It is pretty obvious that Hilary Mantel had thyroid disease that could not have been properly optimised, (she looked very unwell) and she discussed it in this article:
But on her death at just 70 from a stroke, the only issue that has been mentioned about her health that I have seen or heard is endometriosis. I hope someone in the press has picked up on it.
The adaptation of Woolf Hall with Mark Rylance was brilliant, it is very sad she has passed away, but she leaves a great legacy.
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I was looking at her photos last night and it was pretty obvious to me that she had thyroid issues. Around the eyes and the hair loss in the front. Shame she didn't go and see Dr Peatfield he would have sorted her out. Endometriosis is another off shoot of dodgy thyroid. astonishing somebody in her position and obviously wealthy still suffered from thyroid when there are many options to get on the right track particularly if you have the money. Stroke, wonder what caused that.
Stroke can closely follow a heart attack. Heart attack brought about by damage caused to the heart over long years of being undiagnosed or indeed under medicated. Reports say she went peacefully, so that is a relief after all her years of pain.
She seems to have accepted her lot with it, it seems odd, given her ability to research she surely would have discovered options that could have helped improve her health. CVD is related to high T4 levels, common in those on Levothyroxine monotherapy.
That's True Margo real!y well worth reading her account. Its brilliant, but in spite of information and the " correct " medication. Hashimotos is still a debilitating problem sadly for me and many others.
I was lucky that NDT suited me even got rid of the depression that had plagued me for decades so it was a huge improvement all round. I’m sorry you have not been able to resolve the symptoms. Was NDT no good for you?
I was on it a few years ago and I think it worked then but for some reason had to change to a different brand that didnt work. Later I went on to t3 which did work for me.
Had to buy abroad till covid when things got difficult.
Then I paid for a gene test which showed I I had faulty Di02 gene from both parents. Drs now prescribe t3 but cant get the dosage right.
I also seem to need more with time and change of temperatures.
That’s tough, I deffo need more NDT now (despite all this rubbish spouted about old people not needing any medication because their TSH should be sky high it’s just a load of Tommy rot base on nothing but prejudice and mysogyny/ageism ) and it doesn’t seem as balanced as it once did but it’s still pretty good, it might just be getting older and not being as strong or mentally sharp. It all feels a tad woolley for want of a better descriptor.
I think T3 dosing sounds quite tricky makes you realise what a stirling job our thyroid did when we were well. I hope you get to a suitable dose soon.
but some at 74 do so why not you 😉 I’m 63 but I know that things like muscle power do dramatically decrease at this age. I have only felt it these last two years to be honest (bar the major thyroid blip ten years back) but my times for running have plummeted since my late 50’s. I am very slow but at least I am still managing to do some running. I saw a programme about the ones who keep going into their 90s and compete for world records it was a touching programme. They looked like toddlers when they ran, quite ungainly nothing smooth about it but you had to admire their sheer determibatin. A few pegged it during the time the programme was made. I hope I get a gold medal but it’d be down to seeing off the opposition by living longer rather than any real gift for it!
I'm totally convinced that there are a lot of people suffering, and dying, as a result of undiagnosed and, or, wrongly medicated thyroid disease and that these have been attributed to the consequence of thyroid disease rather than to the actual disease.
HM's symptoms, appearance and possibly death, being no exception.
The longer a thyroid problem goes undiagnosed the greater is the the chance that other diseases will develop . I feel this mainly starts around the age of one's mid/late 40s although earlier signs may appear as occasional "niggles".
I'm also convinced, that before me, this happened to both my mother and my grandmother.
I think many of us here have learned from experience, and much reading, to understand our bodies and to ask questions that medics find uncomfortable!
It's a great shame that HM's hypothyroidism was basically sidelined when it should have been central to her treatment.
My mother died quietly and suddenly from a stroke at age 64 and nobody questioned her death beyond one "symptom". Why would they when they appear to have had the answer! it looks as if this may have happened to HM also.
When will "they" ever learn!
Edit
Which came first?
The removal of her ovaries at such a young age led to Hilary developing an underactive thyroid and she felt constantly exhausted.
I think you are right, & it’s deeply troubling. My own experience was pretty dire, I was lucky to pull through after decades of being fobbed off with ‘no it’s not your thyroid it’s the menopause’ despite a strong family history of thyroid disease and once diagnosed, I felt truly dreadful on T4 monotherapy, only self medicating on NDT restored my health . I had a colleague sone years back, who had obvious signs of hypothyrodism - goitre, hair falling out in big clumps so she had bald patches and a lot of other classic symptoms I told her I was sure it was thyroid related. She was told she did not have a thyroid problem at Addenbrookes, I was gobsmacked. She was persecuted at work as a malingerer. I left that job (thank god management were hideous) and I was really shocked and saddened to discover she died a year later she was only in her 30’s with a little boy, they claimed a cause of death could not be determined. How awful. I am convinced she died of untreated thyroid disease. I have heard very bad reports of that endocrinology department. It’s the tip of the iceberg. As you say it’s also the insidious long term consequences of such poor care that must take a lot of lives, prematurely.
Such a terrible loss.......and so sad as you cant help wondering that if her thyroid treatment had been optomised (she looks classical thyroid in the photos) then maybe her stroke would've been prevented. 70 is young.... Whatever the medics say so much gets missed. Wealth doesnt bring health but it can open doors but you have to know there is a door to open.
I had a moon face when I wasnt treated and when grossly under treated.......classic feature of hypothyroidism. If you look up old photos in medical journals it illustrates it beautifully.
Yes, good analogy, I’m glad I found the door and was able to open it. Sad indeed to loose our great author feeling her health care must have been inadequate
Thanks for the link. That is heartbreaking. Also describes my own weight gain and response to it after being ultra thin most of my life, and the mental slowing - the mental slowing is better with frequent B12 injections - the weight gain mentioned to a GP: "We call that lifestyle", he replied. Bitter experience has taught me not to argue: it won't get me a diagnosis when thyroid test results fall within the "normal" range. Even though my mother and brother both have thyroid issues (an endocrinologist sneered at me mentioning the family connection in a letter to the GP I've only recently seen). My mother now in care and nobody will believe her lifelong thyroid issues might be affecting her still. My brother with a pacemaker following thyroiditis, a heart condition finally diagnosed after stroke-type episodes. Why won't the medical profession (I won't criticise the NHS - we need it and we're losing it) take thyroid on board? Is it because they'd be treating so many?
*Thanks for previous advice, group members, about getting tests - I've given up for now - constantly fighting for diagnoses for years has really affected me very badly.
The history of why they wont take on board what patients have been saying is political and its all about prestige and preseving image. Before blood tests and synthetics came patients were treated by signs, symptons and what patients reported to their doctors were then treated with a ndt. Doctors and patients could decide. Then along came blood tests with ranges set that have been disputed over for many years. Alongside this was the invention and usuage of synthectic thyroid hormones. A decision was made high up that no longer did doctors need to go on observation & how patients felt because they could simply look at blood test results and treat accordingly. Over the years the belief was further enhanced to the doctrine of that most patients only need TSH &Ft4 testing to assess what level of thyroid hormone medication is needed.....now even further on 'wisely' being spread is only the TSH is needed. I think the later is cost. Alongside this the raising and raising of the upper range of the TSH considered euthroid (normal) is truly astonishing. And finally the stoppage of T3 products being prescribed....deemed 'dangerous' and unnecessary except for an exceptional few. Pathways created by those high up that doctors must stick to limits tjem further & knocks most ibdependant or analytical thinking out. The science behind all of this is dubious to say the least but they are far to far in now, commited, to turn tail so carry on blindly regardless. Its all nonsense. Now how do they save face and crawl back out of the massive deep pit they have dug themselves? Big pharma wont save them as they like undertreated or non treated hypothyroid patients as it means they will have lots of symptoms, signs that need treating. Good business for them! And there we have it a system that promotes ill health not wellness.....no matter the guise its presented in. Patient blaming is the doctors cop out to excuse the ineffectiveness of their symptom base treatment because theyre failing to effectively treat the underlying cause..... The nonsense of all of this is that if they treated patients effectively and early on they would save a fortune......but too blind to see it. Those medics that do question it get flattened and rolled over by the system that now is running away with itself like a rogue robot self perpetuating this nonsense.
Also the WHO and all those countries signed up will be meeting in the US next week to further discuss our future health management - in the name of keeping us safe - a wolf in sheeps clothing springs to mind.
Absolutely Martz. Truly shocking is that medicine treatment is now decided upon at a great distance from the patients from people who have never met them. No need to meet or assess the patient any more .... just follow the yellow brick road (medical pathways/treatment options all laid out.)
A couple of months ago I met a nhs consultant who: first talked to me & asked me questions, two examined me thoroughly seeking feedback, 3 discussed his findings my options and discussed with me any concerns, offered me time to make my decision & finally op decided upon he assured me I would be on his list not a generic one. He was kind, caring thoughtful considerate and clearly knowledgeable. He recorded his letter with me present. Breath of fresh air and I felt like I was walking on air when I left. Sadly downhill after that took 6 weeks for admin to type it, then they forgot to print it out and left it as a draft on my file. GP surgery told me to chase it as did a doctor in the clinic. The care stopped outside of his door & I lost 10 weeks of being on a waiting list as a referral wasnt sent out either.
The conservatives are achieving their aim....the nhs is collapsing & be warned private is now also overloaded.
That’s awful. I agree as to why it’s going down the swanny. It’s gone to the dogs under them. It’s rich pickings, many of them have private health portfolios and want to hoover up the bits for blatant profiteering.
Yes they can beat you down with their negativity and arrogance. I just cut them out of the picture by self medicating on NDT but I have no serious complications and rarely need to see a GP so can go my own way. Not to say that doing this is easy, but I feel so much better than I did on Levothyroxine (I put on 4 stone and I had always been thin since teenage, it was a shock ) and I wasn’t going to get NDT offered to me on the NHS.
Thyroid is mentioned in today's Telegraph obituary.
She diagnosed herself with endometriosis after reading through all the medical books in the university library in Gabarone, Botswana, where her husband had a job. (That was late 70s when we had no google to find things out for ourselves - had to rely on doctors telling us the right thing or browsing the local library as I did)
Before that she'd been told it was all in the mind. When they returned to England she managed to persuade her doctors that her diagnosis was correct.
There's a later mention of her ill health compounded by thyroid problems and resulted in her putting on excessive weight, with her body "rising like a loaf left in a warm place".
She was a truly brilliant researcher, there was a wonderful programme about her tonight on the beeb, it was really fascinating, historians praised the very accurate detail she put into her work that brought it all to life.
Ovariectomy x hypothyroidism is a terrible combination. I remember reading an interview she gave during her time in Woking where she mentioned her thyroid problem. My heart went out to her when I read about the death of this brilliant woman.
I didn't realise, and I do wonder about her treatment. I have endometriosis for over 30yrs, my late mum diagnosed it, GPs denied it, maybe a narrow escape. Then, oophorectomy finally gave me formal endometriosis diagnosis, followed a couple of yrs on by hypothyroidism diagnosis. As I balloon out and try not to, I also wonder whether Hilary ever got proper treatment for her thyroid? Endometriosis is finally getting some traction, too late for me, but I don't see same with thyroid.
You hit the nail on the head there, there’s nothing holistic about the approach. My endless symptoms were treated as individual problems with no overview or anyone considering the bigger picture. So I didn’t get the right diagnosis and the symptoms just kept growing in number and severity. I was very poorly by the time I did get a diagnosis and I’d determined I was not moving out of the consulting room unless I was given a thyroid function test. I got one and results were dire but I finally did get treatment just in the nick of time. This itty bitty approach was a big part of the problem
Maybe her endocrinologist will surface to tell about her treatment. It seems remarkable that such a brilliant researcher that she was in her writing , appears not to have benefitted from up to date knowledge of hypothyroidism. Maybe she was optimally treated but it doesn't look like it to us sadly.
Perhaps she was told like me that I’d just have to accept I would never feel fully better as there was nothing more that could be done to help me. Yet all I had been given was T4 monotherapy. Perhaps she believed it?
I have just begun to get out a bit in the world (supreme effort I can tell you). My daughter insisted on taking me to a craft club. Well as you may see from my posts, I like to talk. After the second session a wonderful lady told me she has hyperthyroidism. Being me, we got talking and I was very shocked at her treatment too. Basically she was sent away with her prescription. No advice given. Not even a reference or a note about what to expect from her illness. I always have a memory that hyperthyroidism is the ‘dangerous’ one and the one that doctors are very concerned about. It’s why they worry (or resist) giving us T3. We rarely see myxoedema but thyroid storm most people are a little familiar with. Mostly I do not know anyone in the flesh (or I think I don’t) with thyroid problems. However a short time with this lady opened my eyes to what people are prepared to put up with and leave their lives in the hands of medics who hardly seem to be human. (Me too). However she is a very quietly spoken person and ‘sweet’ (I hate to say that but it’s true) but she was happy to speak to me about her dissatisfaction of her treatment. So there goes another ‘happy’ patient these endocrinologists are always crowing about. I wonder how many satisfied patients there truly are with thyroid problems or do many just not take it up with their medics at all? I don’t blame the patients. We are all different, including Hilary. I don’t think of myself as particularly confrontational but maybe I am, more than I thought.
It’s hard to know re the statisfaction. Two of my close relatives felt great on Levothyroxine but it left me feeling terrible. I presume on the right dose (if you can get to it) it must satisfy a large number. Long term it doesn’t sound good for health.
I got that pretibial myxeodema - hell on earth, my shins itched so much I’d scratch them until the bled and still not get relief
If endocrinology was a business, they would be asking people if they were satisfied. Unlikely here. However since it is such a large part of their argument against the small number of patients complaining it could/should be properly assessed. I think a large silent block of unsatisfied (unable) customers could be skewing their statistics.
You may well be right, they probably get told, like I did, this is as good as it’s going to get so put up and shut up and just be glad you’re alive. As if you dont deserve any quality of life and merely existing whilst feeling dreadful is good enough
Those long term health issues on t4 monotherapy which are now coming to light are very worrying and easy to brush under the carpet.
If endocrinology was a business, I suspect there’d be a lot of bankruptcies!
She suffered from endometriosis. when the Guardian had a drive to publicise it a few years ago her story was used. Even as a student she struggled. I am sure women's hormone problems and thyroid are connected
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