I have posted before about my mum who is now 83 . She has I know been suffering for years from an under active thyroid .The Dr has taken bloods but says is within range .She suffers with extreme lethargy and joint pains and depression , mainly due to the pain I feel ,,,I know her knee is arthritic but she has pains in hips too .She takes a statin and blood pressure tablet ,which she has taken for years .Is it too risky do the Dr,s think to try low dose Thyroxine. I feel very frustrated as I my sister and my daughter all have hypothyroidism so I know my Mum is bound to be the source ... When she was younger she suffered from terrible anxiety which was probably undiagnosed hyper !! Would it be a good idea to get a full thyroid profile blood test privately and see if her T3 is rock bottom or just shut up and put up because of her age ....which I think is now the Dr views it ....Your thoughts advice would be appreciated
TSH of 4.7 my Mum who is over 80!: I have posted... - Thyroid UK
TSH of 4.7 my Mum who is over 80!
Hello there Val.........right now I am feeling very sorry for both your mum and for you.It is so depressing ,each time we learn of another elderly person who is left suffering what seem like typical symptoms of an under active thyroid and they are told that their blood test is in range and there is nothing wrong.You obviously have knowledge because of other sufferers in your family.What good is it going to do dosing her with Statins and blood pressure tablets if they don't deal with her problems.
My own mother suffered for many years into old age before being diagnosed and I too was left undiagnosed until sixty + having to think it was just age related or the menopause.Even then when given thyroxine I was left on a starter dose for another 10yrs still suffering symptoms.
Hopefully someone will be along to suggest more blood tests so that you can report the results here and if need be get further suggestions which might help her.
I do hope she feels better soon and that will help you too.
Thankyou for your reply ... Yes it really is a disgrace how it is all,swept under the carpet and other things always blamed for thyroid issues . Will get full bloods done for her I think.
Please insist the GP produces research that shows that a woman of 80+ will benefit from taking statins. There is none. As we age we need cholesterol as it is the beginning of the production of all hormones. People dying in hospital over many years were found to have low cholesterol. There is a research about this. Our brains are made of cholesterol. I was at the Thyroid conference last year when someone asked Dr Malcolm Kendrick about her Dad who was on statins in his 80's. His reply was my quote in the first line of this post.
He has a website with interesting blogs and wrote the book - The Cholesterol Con. Years ago when people had raised cholesterol they treated the thyroid. It is a symptom of low thyroid as can be her blood pressure issues. It seems the GP is treating symptoms rather than the underlying cause.
If you can - have the tests done privately through the main website of Thyroid UK. The TSH - FT4 - FT3 should be done. Also statins block the production of VitD in the skin so that will be low too. Also her B12 - Ferritin - Folate need to be tested.
I am thinking that as she was Hyper when young she possibly has Hashimotos and now the thyroid has ceased to function well she has gone Hypo. Why is it that Docs cannot see what is in front of them ? Thyroxine is surely much cheaper than all the other drugs she is taking. Ahh - thereby hangs a tale 
Big Pharma at play.
That is really interesting about statins , yes I agree they just dosh them out to everyone , like an insurance policy .. I'm sure there is a place for them but not for every one ..Also they cause joint pain .. I think my mum has been taking one every other day .. But would be best to drop them completely .And also with blood pressure tablets she has taken them since I was born ,, some 50 years !!! And you don't know really if you still have high blood pressure .I will get full thyroid profile done I think and take from there .Thanks again Val
Dr Kendrick states clearly that when he qualified the level for Cholesterol was 7.5 - and guess what - they now want the level lowered even more to 4.5 so everyone and his dog will be taking them ! The same goes with blood pressure - they keep lowering what they consider a safe level. Raised blood pressure is a symptom of something else going on in the body...as is raised cholesterol.
My cholesterol was raised when I was first diagnosed with Hashimotos. I read up on Homocysteine which is more of an indicator of future health and treated myself accordingly. Homocysteine is often raised when cholesterol is raised. To reduce Homocysteine you just need a GOOD B Complex and good levels of B12. As the Homocysteine reduced so did my cholesterol. No money in vitamins - and so statins became the big earner for Big Pharma....
Maybe time to request a re-appraisal of the drugs she is taking - especially as she has been on them for so long. I know it is oh so difficult - so I wish you luck
The doctor was happy to leave my mum who is in her 80's with a tsh of more than 20. In fact we have since found out that mum at one point had a tsh of 30 which the doc never treated.
Mum decided to self treat with NDT, and has survived 2 major operations in the past 2 years.
She drove 250 miles each way to come and visit a few weeks ago and was complaining yesterday that her back was sore from digging on the allotment.
Mum no longer takes statins or blood pressure tablets.... The doctors have given up trying to make her take them and they put her survival and reasonable health down to some sort of miracle.... They haven't bothered following up the thyroid... So she hasn't proffered any info.
Good luck with your mum. I would get her a full set of tests from blue horizon. £89 with the thyroid UK discount.... However, the fingerprick test wouldn't work on my mum so we had to re order the blood draw kit. She is still looking for someone to draw the blood.
Xx g
Thanks for your reply , that sounds amazing .! Did your mum stop statins ,and blood pressure tabs prior to taking NDT ? I will get full bloods done for mum i think and see if the Dr will still ignore if T3 right down...but I won't hold my breath ! Where do you source NDT and can you be sure it is pure as you hear all sorts of horror stories about drugs sold on the Internet ...I've often thought about letting her take 25 of my Throxine but my dr is really strict with the amount they give ...How was your mum before she took NDT ,symptom wise out of interest ? I suppose you just have to take responsibility for your own health you can't be prosecuted for taking legal medicine can you ! We will see what happens with blood test ,I will post .... I have found any private hospital will take bloods for you and charge about £10 if you ring them up and ask ..Also Blue horizon will tell you who to approach .Regards Val x
Mum gave up the statins and bp tablets a while befor taking NDT. I have sourced my thyroid meds on the net for quite a while now, Tpauk maintains a list of tried and tested pharmacies. I work on the principle of: They wouldn't want to kill me because the pharmacies make their money from repeat orders. If they supplied me a load of stuff which didn't work I would be able to tell and wouldn't buy from them again. There are no massive profits in thyroid meds... Only in selling large volumes of them.... There is massive profit in stuff like Viagra, which isn't really a life or death medicine
Xx g
Ask her GP to check her blood pressure. Maybe by now it's too low and could stop taking the medicine. What dose is she taking?
Some articles from Dr Kendrick about mortality, cholesterol, statins, being elderly, stroke, heart disease, and cancer :
drmalcolmkendrick.org/2012/...
drmalcolmkendrick.org/2015/...
I find it immeasurably depressing that people get dismissed seemingly because of their age. I've already had comments along the lines of "well you are getting older" and I'm way off being bus-pass age yet.
I live in dread that I won't have anyone fighting my corner when I'm older, and hope that my children will be as concerned about me as you are about your mum, Val-55.
yes it's like you become invisible and un important .... But she is the world to us and I hate to see her struggling !
Your mother is not in the bestof health, unfortunately, but with you fighting her corner, I'm sure she'll soon get the treatment she deserves. My mother was 97 living in the Middle East, broke her hips and the local national insurance operated on her. I'm sure that if at 80, I'll need such an operation, I'll be told I'm too old and younger people deserve this treatment and not old ones like me.
They could also be side effects of statins. High blood pressure is often a sign of hypothyroidism and once on thyroid medication, the blood pressure tablets can often be reduced.
Is my 89 yr old Mum hypothyroid?
my letter from my endo to gp, this is crap!
Advice for my 76yr old Hypothyroid mum
TSH suppressed - Doctor wanted to lower my dose of T4
