Congenital Hypothyroidism// The Plain and Simple Truths
In the UK, 1 in 4000 children are born with congenital hypothyroidism. I was one of these children. It is normally discovered six months after birth and the case is twice as common for girls. The reason why it is so rare in the UK is because the disease is more commonly found in countries associated with iodine deficiency, such as China, Peru and Bangladesh.
The reason why I am writing this blog post is because I believe it is a very over-looked health condition and more awareness needs to be raised about it. It's not exactly a serious condition, but if it isn't detected and a child goes through their lives without being supplied the right medication to deal with it, then things could get very serious.
Hypothyroidism, generally speaking, is caused by a child not being born with a thyroid gland or, being born with a thyroid gland that just simply doesn't work and is inactive. The thyroid gland is located around the throat area.
The thyroid gland is butterfly shaped and sits low along the front of your neck near your wind-pipe.
It is easily detected, as said above, during the babies first six months, because of symptoms including feeding problems, a low frequency of crying and constipation. However, all babies are screened during their first few months for these sorts of problems, so if family members spot these symptoms in order to mention them at the screenings so they can be tested and issues can be investigated further.
Hypothyroidism for me, came with a series of other problems. They all intertwined. I was also born with fine motor control, scientifically named as motor dyspraxia. It affects small practical things I do every day and can make me really tired. This is probably why I didn't have many friends at primary school, because I could never play tug or any intense games as I was always too slow. I was never sporty in secondary school either and constantly got shouted at by all the other girls in hockey. My thyroid issues induced a tremor which kicks in when I'm tired and also teams up with my anxiety. Sometimes just walking up the stairs is a chore for me.
During the first two years of my life, I had to go for blood tests very frequently to monitor my levothyroxine. This is the medication prescribed to basically do the thyroid glands job, as it contains the hormone the thyroid gland is supposed to make...thyroxine.
After the first two years, I only had to go in for one a year, and I still do now. It's so SO important to monitor the thyroxine your body makes when living with this condition and to take your tablets every day as the side affects can get pretty grizzly. Altering body temperatures, extreme fatigue, overly relaxed muscles, weight gain, infertility, hair loss, even comas in very extreme cases. The condition itself causes fatigue anyway, which explains why I can just about sleep anywhere and everywhere despite what time it is! I am apparently like a little dormouse.
This condition is why I can be deemed as 'lazy' or 'forgetful'. The word used to describe people with this condition back in around the 1800's was 'cretin'. There was obviously no medication that had been found to help stabilize the production of thyroxine, so it really affected the development of children. It affects the brain development and mental ability of being able to memorize certain things and think clearly. It can also affect physical growth, which maybe explains why I'm quite petite with the help of taking my tablets to give me an extra chance of not becoming over weight (cheating, I know. But I still have to have a balanced diet).
There's not much else I can really write about this issue. It's always been a bit of a foggy subject to me and it has affected me all my life. I know there is more to it that's kept behind close doors, there's still a lot of scientific research to be done as it is a wonder to me about all the details which I am dying to know and have been for 16 years. Trust me, being two years old and having to go in for constant blood tests is a total nightmare.
I hope this post has been vaguely informative for you. It seemed really random but it is just something I wanted to post about. Hopefully one day soon I will be able to right a full blog post about it with all the details, but for now I don't want to bore you with all the science bits that no one ever reads.
Goodnight and lots of love
Your cretin
Grace xo
The reason why I am writing this blog post is because I believe it is a very over-looked health condition and more awareness needs to be raised about it. It's not exactly a serious condition, but if it isn't detected and a child goes through their lives without being supplied the right medication to deal with it, then things could get very serious.
Hypothyroidism, generally speaking, is caused by a child not being born with a thyroid gland or, being born with a thyroid gland that just simply doesn't work and is inactive. The thyroid gland is located around the throat area.
The thyroid gland is butterfly shaped and sits low along the front of your neck near your wind-pipe.
It is easily detected, as said above, during the babies first six months, because of symptoms including feeding problems, a low frequency of crying and constipation. However, all babies are screened during their first few months for these sorts of problems, so if family members spot these symptoms in order to mention them at the screenings so they can be tested and issues can be investigated further.
Hypothyroidism for me, came with a series of other problems. They all intertwined. I was also born with fine motor control, scientifically named as motor dyspraxia. It affects small practical things I do every day and can make me really tired. This is probably why I didn't have many friends at primary school, because I could never play tug or any intense games as I was always too slow. I was never sporty in secondary school either and constantly got shouted at by all the other girls in hockey. My thyroid issues induced a tremor which kicks in when I'm tired and also teams up with my anxiety. Sometimes just walking up the stairs is a chore for me.
During the first two years of my life, I had to go for blood tests very frequently to monitor my levothyroxine. This is the medication prescribed to basically do the thyroid glands job, as it contains the hormone the thyroid gland is supposed to make...thyroxine.
After the first two years, I only had to go in for one a year, and I still do now. It's so SO important to monitor the thyroxine your body makes when living with this condition and to take your tablets every day as the side affects can get pretty grizzly. Altering body temperatures, extreme fatigue, overly relaxed muscles, weight gain, infertility, hair loss, even comas in very extreme cases. The condition itself causes fatigue anyway, which explains why I can just about sleep anywhere and everywhere despite what time it is! I am apparently like a little dormouse.
This condition is why I can be deemed as 'lazy' or 'forgetful'. The word used to describe people with this condition back in around the 1800's was 'cretin'. There was obviously no medication that had been found to help stabilize the production of thyroxine, so it really affected the development of children. It affects the brain development and mental ability of being able to memorize certain things and think clearly. It can also affect physical growth, which maybe explains why I'm quite petite with the help of taking my tablets to give me an extra chance of not becoming over weight (cheating, I know. But I still have to have a balanced diet).
There's not much else I can really write about this issue. It's always been a bit of a foggy subject to me and it has affected me all my life. I know there is more to it that's kept behind close doors, there's still a lot of scientific research to be done as it is a wonder to me about all the details which I am dying to know and have been for 16 years. Trust me, being two years old and having to go in for constant blood tests is a total nightmare.
I hope this post has been vaguely informative for you. It seemed really random but it is just something I wanted to post about. Hopefully one day soon I will be able to right a full blog post about it with all the details, but for now I don't want to bore you with all the science bits that no one ever reads.
Goodnight and lots of love
Your cretin
Grace xo
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