Symptoms of Hypothyroidism

Originally published on 12th January 2016
Last updated on 29th October 2018

Do you suspect you have an under active thyroid? Or do you have one that is supposedly ‘adequately treated’ but still have symptoms?

The following symptoms have been reported by patients on a  large scale. They have been mostly collated from the sources shown at the bottom of this post, but also the thousands of members of my online Facebook support group.

I myself have had most of these. If you are on thyroid medication and still having these, you are likely not adequately treated, or have other things you need to address. 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.

(Not every thyroid patient will have all of these, but please let us 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.

You can click on the hyperlinks in the above post to learn more and see references to information given.

Written by Rachel, The Invisible Hypothyroidism

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Rachel Hill

Rachel Hill, Thyroid Patient Advocate, blogger and author, has Six 2018 WEGO Health Award Nominations. She is a highly ranked writer appearing in the Top Hypothyroidism Websites and Top Thyroid Websites and has worked with The National Academy of Hypothyroidism, The BBC, The Mighty, Yahoo, MSN and ThyroidChange, to name just a few. She is well-recognised as a useful contributor to the thyroid community and also contributed the foreword to Emily Kyle’s The 30-Minute Thyroid Cookbook.