How is it possible ....

[Steni]

That if as I have read, up to 60% of people with Thyroid conditions are undiagnosed, they are not falling into Myedema Comas as we are warned will occur eventually if we are untreated. I ask because I often wonder if I would have been better off not knowing I had developed Hashimotos. I wonder too if I would then have had to rely on laxitives and diets to fix the symptoms and maybe not been any worse off than I have been to date taking the so called treatment? ( Admittedly I have felt better on T3 but still not like the person I was)

[MaisieGray]

Well, having a thyroid condition simply means your thyroid isn't functioning optimally; not necessarily that it isn't working at all. So that statistic (and I have trouble believing that number) will include people on a broad spectrum of their thyroid function being a bit off 100% healthy, through to some being desperately ill ie those with some, or even quite good function will be included in having a thyroid condition but in no danger of edging toward either myxoedema psychosis nor coma. Regarding treatment, you aren't being treated for your Hashimoto's condition; you're being treated for the resultant thyroid dysfunction caused by it; and presumably you were experiencing symptoms of being unwell/affected by it that led you to seeing your Dr for a diagnosis in the first place. In which case, at that point it's become clear that your body needs help to return you to an exogenously-created state of having adequate thyroid hormones. So ignoring it, pretending it isn't happening, won't stop the effects of having too little. That you don't, and perhaps never will slip into a coma doesn't nevertheless mean that your body isn't suffering the effects of having too little, and that there isn't harm being caused - to brain and heart and bones and ........ Being visibly constipated and taking say, laxatives to address that, doesn't mean there aren't more life changing things going on beyond your conscious awareness.

[Steni in reply to MaisieGray]

That’s brilliant - I am so glad to have had your reply, I now know how to reply to the doubters in my acquaintance! and of course to my doubting self!

Thank you and Happy New Year.

[m7-cola in reply to MaisieGray]

Thanks for this crystal clear statement. Very helpful, x

[MissGrace]

Hi Steni - good question, though I would’ve thought that being on Levo, providing you tolerate it well has to be preferable to a life on laxatives. Regular taking of laxatives can be quite detrimental to health and function. Also, as a sometimes blocked hypo I can tell you - laxatives and diet don’t always work. The issue is the lack of energy for the gut to push the food along - so the process is slowed. Bulking up on fibre can make you feel even more blocked! A hypo friend of mine only discovered she was hypo when she ended up in A&E with a total blockage that had to be manually sorted (I’ll leave the details to your imagination!) She had tried laxatives and diet. I’m glad I’ve never had anything that extreme! It’s horrible to take tablets for anything, but better one Levo pill than trying to treat all the symptoms individually. 😀

[Angel_of_the_North]

Doesn't mean that all "undiagnosed" people have late stage hypo, but how many overweight people with dementia are undiagnosed hypo, I wonder?

[thyr01d]

Hi Steni, I don't think we are better without medication. My TSH was at over 95 which caused the lab to ring my doctor 'having a hissy fit' - her words not mine. The endocrinologist told me that I was at coma level, but that somehow my thyroid must have managed to put out a tiny amount of thyroxine. So we can be at that level yet not collapse.

I felt absolutely ghastly and could barely function, especially mentally. I would definitely say it is better to have treatment to avoid the negative impact on the brain rather than to just treat the symptoms.

However, we are all different, respond differently to medications and it is your own body.