My mother has opted to remain untreated after being diagnosed for Hashimoto's Disease

[sassafisher]

I am very worried about her. Should I be?

[Hennerton]

How does she feel? Does she have many symptoms and could you ask her for the results of the blood tests from which she was diagnosed and post here with reference ranges. People cannot really comment without knowing these. Did she see an endocrinologist or just her GP? How long has she had symptoms (if any) and were antibodies measured? The more info you can give the better the answers. Sorry to bombard you! Hope you post again and she gets help soon.

[Clutter]

It's likely your mother will require medication to function as Hashimoto's goes on to destroy her thyroid. The difference is whether she medicates now and hopefully avoids or delays serious co-morbidities like heart disease, Parkinson's and Alzheimers or waits until she's suffering any or all of the above in addition to lethargy, fatigue, water retention, fibromyagia etc which she may experience sooner.

[galathea]

How old is your mum? If she is feeling old and slow, she might have decided to just fade away. Hypothyroidism can do this to you. She may feel that if she takes the meds, she will have to move, and do things. And ATM if she is hypo it will all be soooo much effort. Maybe you could explain that once the meds kick in, it won't seem like half the effort it is now. You old also explain that with no thyroid function, or meds, death is going to be sooner than with them.

Good luck! G

[Hidden]

I should not worry as long as she is having regular blood tests. I have the condition and am not on medication as my thyroid is functioning quite well. I hope this situation continues as I do not want to be on thyroxine for the rest of my life.

[5858]

5858 Hi I believe I was in this condition for quite a few years never tested for thyroid. My gut feeling is I did damage to my body having not had been taking meds. Like….. just had my gallbladder out it effects so much including liver function, and the list go's on. I would not mess with it. I seem to be paying the price from not being treated. My tendons in my legs are still messed up. Hope she gets help. Best to you….

[sassafisher]

Judging not from what she had told me but what can be seen from the outside, I would say my mother (who will turn 62 this year) has been displaying the signs for many years. Her immune system is very weak, she is always ill and in pain, she is always exhausted and seems to be in a fog much of the time. She has insomnia, she has the skin and hair difficulties I think, she has difficulties losing weight, she has had arthritis. All of this has been going on for years. I don't know if she's even been seen again since last year when she was diagnosed, I don't know if her bloods are being checked. I do know that she made the decision to go gluten free after diagnosis and that helped with a little energy boost. But I thought she was taking meds and found out that she was not a few months ago and that she did not even know the risks (though I feel she may have forgotten them rather than not have been told).

[paddyfields]

Your mother may have forgotten what it is like to feel well after all this time. Sixty-two is no age these days. I felt ancient at 45 before I got the diagnosis via a skin specialist who twigged straight away what was wrong with me. I used to look at other people my age and wonder if they felt like me. However, without wishing to be melodramatic, before thyroxin was used, people slowed down until they came to a halt. Michael Rosen, the author has hypothyroidism and by the time he saw the right specialist via referral to a kidney specialist that specialist said "technically your dead.........or should be in a torpor..........running on no thyroid, like a car running on no gas" He was immediately sent back to a metabolic unit in a hospital as he should never have been sent home from hospital a week before. Michael Rosen wrote a memoir in 2004 -a poetic description of his slow decline , much of which I identify with such as only managing to get one thing done a day, inability to beat an egg, hours and hours of sleep, wiry hair, puffy face having to wears umpteen layers of clothes I The book is called called "This is not my nose". Don't ask me what the title means - I'm not very poetic.