on Synthroid. I switched her to desiccated hormone (Nature-Throid) last spring and she is doing much better. She is the tallest in her class, however she is too heavy, but we are working on it. She had her first basketball game of the season last night and I was pleased to see her really running and she made 6 goals! Last year at this time she was having heart palpatations (PVC's) and was wearing a heart moniter during her basketball games. This was while she was on Synthroid. Happy to say that she no longer has this as her Freet3 is now higher in the range, which was obviosly her problem before. (Could not convert enough of the t4 med into the active t3). Now that she gets t3, and her thyroid hormone levels are kept higher in normal range w/ her TSH lower (under 1) she is feeling great again (no PVC's or other hypo health issues) and she's not hyper in any way! We just had to find the right med and the right level for "her" specific needs. Well thanks for the encouraging post. It really helps to hear how others are doing with their "thyroidless" life. Keep in touch....Anne

[Pete_S]

Hi....

Im 28 yr male. I also have no thyroid. Born without. Back then it was rare, but now I go check online about it and realize Im not the only one. They also told my parents it was really rare for males, and that thier was a chance of me being handicapped! That ole speech from the doc can kiss my ***. I take what all you take to survive, levothroxine or whatever. I was  the tallest in my class in elementary, and I stayed thin threwout my life. I gained weight off and on when I hit puberty, takin diffrent doses but overall stayed the same weight. I dont really go for reg check ups even tho i should, but as of lately I did because for yrs I was on a dose where it was too low, or high, i cant remember, but they uped  my dose. Since then I lost extra weight and I been more myself. I suffered from anxiety from a young age too, maybe cuz of it??? Who knows, but since the dose I am on I had no anxiety attacks. I just hate how im thin! Im 178lbs, used to be up to 205lbs. Im been currently active all my life, playin hockey and soccer. Im well known to be good at these sports, and I enjoy it. So thier is nothing to worry about when havin no thyriod. Your as normal as anything. Take your meds and never mess around with it. Stay healthy.

[mparkin]

I was born without a thyroid and I am now 18. I take 125 mg of lethothyroxine a day. Although there have been some effects none of have really hindered my quality of life. The things that have affected me are delayed bone growth so I was normally the smallest child in the class, although I am now of average size, as well as impaired motor skills and hand eye coordination. My hand writing is below average but this does not affect me too much paragraph. The main thing to look out for is the child’s state of mind as being smallest in the class and other symptoms can lead to insecurity.

[loopylil]

i was born without a thyroid until i saw this site i thought it was virtually unheard of. i take thyroxine