Have you noticed that some people just look puffy? They have puffy eyes, their ankles look swollen, their skin looks stretched...these people are just retaining water, known as water weight.
How does water weight cause problems in those with hypothyroidism?
Cells need to maintain a certain amount of water in order to function. As a matter of fact, cells need enough water inside in order to survive.
Retaining water means that the water is not in the cells where it should be. Something has caused the water to be sucked out of the cell and it's now outside the cell (in the extracellular matrix).
Retaining water weight is a very common occurrence in hypothyroidism. Here are a couple of things you may have noticed due to it:
- You retain more water, looking puffy or swollen all over
- You may have some numbness and tingling in your hands and feet as the swollen tissue puts pressure on nerves
- You have lowered blood pressure, since the water is sucked out from your blood and causes low blood volume
- You are always cold, since you have a low blood volume
- You are anemic despite supplementing with iron. This can happen because retaining water creates a lower blood volume, as well as the fact that hypothyroidism causes a lower production of red blood cells due to lower body temperature.
- You are more prone to Alzheimer's disease and stroke, since you have poor blood supply to the brain.
Just like thinning hair, cold hands and stubborn weight loss, water weight is a sign of hypothyroidism.
1 comment:
I could tell the difference immediately after taking bovine thyroid not only for chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia but for fibrocystic breast disease. I cannot tell you how pleased I am not to have breast pain anymore!
Post a Comment