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Has anyone else experienced this ? Mom has had cognitive decline for a few years. Last year had Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, flatlined & got pace maker/defib. Added dx of vascular dementia. Placed in a memory care facility. Dr just recently diagnosed low thyroid likely due to 6 months of amiodarone, prescribed levothyroxine. Mom has had marked improved cognition & mood. This is wonderful but we can’t help but question, why wasn’t this caught sooner and what stage of dementia are we really dealing with? She still needs care but we probably would’ve chosen a different facility if levothyroxine was started & she improved sooner. (Going back for another eval/mri would be too taxing for her.)

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If your thyroid levels are low it will absolutely affect cognition, irrespective of dementia or anything else. In fact, some folks will think they are experiencing the beginning stages of some type of dementia if they have low thyroid levels. Thyroid hormone affects every system in your body. It's way underdiagnosed and many of the labs have outdated levels so even if it says the levels are normal they may not be. And some people are highly sensitive to the type and brand of medicine.
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Reply to SamTheManager
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We haven't experienced exactly what you have, but when my mom (diagnosed with dementia) went through a dramatic decline over a period of a couple of weeks, the first thing her doctor did was to check her thyroid levels. So, there is a correlation between the two.
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Reply to Stardust
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Have you considered the possibility that mom's "improvement" might be due to any of the following.
Increased socializations with others.
More frequent attention by the facility staff. (getting her up in the morning, getting her ready for breakfast, a community breakfast and the same throughout the day)
A set routine. Getting up at the same time, meals at the same time, bedtime the same.
Increased activity around her.
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Reply to Grandma1954
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