My mother says her doctor told her that her thyroid is "wearing out".

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Maybe this belongs in general questions or maybe not, since it’s kind of a vague question, so I’ll put it here.

My mother says her doctor told her that her thyroid is “wearing out” and that there’s not much they can do for it. He also said that the problem sometimes goes away by itself. (This is all secondhand from my mother, but she’s an intelligent woman.)

Wearing out? :confused: I’m no doctor but I’m pretty sure that’s not a medical term.

I always thought that with a bad thyroid, worst case was they destroy it and put you on thyroid supplements. Am I wrong about that?

Can it be correct that a thyroid is “wearing out” and nothing can be done about it?

I’m NOT asking for specific medical advice, just trying to understand what’s going on.

2

What’s needed here is a specific diagnosis. “Your thyroid is wearing out and we can’t do anything about it”, whether your mother misunderstood, the physician is a bad communicator (or both) obviously doesn’t cut it.

There are scenarios where chronic thyroid disease can result in an underactive thyroid causing symptoms from low thyroid hormone levels. One common cause is Hashimoto’s thyroiditis:

“The disease typically progresses slowly over a number of years and causes chronic thyroid damage, leading to a drop in thyroid hormone levels in your blood. The signs and symptoms are mainly those of an underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism).”

Thyroid hormone treatment can relieve the signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism.

If your mom’s doc doesn’t have a coherent diagnosis and treatment plan, another physician (i.e. an endocrinologist) sounds like a better bet.

3

As I understand it, from what she told me of the lab results, her thyroid is overactive and this is causing her to lose weight.

I know the doctor, he shares a practice with my GP. Maybe I should call and see if I can talk to him because, as you say, “wearing out” isn’t a coherent diagnosis. I suspect that he felt my mother, who is in her eighties, might not understand anything more technical than that.

It just seems strange that he wouldn’t send her to a specialist rather than dismissing it. Maybe it’s very minor and not worth worrying about.

4

There is not using jargon, and then there is oversimplifying to the point of incomprehensibility.

Overactive thyroid can be caused by Graves disease, an autoimmune diseases of the thyroid. This disease can spontaneously go into remission and the thyroid can recover.

It sounds like the Dr may have been trying to explain this (badly) to your mother.

Hyperthyroidism can be treated with medications, surgery or radioactive iodine.
The treatment choice will depend on the underlying cause of the overactive thyroid, the age and fitness of the patient, and their preferences.

Not treating hyperthyroidism at all is rarely an option.

Often scans of the thyroid are done to exclude rare causes of hyperthyroidism (like cancer) before a full diagnosis as to the cause of the hyperthyroidism is made.

What usually happens in my practice is that if a blood test reveals over-activity of the thyroid I will start some medication to reduce the symptoms of hyperthyroidism, and then refer the patient to an endocrinologist for further investigations to confirm the exact cause, as well as decisions about surgery and/or radioactive iodine.

Obviously, I’m not in possession of all of the facts, and your mother’s doctor’s approach could be completely appropriate in her unique circumstances, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask to see him with her to discuss her managment plan.

In the meantime- arm yourself with some knowledge about the condition here.

Best of luck- wishing your mum a swift recovery.

5

I’m also surprised there was no suggestion or script for thyroid medication, either. I had a dog with hypothyroid and have a cat with hyperthyroid (yes, opposing thyroid conditions. I may have that backwards. These developed around the same time, so I never could remember which pet had which condition.), and both were entirely treatable with meds.

I second the opinion that a second opinion is needed, for clarification if nothing else. There could be an issue with the thyroid meds effecting the liver, in which case, I can see why one might tell an 80-something year-old patient that there’s just not much to be done.

Oh, and to the OP: They won’t talk to you about your mother’s case unless she wrote your name down in the HIPAA file as being authorized to discuss her case.

ETA: Upon re-reading, I believe the cat has hyperthyroid. Because the vet talked to me about the radioactive treatment, which we opted out of… 'cause it’s just a cat. He’s fine on the meds. But we do check his liver values periodically to make sure we’re not blowing his liver out.

6

I think I’m in her HIPAA file, but I’m not positive. I do have medical power of attorney but I’m not sure if that’s relevant in this case or if he even has a copy of that paperwork.

He has spoken to me over the phone about her in the past, but I think that was always times when she was in the hospital and the laws about that may be different.

7

Oh, well, you’re probably covered one way or the other then. If you can, it might be a good idea to start accompanying her to appointments so you can help translate for her.

8

I did when I was out of work, but I’m working now (fortunately!) so it’s difficult to do that.

9

The somewhat disturbing name can jar people to stop paying attention, too. My eyes bugged out when the doctor told me that I had Graves disease.

In all seriousness, I’ve found it to be completely treatable (just with meds, in my case).