And mine is dying.
My mom has chronic hyperthyroidism, and her thyroid will eventually work itself to death.
My sister and I have HYPOthyroidism, which is what someday my mom will have--our thyroids are dying.
It's easier to treat once it dies completely, because then the hormone production has stopped, and your levels are stable. That way you can be on one solid amount of synthetic thyroid.
Mine is still trying to work. Imagine a car with a bad battery or low gas. It'll slow down and shutter, and almost stop working, and then all of a sudden come back to life a little bit and start inching forward.
Since mine, every once in a while, works a little bit, it changes the level of TSH in my blood, and then my dose needs to be adjusted...
I get blood tests every three months. My last one, however, was in October, and the place lost the bloodwork. They just found it today; one of my numbers is at 10.7 and the highest normal amount is 10.0. It should usually be lower than 10, but they had to provide some sort of gradient for abnormalities.
Anyway, with TSH tests, if your numbers are higher on the results, it actually means you're hypothyroid. I'm not sure why. (I sure would like to find out, though.)
In previous tests I remember my number was definitely lower than 10, so it has risen quite a bit in a few months.
But I am hopeful. This can be treated. The exhaustion I've been feeling, sleeping 14 hours a day or more because I have no energy to move or think, mood swings, puffy skin, sign of Hertoghe, etc. can all be fixed, if we can get my thyroid levels correct.
I'm...excited. If we can fix this, maybe I'll be able to get my GED instead of sleeping my life away.
Just wanted to share an update. Though I have to take medicine for the rest of my life, I hope eventually, someday, it will even out, and I'll be normal.

By the way, I've almost kicked my Pepsi addiction. Some days I cave and drink a can, but never more than a can. Yay!
Shellie