Under Diagnosed Thyroid Disorders ~ Learning Disabilities ~ Fibromyalgia

I have been working on this post since last week. I am beginning to think that maybe all of these things due tie together (Thyroid, LD’s and Fibro). As my regular readers know I was diagnosed with Follicular Thyroid Cancer three years ago. The first time that I remember having my thyroid levels (TSH levels) were tested was shortly after my last child was born and I was complaining about fatigue and hot flashes. Each time that I was tested, the test came back that my TSH levels were in “low-normal” range and I was never treated. At least not until a nodule showed up on a CT scan, then a biopsy was ordered and showed that I needed surgery to determine if it was indeed cancer and what type. Although, I have never been diagnosed with Dyslexia, I do think that I have it. I am sure this does not help with the brain fog from the Fibro or getting this post finished.

Last Monday, I was on Wellsphere.com and found this post simply titled “Thyroid” by Dr. Paul V. You can click here to read the post and the entire conversation. In one of my questions I asked, “Also, at what age should an abnormal thyroid be treated in a child with a strong family history of thyroid problems?" The reason that I asked was about two years ago, the doctor tested my youngest for thyroid issues and some other things. Everything came back fine except for his thyroid which came back “low-normal”. This didn’t surprise me because of my thyroid issues, several of my relatives have thyroid problems and just about everyone on my husband’s side of the family has thyroid problems. I guess the poor thing just didn’t have a chance, having a normal thyroid. This was Dr. Paul V’s answer to my question about treating children with abnormal thyroid, “As far as children go, with that history you should get periodic lab tests. If the children become symptomatic, or the lab values are a little off, you can do some nutritional things that will help quite a bit. Important because thyroid is linked to IQ and development.” I had no idea that the two were linked. Luckily, even though my son is dyslexic his IQ is quite high. So, I got to looking and I was surprised to find that there is a link to LD’s and Dyslexia with thyroid problems (You can find all of the links at the end of this post).

I really don’t understand why doctor’s today are so reluctant to treat a so-called “low-normal” thyroid? Years ago, everyone was on thyroid medication? It took me years to find a doctor that was willing to treat me, she waited though until after we found out for sure that my nodule was indeed cancerous. Now, without a thyroid, I have to be treated. I did a search on “complications in not treating hypothyroidism” and one of the articles that I found was on MayoClinic.com. The complications listed were Goiter (a.k.a. nodule), Heart problems, Mental health issues (depression), Myxedema, Infertility, and finally Birth defects. I had two out of the six, the goiter and infertility. As far as the infertility goes my PCOS did not help matters. I know, I have three children but…there are 8 years between the first two and 5 years between #2 and #3.

I also found a new community called Rareshare for patients, families and health care professionals dealing the rare disorders. Here I found a group for Fibromyalgia and there I found a woman who blogs about Fibro. Her blog is called FibroFix. While searching her blog I found an article on thyroid and the link to Fibro, here. Then I also found on Chiropractic & Nutrition Wellness Center, this is a really good article on the subject.

Are all of these linked? I think that yes, it is a part of it. This is just a little FYI, I will leave it up to you to come up with your own conclusion.

Learning Disabilities Association of America

Dyslexia Research Institute

Thyroid Foundation of Canada

University of Maryland Medical Center

MayoClinic.com

Rareshare.org

Chiropractic & Nutrition Wellness Center