Enlarged thyroid and normal tests

[Renee]

My 9 year old son started having a enlarged thyroid that showed up last November at his regular exam. His doc ran some thyroid tests and she said they were normal. So I didn't think much about it. Now almost a year later he started having severe muscle aches and we ended up going to the doc for this problem. She noticed his thyroid as being enlarged so she ran those tests again. I found out today that his TSH is 1.91 and his T4 is 1.4. There isn't any evidence of thyroid anitbodies in the blood. She doesn't know why his thyroid is enlarged and not real sure about the muscle aches. The only thing I can think of is my son started swimming on a local swim team about a year ago and I have recently read of the harms of chlorine and thyroid function. I'm really worried for my son and his health. Any ideas would be appreciated.

[Maria]

The thyroid tests definitely don't suggest a problem with thyroid function, but the enlarged thyroid is puzzling. Has he ever had it biopsied?

Muscle aches are a very vague symptom. There are literally hundreds of possible causes.

[Renee]

Maria wrote:

The thyroid tests definitely don't suggest a problem with thyroid function, but the enlarged thyroid is puzzling. Has he ever had it biopsied?
Muscle aches are a very vague symptom. There are literally hundreds of possible causes.

I spoke with his regular pediatrician and she said that she feels the thyroid enlargement may be due to the onset of puberty (he is soon to be 10). She didn't feel any nodules, so she doesn't think a biopsy is in need. She thinks the muscle aches could be from some type of virus. If the pain doesn't go away in a week or two, we will have to go back to the doc and see if she can figure out the cause. I'm still wondering if all the chlorine exposure he is getting while swimming at the pool (an in door facility) may have something to do with the enlarged thyroid? I've read a lot of information on the web about the hazards of chlorine and thyroid function. To my knowledge there isn't any evidence out there to prove it, but who knows. I'd feel really bad to find out that by keeping him on the swim team is causing all these problems.

[Maria]

I highly doubt it. If the chlorine is causing something, you would see abnormalities on the thyroid tests.