Jen Pfleghaar, DO, FACEP
Hi. It is Dr. Jen. Welcome. We are going to have a mini talk on the signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism. We will also talk about the signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism. So hypothyroidism is when the thyroid is acting sluggish, it is slow, it is inhibited, it is not working well for a multitude of reasons which we are diving into this summit. So many of you might be wondering, well, what are the symptoms? Can we talk about them? And they could be very broad and also very specific and some of the symptoms from hypo and hyper kind of overlap. So we will talk about all that in these quick mini talks. So I’m just going to list the symptoms. So hypothyroidism, constipation, changes in your menstrual cycle, depression, dry hair and nails, dry skin. Increased cholesterol, this is one that not everyone thinks about. You get your cholesterol back and you are like, “Oh, that is weird.” No family history, check your thyroid. Fatigue, sensitivity to cold. You are always wearing a sweater. You always feel cold even when everyone else around you is warm. A hoarse voice could be a sign and also swelling of the thyroid gland. Weight gain, unexplained weight gain, or inability to lose weight. If you are really trying and it is hard. A slow heart rate, your heart is just very slow and you are not a marathon runner.
A puffy face or a really puffy face, can be an indication. Carpal tunnel syndrome is pain in the wrist. Memory issues, muscle aches, that is one that is kind of nonspecific but can be muscle aches, joint pain. One that I think is really interesting and it is hard because everyone is doing microblading of their eyebrows but the loss of that lateral third, the thinning of that hair right here of the thyroid can be a sign, or of the eyebrows, can be a sign of hypothyroidism. So on the other end of the spectrum, let us talk about hyperthyroidism, which is usually due to Graves Disease. Graves Disease is an autoimmune condition of the thyroid gland. Now, sometimes though with Hashimoto’s, we can get a little bit of a hyperthyroid, picture of a newly diagnosed Hashimoto’s, little bit of a hyper, and then you go into hypo. So you have to watch out for that too. So hyperthyroidism make sure you are getting this checked out because Graves disease can be very dangerous. So if you are very nervous or anxious, maybe even having mood swings, fatigue which, that is a sign of hypothyroidism too so fatigued. Sensitivity to heat so you are really hot. You are like a furnace, right? Because your metabolism is revved up here, just sweating. You are very warm, very hot.
Weight loss, sudden weight loss. And I have seen this in acute like post-COVID. I have seen this with a little bit of a thyroid reaction they got from the spike, spike proteins binding to the thyroid receptors and just revving that up. And this patient lost a lot of weight like 10 pounds within two weeks. So we figured it out and got to the bottom of that, that weight loss, unexplained weight loss. Swollen thyroid, so that also can be a sign of hyperthyroidism. Heart palpitations, I will say heart palpitations is the most common sign of patients that are having hyperthyroidism or graves and that is what I see in my patients that palpitations are what they complain about the most. Increased bowel movements, so with hypothyroidism slows everything down when the thyroid is not functioning optimally. Hypothyroidism, there is too much thyroid for the body. So you are just you’re having diarrhea, you are going to the bathroom. Tremor, we see this and I have seen this with patients and they have told me that graves patients, that they have had the slight tremor, and that gets better when we reduce the thyroid. Thinner skin can be a sign, fine, brittle hair can be a sign, and sleep problems, most likely because your metabolisms revved up you are going, it is hard to sleep, and also changes in the menstrual cycle. So changes in the menstrual cycle for hypothyroidism but also for hyperthyroidism. So I hope this mini talk help you might want to go back and listen to it again, see if any of those hypothyroid symptoms are resonating with you and you think it might be a problem because you definitely want to get it tested out. Thank you so much. I hope you are enjoying the summit.
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