Underactive Thyroid: How Many Symptoms of Thyroid Problems Do You Have?

While an underactive thyroid is not known to end your life, it is known make your life seem slow. Thyroid hormone gives every cell in your body that extra little umph when needed. When you have low thyroid hormone, that lack of extra umph makes those cells under perform.

Symptoms of thyroid problems can be seen from head to toe. Some people with low thyroid hormone have cold feet as a symptom, while others with an underactive thyroid have thin, straw-like hair.

So here is a short version of my checklist to see if you have symptoms of thyroid problems:

1. Always feeling cold, or may need extra cloths to stay warm
2. Thinning hair, balding or straw-like hair
3. Aching in muscles and joints that had no physical trauma to explain it
4. Eating a reasonable amount of calories, but still gain weight or can't lose weight
5. Feelings of depression or anxiety
6. Mental sluggishness or brain fog
7. Chronic problems with infection, like a sinus infection, vaginal infection or ear infection
8. Muscle weakness, especially in the back, hips and shoulders
9. Feeling fatigued, tired or exhausted even without doing physical exercise
10. Soreness in throat or neck
11. Constipation or decreased bowel function
12. Infertility, miscarriages and low libido or sex drive
13. High cholesterol, heart flutters or low or high blood pressure
14. Poor digestion or heart burn
15. Increase in water weight or water retention
16. History of some other autoimmune disorder
17. Family history of thyroid problems
18. Family history of autoimmune disorders

If you have 3 or more of the above, you may be one of the millions who suffer from an underactive thyroid.

If you continue reading pages in this thyroid blog, you will see that symptoms of thyroid problems are just as or even more important in diagnosing low thyroid hormone than thyroid lab analysis. Check out this post on how testing thyroid hormone levels can be very inaccurate.

technorati tags: underactive thyroid low thyroid hormone symptoms of thyroid problems

Underactive Thyroid and Depression - Missing This Diagnosis is Just Sad

It is well established that an underactive thyroid can cause depression. In a 1993 study entitled Subclinical hypothyroidism: a modifiable risk factor for depression?, the authors reported a significantly higher lifetime frequency of depression if subclinical hypothyroidism is present compared to those without subclinical hypothyroidism (56% compared to 20%).

In a previous post about how a low thyroid can make you feel depressed, I wrote about possible causes of the depression.

So if it is so well understood that an underactive thyroid can cause depression, why are so many doctors missing it and so many people not sticking up for themselves when they know something is not right?

First, it is not always easy to pinpoint an underactive thyroid. While there is usually some other clues that point to an underactive thyroid (family history, stubborn weight gain, thinning hair, etc.), it is not always the case.

Second, very dated information still is erroneously used. For instance, a doctor that excludes an underactive thyroid as a diagnosis because they do not live in the goiter belt will miss tons of underactive thyroid problems in his/her office.

Third, many rely on lab test as gospel. These lab test mean very little when they are interpreted without comparing the results to the individual (as this study on subclinical hypothyroidism demonstrated).

Lastly, depression is easy for a doctor. "Take these and come back in 3 months." No need to dig further or spend much time with the patient. It's an easy buck.

In cases of depression, an underactive thyroid should be considered till proven otherwise. Missing this diagnosis is just...well sad.

technorati tags: underactive thyroid depression subclinical hypothyroidism