Symptoms of a low thyroid are:
• allergies
• hives
• food sensitivities
• depression/mood issues
• muscle weakness/low muscle tone
• abdominal bloating
• weight gain
• swollen eyelids
• thick tongue
• puffy face
• thinning of the outside of the eyebrows
• lethargic and chronically tired
• constipation
• dry skin, thin hair or hair loss
• delayed tooth development/eruption
Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) is the standard test for measuring the thyroid. It used to be that the “normal” range was .5 to 5. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinology changed the diagnosis of “normal” to be 0.3 to 3.04 in 2003 so that thyroid problems because many people have symptoms and problems with thyroid who have TSH in this range. I went to an alternative doctor who specializes in thyroid after speaking to an Indian friend of mine. She told me that in India, if the mother has a thyroid problem and the child presents with symptoms of a low thyroid, they put the child on a tiny bit of thyroid medicine to see if the symptoms improve. Because I have a low thyroid and my kids both had MANY symptoms of a low thyroid, I thought I would see if their problems could be related to a low functioning thyroid. Thyroid problems are very, very tricky to diagnose and the signs and symptoms of a low thyroid are really varied.
Also, many, many things interfere with thyroid function:
• fluoride
• pesticides
• nutrient deficiencies (zinc and selenium)
• soy
• too low or too high iodine levels
• stress
• mercury
• chlorine
I believe, kids who have low muscle tone along with other hallmark symptoms (like constipation) of a thyroid problem should be screened for a thyroid problem. To complicate matters, according to Dr. William Nelson, NMD “Many patients with hypothyroid will respond very well to thyroid treatment even though their lab tests are considered “normal”.
Links:
American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists 2003 Press Release
Hypothyroidism in Infants and Children:
Hypothyroidism : What your doctor may not tell you but you need to know.
Hypothyroidism and the Role of Armour Thyroid, Seaweed, Exercise and
More
Betsy - It took forever to get my older son on synthroid. His tsh was high and he had a high antibody level. Unfortunately we moved and the new ped endo does not believe he has hypothroidism. In the year he has been on the med, he has felt better, had more energy, and has gone from the 5th percentile to the 20th in height. The same endo agrees that based on all of her calculations he should be in the 65th% yet she does not believe that this growth spurt has anything to do with the med. I would love to try him on Armour, but for now I am fighting to keep him on Synthroid.
BTW, my numbers go back and forth. Sometimes my TSH is really high and other times normal. I have never been able to convince my doctor to let me try any medicine. I may have to go to an alternative doctor to get treatment.
Betsy - Oh my word, I just went to that page you link in a recent post. My son still absolutely has a moon face. I am going to have to try to find a way to try the other med. Forgot to mention before that boy number two also has high TSH, but no res med.
thryoidnatural - For 18 years I had hypothyroidism and have been taking desiccated thyroid. It truly amazes me!