Hi everyone. My 73 year old Mum has been diagnosed with Hypothoidism many years ago and is on 175ug Throixine every morning for years.
In the last 12 months, my Mum has had balance problems, literally overnight. Then she got anxiety as she felt like she will fall. Now she has sever memory problems. Has had brain scans, dementia tests, spinal fluid test, eeg, but so far tests clear.
I attach her recent blood test. Incase GP has missed something. She is now being treated with anti anxiety medication and cholesterol tablets. And her throixine remains the same.
Does anything stand out to you guys.
Written by
Helenasmile
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
I’m sorry to hear that. How long has Mum been on Cholesterol meds? Is it just that her cholesterol is high or does she have other risk factors. Personally I’m not a fan of cholesterol lowering meds unless there are multiple risk factors. Could she try doing Pilates for balance? Also there aren’t any lab ranges so a little difficult to comment further.
She has only been on the cholesterol tablets for a month. I took her to yoga for the balance and help with her Anxiety bit she wasn't physically able to do the moves. Now she has muscle wastage. Gone down hill rapidly. A former shadow. This is not old age, this is something else. We as a family are so saddened by it. Not knowing what to do next.
How do you up b12, if the doctors havnt spotted this and we are left to fend for ourselves. Is it a Holland and Barrett (local health food store) shopping trip and what quantities should we be looking for, in your opinion.
Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have money off offers.
All thyroid tests should be done as early as possible in morning and fasting and don't take Levo in the 24 hours prior to test, delay and take straight after.
Low stomach acid common as we age and especially with hypothyroidism
Thank you so much. We will do anything to help her even if it mean speeding things up and getting a private test done. We will take a look at your other links too!
As others have said, the lack of ranges makes things difficult to understand, but she really shouldn't be on statins. If her cholesterol is high it's because her T3 is low, and if her T3 is raised, the cholesterol will decrease. Statins really aren't recommended for women or for hypos. I think you should do your own research on that, and the best place to start would be with Dr Malcolm Kendrick.
As far as one can see without the ranges, your mother has a conversion problem, which will be causing her a lot of problems, due to the low T3. But, that apparently very low B12 will be doing a lot of damage, too.
I appreciate you input, we are banging our heads against a brick wall. Don't want to tell a GP how to do their job but at the same time, I'm not going to hold back and be polite if they have missed something.
It's difficult knowing how to approach a gp with info off the internet. Without them rolling their eyes at us.
If a doctor isn't doing their job correctly, we have to tell them, or suffer the consequences. I'm not going to let a doctor ruin my health just so as not to hurt his feelings! I have to say that I have never, ever seen a doctor that didn't make my condition worse, but in the past, I was ignorant and couldn't correct them. Now I know what I'm talking about, now way would I hold back - eye rolling or no eye rolling. I might even tell them that they shouldn't roll their eyes at me because that just confirms their ignorance and arrogance. My health, my body, my rules.
Very true... I have just ordered some blood tests from Blue horizon where we hope to get thyroid and B12 results and will share with you guys to see if there is a clearer picture, THEN I can go in with her armed with the correct information. I just don't know what I'm talking about at the moment. And with you guys help I will go in with a list!
Will report back when I have the newer results. Thanks
I think we have to recognise that doctors know very, very little about hormones and nutrients, and care even less. They're far more interested in prescribing synthetic drugs that make Big Pharma rich! And they tend to be even more casual in their approach when the patient is elderly and/or unable to stand up for themselves. I'm afraid it's true that the more you kick and scream, the more attention you get. If you let them, they will just walk right over you, and not even blink!
really need both ranges and units to interpret results.
At 75 B12 deficiency is starting to get to be a real possibility - chances of B12 deficiency get higher as you get older because of lowering of stomach acidity... and the symptoms of low stomach acidity are pretty much the same as high stomach acidity - review her medications to see if she is on any PPIs as this will also increase the chances that it is B12 deficiency.
Would need to know if the test done was active B12 or serum B12 - if serum B12 she is severerely deficient and needs immediate treatment - if active B12 then she is quite a long way into the normal range.
In regards to your comment. I asked the original doctor if it was serem or active and she said active wouldn't be done unless specifically requested, and she said it was Serem b12 and she has adjusted the results to
Maybe try some of the cholesterol lowering spreads? They do reduce cholesterol. I don’t like statins unless there are secondary factors that put the person at risk. On its own it’s not the baddie as advertised and the drugs have a secondary impact.
What do you mean by "all clear"? Did the doctor just say, "they're fine"? Not very helpful if he/she did, without providing lab reference ranges...
A next step might be to contact the path lab to see if you can get hold of the ranges for the B12 test.
Alternatively, you could buy a self-test from somewhere like Blue Horizon. All you need to be able to do is prick a finger and fill a tiny vial with blood, then send it to their lab.
Out of all the bloods they did, everything was 'clear' apart from the cholesterol. Which she is now taking medication for. And any other tests EEG, MRI, spinal fluid also clear. So we now waiting for the 'now what do we do?' Advice.
I feel for you, I really do. Increasingly, doctors seem to think that blood results in range are fine or "clear", especially when it comes to the thyroid.
Many many many of us here have had that said to us, when it didn't turn out to be the case at all, but I completely get that it can be tricky to go up against the GP.
Is there another GP in the practice she can see? A second opinion might be the way to go?
It would be tricky, at that same Gp practise. However she does want to leave that surgery and register somewhere else. So maybe that is the way. In the meantime I think I will order her private blood test to get her b12 tested as advised by many people above. Thanks so much for your support.
You're welcome. Just to explain a bit better, lab test reference ranges do vary from lab to lab, but generally speaking, the normal reference range for B12 starts at over 100 - for example, this path lab states that the normal reference range starts at 180.
If your mother's serum B12 is really only 60-ish, that's pretty low. But there's a possibility it was a different B12 test (a remote possibility because it's more expensive to do and serum B12 is usually tested, which is why we're a bit puzzled).
In regards to your comment. I asked the original doctor if it was serem or active and she said active wouldn't be done unless specifically requested, and she said it was Serem b12 and she has adjusted the results to
In regards to a previous comment. I asked the original doctor if it the results were serem or active and she said active wouldn't be done unless specifically requested, and she said it was Serem b12 and she has adjusted the results to
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Advice for my 76yr old Hypothyroid mum
Dementia/Memory loss, has anyone had any improvement taking supplements, vitamins or minerals, drugs? 
Desperate for help!!!
Strange reading TSH 8.7 T4 21.8 - confused!
