The Long and Pathetic List of Hypothyroid Symptoms

If you experience several of these symptoms below, you may have an underactive thyroid, including adrenal dysfunction. Many integrative and functional medicine doctors now claim that the symptoms of hypothyroidism and adrenal dysfunction are largely indistinguishable.

I know, these are not labs and this is not a scientific survey. But these symptoms are a culmination of lists from very trusted resources. ‘Tis true that many of these issues can be caused by other factors, certainly.

[I devote an Appendix in my Essential Thyroid Cookbook to self-testing for thyroid health.]
 
Please remember that this list is for your informational purposes and is not meant to be a substitute for the advice and treatment provided by a physician or other medical professional.
 
Here goes:
 
I am gaining weight inappropriately
I am unable to lose weight with diet/exercise
I am exhausted after exercise/not rejuvenated
I am constipated, sometimes severely
My mouth is often dry
I have hypothermia/low body temperature (I feel cold when others feel warm, I need extra sweaters, etc.)
I have cold hands and feet
I am feeling run down, sluggish, lethargic, exhausted
I have low stamina
I am bone tired in the morning
I am getting more difficult to get along with
I am becoming more irritable and judgmental
I am getting more impatient
I am lacking motivation
I nod off easily
I am not sleeping that great
I can’t stand for long periods of time
I have difficulty concentrating
I can’t read for long periods of time
I have excessive anxiety/worry
I am developing food sensitivities
I am becoming more sensitive to caffeine
I have IBS
I am not that hungry in the morning
I get really hungry before bedtime
I have mad cravings
My hair is coarse and dry, breaking, brittle
I am going prematurely grey
My hair is falling out
My skin is coarse, dry, and scaly
My nails are peeling
I have acne on my face, chest, or arms
I have a hoarse or gravely voice
I have edema/puffiness/swelling
I have bumps/pits on my legs
I have puffiness and swelling around the eyes and face
I have no eyebrows or my outer eyebrows are thinning
I am having trouble conceiving a baby
I have had miscarriages
I have severe menstrual cramps
I am having irregular menstrual cycles (longer, or heavier, or more frequent)
I have bad PMS
I am estrogen dominant
I am not ovulating
I have no sex drive
I have pains/aches in joints
My bones ache
My feet are sometimes swollen
My eyelids are swollen upon waking
I have poor ankle reflexes
I am osteoporotic
I have developed carpal-tunnel syndrome, or it’s getting worse
I have muscle stiffness
I have muscle pain
I feel blue/depressed
I feel restless
My moods change easily
I have feelings of worthlessness
I have more feelings of sadness
I seem to be losing interest in normal daily activities
I am more forgetful
I am getting more frequent infections
I am snoring more
I have/may have sleep apnea
I feel shortness of breath and tightness in the chest
I feel the need to yawn to get oxygen/have feelings of air hunger
My eyes feel gritty and dry
My eyes feel sensitive to light
My eyes get jumpy/I have tics in eyes
I feel dizzy or have vertigo
I have regular headaches or migraines
I have tinnitus (ringing in ears)
I have a cold fanny
I get recurrent sinus infections
I feel some lightheadedness
I occasionally have vertigo

And to think that for many people, hypothyroidism goes undiagnosed and undertreated for years…

Comments

I was finally after 2 years of being ill, and being told, I was depressed, lazy,didn’t like. School etc I was diagnosed with hypoparathyroidism at age 11.. during those first 2 years every organ in my body started to shut down. I have hypothermia, yellow jaundice, my hair fell out, lock jaw, became partially deaf and blind, couldn’t talk fluently, couldn’t remember things, slept 20 plus hours a day until eventually over night I became covered in hair and was rushed to hospital... the specialist took one look at me and asked if I had ever wanted to commit suicide or throw myself out of a window! He then said how lucky I was as another week and I wouldn’t have made it as my body would have completely shut down.... in hospital I had many many doctors come and see me and groups of training doctors..I had photos taken completely stripped down and was told it was so rare that I would be in all the texts books... once on thyroxine i gradually came back to life but unfortunately a year later I got glandular fever which knocked me right back down again.. it was a long recovery and I virtually missed all of secondary school... my body recovered and now at 53 I’m fine. I never put weight on until I hit menopause and now that I am through that I am having trouble again... I can no longer stand or walk for more then about 10-15 minutes, my hips hurt and my ankle is killing me...doctors have said my ankle is caused by sciatica and I have slight arthritis in my hips, but I don’t accept these answers. I know my body and know whatever this is, it is something to do with my auto immune system.  First I thought it was rheumatoid arthritis as I can’t stand for first 2 hours in the morning. But all tests came back borderline... then I friend told me she had same symptoms and was told to half her thyroxine dose as it counteracts with another chemical...does anyone know anything about this as at present to go out I have to go in a wheelchair and it is really getting me down? 

I suffered from virtually every symptom on that list ( to include the cold fanny and raynauds) Plus migraines and fibromyalgia. I used to have some hyPER symptoms too in my late 20’s ( I think the many vaccinations I was given during Desert Storm contained Bromine and other halides that displaced my Iodine as I would go between hyper and hypothyroid symptoms). In 2010, I went fron 120 lbs to 199 in Six months. six doctors and none of them could help except give meds for the new HTN. I had memory loss, HTN, severe edema...even pitting edema of my right calf, wheezing, vertigo, tics, Seizures( normal brain MRI)  but the sleep apnea scared me the most. I Knew that it was a thyroid problem because of the ocular symptoms but no doctor would treat me because my thyroid panel was “ normal range”. I got an old friend of mine who was a preventive medicine MD ( 45 years ago and then became an eye surgeon) to prescribe me T3. The sleep apnea stopped on day 3 and I lost 10 pounds the first week. Ladies, our thyroid gland MUST HAVE MAGNESIUM TO CONVERT T4 to T3. The thyroid gland isn’t only about Iodine. Also, when I got into my hot tub ( came with the new house I’d purchased 4 years ago) chemicaled up with Bromine and Chloride tablets, my thyroid gland shut down again ( the bromine, chloride and fluoride are halides which displace your Iodine...also a halide) and my FIBROMYALGIA reared it’s ugly head. I could barely walk for theee weeks. I took T3 every 12 hours, 1,000 MG of Magnesium day ( citrate, Gluconate, taurate, and L-threonate) Plus about 3 -4 brazil nuts per day for selenium and New Iodine ( 2-3 per day) to level out my minerals.  i can tell you that my Fibromyalgia is directly related to how well my hypothyroidism is being treated with minerals ( especially Magnesium) and avoid aspartame, msg, yeast extract, soy and make sure you steam the broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage etc as they are goiteogen foods. Sometimes I stop the T3 and just use the New Iodine and supportive minerals ( Magnesium, selenium, multi vitamin which contains zinc, plenty B vitamins and D). I honestly thought I was going to Die at age 50 and I used to run 10 mikes per day. I was a college athlete and a health Care professional. These doctors are clueless. Get your minerals balanced. Also, I Shrunk the thyroid nodules and breast nodules  and ovarian cysts to tiny 1 mm cysts with the Iodine and proper minerals. There is hope. My biggest obstacle is getting proper exercise after I was reduced to a fatigued couch potato. God helped me pull through and gave me the strength to seek answers. ( rememiner that Synthroid is synthetic T4 that must be converted to T3...which requires Magnesium and traces of selenium and zinc. I know there are “ thyroid support formulas” out there but at least remember these basics. God Bless!

I was diagnosed with Hashimoto in 2012. The right are was the primary site of my goiter. Two biopsies between 2012-2014 showed that side as benign. However, an ultrasound and biopsy in 2014 showed at least 6 calcified nodules that were inconclusive. Surgery was recommended in early 2015. A more severe illness and put this on the back burner. I finally had a total thyroidectomy in April of this year. Within my thyroid was a 6.3cm stage 3 palpillary carcinoma. There was no evidence that cancer had moved to other parts of my body. However, I opted for RAI. I'm on my last days of LiD and received a low dose of RAI (body scans of iodine uptake only showed a small amount of thyroid tissue in my neck). The stopping of levothyroxine and cytomel has created an extremely miserable experience. I am very hypothyroid with TSH is over 100. I have gained more than 15 lbs in 2 weeks, even on LiD. I am in constant pain in my legs and back, and I feel swollen all over. Fortunately, I can begin levothyroxine at higher dude in 2 days with a 3-day cytomel course. If I ever have to go through RAI again, I'm going to insist on thyrogen injections instead of weeks of hypothyroidism. I laid all this out with such a long post is because when we are hit with do many rounds of diagnosis, it's hard to remember to ask all the way or even knowing what to ask. Sites like these allow us to learn from others. For which I thank you greatly. If anyone would like tips for non/low iodine food ideas, feel free to ask me.

Melissa

I have hosimoto.  I am currently on medication. I have developed a large knot or lump on the back of my neck. I was told it could  be related to my Hosimoto. Is that a possiblity?

 

I've been diagnosed with Hashi's a little over a week ago and one of the main symptoms I have is air hunger and chest pressure. Since this initially occured during the hay fever season, my pulmologist thought I have postnasal drip which caused breathing issues so she kept me on allergy medicine even though they obviously did not work. Reading other people's stories, I think I was lucky to have found an immunologist that figured out what was wrong with me right away because she asked me to do thyroid blood panel tests after my first visit. I started taking levo over a week ago and my hormones are out of wack but hopefully things will stabilize in the next period. I'm a male so I was surprised to hear that this disorder mostly affects women but the first time I heard about it was when my male colleague was also diagnosed maybe couple of weeks before I have. My female coworker is also hypo and she had thyroidectomy last year. We are all in our late 30's.

Have you been evaluated for polycystic ovary disease?  Some of your symptoms might be from that & not from your thyroid.  Most women don't know they have it until they try to get pregnant.

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