From Michelle, Child's Age 7 - 09/11/04 - IP#: 152.163.100.xxx  Click here to reply  
A friend suggested I try this method of getting some advice. I could write page upon page upon page but to make it short and readable......My daughter was always very healthy and within the 70th percentile until she was 15 months old. Then at 15 months old all of a sudden she was off of the charts. By her 18 month old visit she had gained 11 more pounds. We have continued on the weight gain trend since that time and now, at age 7 she weighs 130 pounds which is even hard for me to write. We have seen doctor after doctor after doctor since we have moved alot with my husbands job. They take one look at her and do diabetes and thyroid testing, then when the blood results come back normal, they talk about nutrition. I can honestly say that nutrition is not the problem. We even have been evaluated by 2 different nutritionists a couple of y ears apart who have agreed that it is not nutrition. We have a 9 year old daughter who is very thin and very healthy. She eats the exact same things as our heavy daughter. I do realize metabolism is different from person to person but this is SO extreme! We had found a doctor at one point about 1 1/2 years ago who used the body temperature to measure the thyroid and when the basal temperature is low (below 96) he puts them on thyroid medicine. (Armour Thyroid). We did this for over a year and it was so wonderful. It worked very well at keeping the weight in check. It also brought her body temperature up to a normal of 98.6 instead of her body temperature being anywhere from 93.4 to 94.6 most of the time. An endocrinologist who saw her about a year later threw a fit and insisted we take her off of the thyroid meds when her blood work was normal.....long story but the short of it is that within 6 weeks of being off of the thyroid meds, she put on 22 pounds. My big question is: If she was NOT supposed to be on thyroid meds then why did she not show signs of too MUCH thyroid? She didn't show signs of too much so obviously, she needed that extra! Anyway, I wondered if anyone else had any input on this. I recently found a web site describing Wilson's Thyroid Syndrome which sounds just exactly like my daughter to a T! But, I also sense, from reading some of the web sites, that doctors are not too big on this. If ayone can help me, please, please write back.
Thanks!!
Reply from brenda, Child's Age 12 - 09/26/04  - IP#: 207.65.58.xxx
here's my motherly advise. I've walked in your shoes for 12 years. My son was a normal weight until he was sick at 17 months of age. His weight just kept piling on also. His older brother is thin as a rail. I realized that I was giving him just the same size portions as his brther. We were eating healthy but the protion control harmed him. My son isn't very active either. We just started running together and within this last week he has lost 5 pounds. The doctors did all the tests on my son too and everything came back normal.
Does your daughter exercise? Maybe you need to get her more active. I'd stick with your doctors advise. It broke my heart to see my sone overweight but he has finally decided it was time to lose.

 
Reply from Grace, Child's Age 15 - 09/12/04  - IP#: 24.62.180.xxx
I'd say put your daughter back on the medication. Go back to the doctor that prescribed it... and get more. Sometimes you need to stand up for your child. I am not a parent... I am 15.. but I have had pneumonia 4 times in 4 years and every time my mom had to fight for a chest x-ray... which showed I had it every time. If you feel your daughter should be on that thyroid medication, then put her back on.