Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[Griffin]

I'm worried about my lovely Mum and wondered if any Omleteers had experienced anything similar. She's 52 and has suffered with her Thyroid most of her adult life. It was terribly overactive and she dropped loads of weight, ended up looking skeletal despite eating for England. Medication couldn't keep it under control so eventually about sixteen years ago she had radio-iodine treatment to destroy her thyroid gland. Since then obviously she's been on medication for an underactive thyroid. She's still really slim, size 8 and has never really suffered any ailments usually associated with an underactive thyroid.

 

She's now reached a stage where she is almost as ill as she was when it was at it's most overactive. She can't sleep because her mind and her heart is racing all the time, she could eat a horse too. She is very active with her job so feels that she's burning off the extra calories anyway and thankfully her weight hasn't changed.

 

Her GP has been advising her to take less and less medication but it's obviously not making a difference to how Mum feels. She's going for more blood tests tomorrow because her GP says it can't be her thyroid causing this now.

 

Mum finds this hard to believe, she knows the signs so well but is it really possible her thyroid has grown back? If it's not that any ideas what it could be?

[squiffs]

I have hypothyroidism, someone I know suffers with it too - however, she had all the symptoms of an overactive thyroid and was treated as though she had one, it made her very ill as she was actually hypo. When I'm a bit older they're going remove mine, as my mothers' totally collapsed, and rather than make me deal with the crash in thyroxine, they're going to remove it and regulate it. The only thing I can think of, is has your mother been tested for diabetes?

[Willow]

As someone with an underactive thyroid I would agree those symptoms sound the opposite of underactive And concerning, over active is far more serious than underactive.

 

How much thyroxine is she on at the moment ?

 

She should insist on a thyroid test

[chickencam]

I too have an underactive thyroid and take 100mcg of levothyroxine daily. My Gran had an underactive thyroid too, but as she got older and her metabolism naturally slowed she needed less thyroxine, but she lost a lot of weight and felt unwell before this was discovered. Your mum is still young and the fact that her thyroid gland has been removed would suggest that this is less likely. She needs to have her level checked and insist that if all is normal there that she has other tests to sort it out.

[chucknette]

Hi

 

I was wondering if your mum was probably having menapause symptoms given her age. I say this as I am 55 and get the racing heart and mind and just wondered if it could be this. My OH has an underactive thyroid and I do understand what she is going through possibly on both sides.

 

Just a thought.

[Janepie33]

My mum has suffered from thyroid problem all my life (I am now 50). She has hyperthyroidism and has the poppy eyes that go hand in hand with Graves disease. She has been hypo and hyper and has been hospitalised on numerous occasions in a psychiatric unit. It took YEARS to get her thyroxine levels correct (she also had the radio active iodine) and now she is fat and slow (as opposed to thin and fast) so I think her levels are still not correct,

It's a horrible horrible disease and I would urge you to encourage your mother to get her levels checked again so that the GP can tweek her medication.

Your mum is lucky she has you to support her. Best of luck with the GP. X

[Griffin]

She has regular blood tests to check her thyroid levels, sometimes more frequently if she knows it's playing up. It just seemed so odd that her GP was so sure that this time it wasn't her thyroid that was the problem

 

I hadn't thought of the menopause. She's had a hysterectomy but still has her ovaries. I'll mention it to her.

 

An anxious wait now to see what her latest blood tests show.

[WarrensWorld]

I have hypothyroidism, someone I know suffers with it too - however, she had all the symptoms of an overactive thyroid and was treated as though she had one, it made her very ill as she was actually hypo. When I'm a bit older they're going remove mine, as my mothers' totally collapsed, and rather than make me deal with the crash in thyroxine, they're going to remove it and regulate it. The only thing I can think of, is has your mother been tested for diabetes?

I too suffer from Hyperparathyroidism. It's caused by a non malignant tumour on one or more of the four Hyperparathyroid glands on the thyroid gland itself. In my case its my upper right gland.

I've just had a full set of blood tests, and they show my blood calcium levels are within the normal range. The ultra sound still shows a small lump. They're waiting to see how things are going, I've an appointment in three months time. If it has enlarged, then its a case of MIS Minimum Invasive Surgery takes 30 minutes so I'm told.

Sounds a bit drastic removing the whole thyroid.

[squiffs]

I'm hypo, not hyper, and my mum's collapsed when she was in her 30s. Mine is caused by my white blood cells attacking the thyroid and stopping it from functioning as it should. I've dramatically gained weight and need to sleep pretty much all the time (but don't, as I need to work), so if my options are carrying on into slow decline as I am, or having it whipped out and maintained, giving me my energy and my life back, I'll go with the drastic approach.

[Griffin]

She's been given new tablets to try, don't know the name of them, she took the first one Friday night and spent most of yesterday asleep She's not taking one tonight or she'll never get up at 5am for work. Whatever they are, they're not doing her any good! She ought to get some blood results tomorrow.