My DD is 15 and I want to rule out an underactive thyroid but don't know how to approach the GP without coming across as a paranoid mother.
If your child was diagnosed with an under active thyroid what was the trigger symptom which made you investigate further?
I might be clutching at straws but feel I would like it ruled out. DD is 15 and overweight in a family who are not. She eats what we eat - which is mostly food prepared from scratch - and doesn't have access to food outside of the home/school very often. She is an active girl. She doesn't seem to have reached the height that I thought she would based on being a long baby and always on the 75th centile. It would appear that her torso hasn't grown much. She is kind of 'slow' in her movements. Lethargic. This is probably more normal for 15 year olds but she has been like this for years. She has irregular heavy periods and dry (though not scaly) skin. I've read early puberty can be a sign or delayed puberty!?
I read that in teenagers, being overweight is not a symptom of an underactive thyroid. But it is more to do with not reaching full growth. I would say that is what my DD looks like. She periodically had those growth spurts where she would grow out and then grow taller and thin out. But she looks like she is missing the last 'upwards' growth spurt.
So, part of me thinks I am clutching at straws and another part of me thinks it would be awful if she has an underactive thyroid and I did not act on it. Would it be more obvious if this is the case or could it go undetected for years?