Thyroid News Update Here's your weekly news update from Thyroid Mom. These are articles that either appeared in the news this week or that I found this week and wanted to share with you. Happy Reading! HYPOTHYROIDISM Hypothyroidism: The grey area: http://www.cdapress.com/news/healthy_community/article_93febf8f-f0fd-5d0e-ba66-1f61f5febdfa.html President Kennedy’s health has been a hot topic-- Despite Kennedy’s ill health his lasting legacy may be ‘vigor’: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2013/11/22/Despite-Kennedys-ill-health-his-lasting-legacy-may-be-vigor/UPI-15321385181420/ John F. Kennedy’s medical secrets linger: http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/john-f-kennedy-s-medical-secrets-linger-1.2435675 In an era … [Read more...]
My Letter to My Sons
Thyroid Advocacy for our Children Hold on, to me as we go As we roll down this unfamiliar road And although this wave (wave) is stringing us along Just know you're not alone Cause I'm gonna make this place your home Settle down, it'll all be clear Don't pay no mind to the demons They fill you with fear The trouble it might drag you down If you get lost, you can always be found Just know you're not alone Cause I'm gonna make this place your home -Phillip Phillips, HOME The other day, I was riding down the road listening to Phillip Phillips’ song, Home. I’ve heard the song plenty of times, but that particular day, it struck me that a parent could have written this song to their child. I write mostly about thyroid related … [Read more...]
Wednesday Weekly Roundup- Thyroid News Nov. 20, 2013
Thyroid News Update Starting this week, I’m going to try to share articles of interest with you each week. These will be either recent publications that I’ve come across in the last week or articles I’ve found during my research on thyroid disorders that may interest you. Since I’m just starting, I’m sharing all the articles I’ve found so far in November. Happy reading! CONGENITAL HYPOTHYROIDISM Fukushima fallout damaged thyroid glands of California babies: http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2164974/fukushima....... Identification of PENDRIN (SLC26A4) mutations in patients with congenital hypothyroidism and “apparent” thyroid dysgensis: … [Read more...]
Graves’ Disease – A Family’s Struggle with Thyroid Disorders
Graves' Disease - A Family's Struggle with Thyroid Disorders I got such a great response on my interview with my oldest son about life with congenital hypothyroidism that I decided to interview my husband about his experience with Graves' Disease. I think I may be obsessed with interviewing people, especially family members. Watch out family! Just a heads up for Thanksgiving! Anyway, here's what my darling husband had to say. What is Graves' Disease? Graves' Disease is an autoimmune disease that causes the overproduction of thyroid hormones, in other words hyperthyroidism. When were you diagnosed? At age 28, I had lost some weight and wasn't sleeping well. I decided to go in for a physical before our first son was born, … [Read more...]
Out of the Mouth of Babes: A Child’s Perspective on Congenital Hypothyroidism
That’s me with my oldest at Disney when he was 3 years old and then again just recently. He’s 7 now. Those 4 years certainly flew by - way faster than he drove me around that race track a few weeks ago. He’s turned into quite the amazing kid - wise beyond his years. I recently interviewed him about what it’s like to have congenital hypothyroidism and here’s what he had to say: What does congenital hypothyroidism mean? It means that your thyroid doesn’t work that well. You don’t want to have it. You have to take a pill every morning. Where is your thyroid? In your throat and it’s shaped like a butterfly. How did you learn to take a pill? My wonderful mom and dad just told me I had to. I said I don’t want to … [Read more...]
Hair
That’s me - with mighty big hair. As you can tell, I have red hair, well it’s really more strawberry blonde, but I’ve been classified as a redhead. I have the fair skin and freckles to go with it. As a child, I was often picked on and teased because of the color of my hair. I was called “coppertop”, “Clifford, the Big Red Dog” (yes, I have the unfortunate combination of having red hair and Clifford as my last name) and told “I’d rather be dead than red on the head”. Even as a teenager, I would hear things like “no offense, but I’d hate to have hair like that” – mostly centered around the fact that I didn’t tan like everyone else and my friends feeling sorry for me and my perpetual need for sunscreen. I was constantly counseled on what … [Read more...]
Travel Tips
My family and I are just home from a family trip. It was a wonderful trip. Traveling with kids, though, is always an adventure. I have flown a lot with my kids and wanted to share my tips for packing and flying with children, especially those with health issues. 1) Make a list and check it twice! I have saved all of my packing lists on the computer, so that I can edit and reuse easily. 2) Check all of your medications a week before your trip. Count the pills to be sure you have enough of each medication to last through your vacation and a few extra days (in the event of flight delays or other travel issues). If your insurance provider won’t allow you to refill a prescription early to ensure you have enough pills, … [Read more...]
Newborn Screening
When people find out that my children have congenital hypothyroidism, they often ask me how I found out. I explain that my children’s newborn screen results revealed that they had very high TSH levels. People often admit that they didn’t know there was mandatory newborn screening in the US, and that they didn’t know what tests were conducted as part of the newborn screen. I have to be honest that before my oldest son was diagnosed, I didn’t know about it either. I recalled that we consented to various tests and that his heel was pricked, but I couldn’t have told you what they were looking for at the time. 2013 marks the 50th year of newborn screening in the US. Screens are conducted for congenital hypothyroidism (CH) and … [Read more...]
My Journey
That is a picture of me climbing at Joshua Tree in CA. Climbing is something that both thrills me and terrifies me. Overcoming my fear of heights to be able to do climbs like that was quite a feat and quite the journey. Similarly, my journey with thyroid disease has been an adventure. I have shared a lot about how my children were diagnosed, but I haven’t talked much about my journey with thyroid disease. I’ve heard some people say that we should call it a disorder, but to me, it feels like disease is the right word. Lots of folks ask me what my symptoms were and what led to my diagnosis. The truth is I didn’t have any symptoms – at least none that I had really been paying attention to. I was in my twenties, and my husband and I were … [Read more...]
Read the Fine Print
Have you taken time to read the prescribing information (“PI”) for your thyroid hormone replacement medication? If not, you should. Because as Francis Bacon said: “Knowledge is power”. You can ask your pharmacist for the information (if it doesn’t come with your medication) or you can find it online here: http://www.rxabbvie.com/pdf/synthroid.pdf Recently, I spent some time reviewing the over 20 page PI for Synthroid (levothyroxine sodium tablets) and found many interesting things I wanted to share and discuss. Below I have highlighted the items that caught my attention. These are the things that interest me the most, but not a replacment for reading the PI for your medication and discussing it with your doctor. SOY AND … [Read more...]