Originally published on 12th January 2016 Last updated on 29th October 2018
Do you suspect you have an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) or Hashimoto’s? Or do you have one that you’ve been told is ‘optimally treated’, yet still have symptoms?
The following symptoms have been reported by patients on a large scale.
I myself have had most of these.
If you are on thyroid medication and still having these, you are likely not optimally treated, or have other things you need to address.
See also: Signs Your Thyroid Medication May Need Adjusting
A properly treated thyroid condition should have no or very few symptoms. Of course, other illness, conditions and deficiencies can cause the below too. So explore them all where possible.
As well as optimising my thyroid medication, I also had to work on some other things to resolve all my symptoms.
Related Articles: What is the Difference Between Hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s? and Why It’s Important to Know if You Have Hashimoto’s
(Not every thyroid patient will have all of these, but please let me know if I’ve missed any. Some of these reported patient symptoms listed below can be reflective of other conditions. An adequately treated underactive thyroid/hypothyroidism usually shows no or very little symptoms. These symptoms typically reflect an inadequately treated thyroid condition).
- Tiredness/fatigue
- Sensitivity to cold/heat
- Weight gain and inability to lose weight
- Constipation and/or wind often
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Slow movements, speech and thoughts
- Itchy and/or sore scalp
- Muscle aches, pains and weakness
- Muscle cramps
- Poor appetite
- Dry and tight feeling skin
- Brittle hair and nails
- Loss of libido (sex drive)
- Pain, numbness and a tingling sensation in the hand and fingers (carpal tunnel syndrome)
- Numbness in limbs
- Irregular periods or heavy periods
- Brain fog/confusion/memory problems
- Migraines
- Hoarse voice
- A puffy-looking face
- Thinned or partly missing eyebrows
- A slow heart rate or one that increases more so than a healthy person’s, after physical activity (e.g. after walking up the stairs or emptying the washing machine)
- Hearing loss
- Anaemia
- Poor stamina
- Feeling weak
- The need to nap more than others
- Long recovery period after any activity
- Arms feeling like dead weights after activity
- Inability to exercise, or withstand certain exercises
- Diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Being overly emotional
- Poor circulation
- High or rising cholesterol
- Acid reflux
- Poor levels of iron
- Poor levels of B12
- Poor levels of Vitamin D
- IBS
- Hair loss
- Easy bruising
- Swollen legs that impede walking
- Shin splints
- Difficulty standing on feet
- Joint stiffness and pain
- Fertility issues
Many people find that they have their own combination of this long list of symptoms or even experience something not shown here. In fact, this list is by no means exhaustive; I’m always hearing about new symptoms. As thyroid hormone is required for every cell and every function in the body, when we don’t have enough of them, the effects are far reaching.
Read about my 14 Missed Signs of a Thyroid Condition Before I Was Diagnosed.
You can click on the hyperlinks in the above post to learn more and see references to information given.
Do you have any symptoms to add to the list? Let me know in the comments section.
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Rachel Hill is the highly ranked and multi-award winning thyroid patient advocate, writer, speaker and author behind The Invisible Hypothyroidism. Her thyroid advocacy work includes writing articles, authoring books, producing her Thyroid Family email newsletters and speaking on podcasts, as well as being a founding board member for the American College of Thyroidology. She is well-recognised as a crucial and influential contributor to the thyroid community and has a large social media presence. Her books include “Be Your Own Thyroid Advocate” and “You, Me and Hypothyroidism”.
Sue, what kind of vision problems do you have. I cant stand bright light, or reflective light. I cant go out on a sunny day because it makes my dizziness worse.
I get something that I call brain zaps. They were really bad back in 2019 but are better now. They usually occur during the night and can range from barely noticeable to really intense and it changes from day to day. I did start to get these just after I quit citalopram but that was back in 2019 and I had been on citalopram before and not experienced them when I quit that first time. Not really sure if its actually inside my brain or if it’s just very fleeting muscle spasms, because sometimes i get a body jerk along with them, and at the same time I get a wooshing noise in my right ear, which is not tinnitus, because I also have that ( since I was 30 and I am now 60). When they were really bad my eyes would be involved and feel like they moved very tiny bit. Also the worse they are I would then have a really bad headache when I woke up in the morning. I also have problems with my vision. I cant stand bright reflective light and going outside on a sunny day is really bad. I have dizziness also and the light sensitivity makes it worse. My dizziness is hard to describe I sort of feel like I just got off a boat. the room is not spinning, but I feel like I am wobbling back and forth. I am much better now than I was back in 2019. I did just get diagnosed back in March of this year, so still getting used to medication. Also for several years until about 6 months ago, I think I had tensor tympani syndrome or something like it. I would have tapping in my right ear sort of like someone typing. It usually happened when I was lying down trying to fall asleep or if I was talking to someone on the phone. that has gone away.
Bad tremors, unfounded abject fear, vision issues, Restless Leg Syndrome, excessive sweating, worsening of high BP, headache, change in taste buds.
dry inner ear canal . also dry scalp , skin behind ears dry .and crack.
I tick around 97% off that little list you’ve come up with & have done since I was finally diagnosed back in circa 2003/04. All I have the energy for is, just to say, it’s just ridiculous beyond words & yet they call themselves educated!
Where else in the world does it take just 1 singular blood test to find a serious health problem…?
Where else in the world does it take just 1 singular medication to solve/manage that health problem…?
Nice blog here!
Thanks!
Didn’t know there was so many!