Could this be under active thyroid?

[HumphreyCobbler]

I woke up the other morning and discovered that one of my eyebrows has suddenly got a third shorter. It is a marked difference, there is no hair there. When I googled (I know ) I discover that losing the outer third of your eyebrows is indicative of an underactive thyroid.

I looked up the tick list and found that I have a fair few other symptoms, low temp, inability to lose weight despite trying really hard, fatigue, bad breath which I find embarrassing but can't sort, irregular periods and terrible PMT. Also horrible, negative and stressy dreams every night. I simply never have a pleasant or neutral dream.

But all these things could have other causes. Also wouldn't BOTH my eyebrows have reacted in the same way, not just one?

hopeful bump

it could be, it might not be
i have a underactive thyroid and out of your list of possible symptons i have the inability to lose weight easily and fatigue

if you are worried go and see your GP

thanks chipsandpeas. It is interesting to know that you don't have to tick all the boxes in order to have this condition.

Did you see an improvement with treatment? I have to wait three weeks for an appointment.

Hi,
I have under active thyroid and atypical symptoms. It took 4 years for me to be diagnosed due to not ticking any of the usual boxes!
On a positive note you start to feel better almost instantly after medication and all my symptoms (panic attacks/shortness of breath primarily but also dry skin/hoarse throat) disappeared.
Go get a blood test and you won't regret it!

thank you LazyDoll, that is good to know.

My sister had the eyebrow thing with her under active thyroid. I'm having a blood test tomorrow for this as I am always tired and cold plus have a slow heart rate.

I have atypical symptoms in that I don't have weight issues, infact I can loose weight as I loose muscle when underactive. (Everyone does but I just don't carry fat either)

Do you get constipated? This is a big one for me.

I'd mention it and get tested.

thanks for the responses. I will get tested. catnipkitty, did your sister lose hair on both her eyebrows or just one of them?

I don't seem to have constipation, but I am incredibly puffy about the face at the moment, as well as all the other symptoms.

sorry for delayed response, only just checked back. It was both sides. Shes had 4 months of treatment, thyroid level now normal and her eyebrows are back!!

Humphrey, yes it could well be underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism). Do go to the GP for a blood test. Even if your results come back in the normal range, you could still have a slightly underactive thyroid which could become worse in future years. So if symptoms persist, do go and get checked every year or two.

thank you for the information, it is very much appreciated. Still only one eyebrow down! I keep peering at the other one just to check. I have an appointment booked for a couple of weeks time, it was the earliest they could do!

Have been taking my temp and it is seemingly never above 35.6. OF course this could be my cheap thermometer.

I'm currently sporting diminished eyebrows - one worse than the other! I had my thyroid tested and results came back 'completely normal'. Fortunately I had taken a mumsnetter's advice and asked for a copy of my test results (just ask receptionist - you might have to pay 50p or something for the photocopy but you are entitled to have the print out). When I saw the results they were within the normal range but right at the top of it so I'm getting tested every six months until I get into treatable territory.

Feeling cold (hands/feet) is a symptom and if it is affecting your core temperature then you would want to find out what is causing that, thyroid or not! :) Thyroid does seem most likely.

From what I have been reading it seems that the rigid 'normal' results may be an oversimplification and some people have a need for a different 'normal' cut off point. I know I was tested about six years ago but I did not look at the numbers then. I will definitely ask for the actual results. I am a bit worried that they will come back borderline and I will be stuck with one eyebrow and an extra stone in weight no matter how hard I try. Of course, if I don't test positive for low thyroid I must then try even harder to lose some weight, although I don't know HOW to try any harder.

Funnily enough I don't have cold hands or feet, despite my core temp being lower. I have used the same thermometer to check both dc and my dh and their temp comes up as normal.

I felt anxious about that too. If I didnt have hypothyroidism, I planned to ask the doctor about it; how do they suggest I lose weight, etc? You are their patient after all.

that is a good plan

Op im wondering if ive got an underactive thyroid as well. I dont think my eyebrows are any different but for a while now im always really cold, aching in some of my joints, especially deep in the bone at the top of my arm. My skin & hair is quite dry, low moods and a biggy for me, complete loss of sex drive for quite a while now.

I would book in for a test MummyB - I wish mine was coming up this week tbh. My face is so puffy my nose looks indented.