Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Endocrinologist appointment

After having Olivia'a blood tests performed nearly a month ago, we finally got in to see the endocrinologist today. The pediatrician's office had told us her numbers were normal. Well, they were just barely normal!  Her symptoms were in fact because she needed a boost in her thyroid medication for hypothyroidism.  She has been so very tired lately. Less and less endurance everyday. Constipation. Tummy aches resulting in disturbed sleep and fussiness.  And I imagine that being tired all the time made her fussy too.  We were so relieved that all of her symptoms can be explained by hypothyroidism that needs a medication adjustment.  Hypothyroidism hit Olivia at 4 months of age and will hit 80% of persons with Ds by adulthood.  Untreated hypothyroidism is a major contributor to mental retardation.  We have not noted less intelligence in Olivia than we would expect. But she has become increasingly unmotivated to do "harder work"  that I know she is capable of when she has the energy to concentrate.  I think that this uncontrolled hypothyroidism is why she has been crying at the drop of a hat. She is just always tired.  And sometimes when we adults are tired/ exhausted we just want to cry, too!  Hopefully we get our Olivia feeling better soon. Bad news is that she needs blood work in 4 weeks, then 3 months, then 3 months later.  No fun!

1 comment:

To Love Endlessly said...

no fun at all, but at least all her symptoms can explain away some of the confusion and personality change.