What were your underactive thyroid symtoms?

[MummyBtothree]

Just curious about the symptoms people had that were found to have underactive thyroid. Can it run in families?. Ive googled it but found so much conflicting info and tons of different symptoms! do you have to display loads of symptoms or can you just have one or two?

The best info is on the NHS choices website. I went to the doctor at the beginning of the year with anxiety and was sent for blood tests which showed up underactive thyroid. I've since had mild depression, brittle hair and nails and continued anxiety whilst meds are sorted. Tired but I have a baby so hard to say if I'd be anyway! Mine was triggered by pregnancy and with hindsight immediately post baby I was showing lots of signs of overactive thyroid, which all lines up with postpartum thyroiditis

Yes it can run families. Yes a few symptoms - I don't put on weight, never especially noticed hair till this year. I thought my bowel movements were normal till I was properly treated! I do get constipation. I get very anxious when under as I don't feel I can keep up with life, despite anxiety linked to overactive. Always had light, pain free periods so no impact there. But I think I've had it most of my life borderline, then tipped over when I started pill (oestrogen makes it worse) I can feel cold anywhich way though sweat lots when on too much thyroxine. Get mild palpitations when underactive which isn't linked to hypo, usually hyper.

Your muscles are weaker if hypo and I notice my ankles are kankles/ slight water retention.

Best first stop is british thyroid foundation imo.

Why do you ask?

I'd say main one is overwhelming exhaustion - having to lie down after hoovering. Exercise makes you worse. Going to bed earlier, needing naps. Not being able to think properly, multitasking is really hard.

Anxiety and physical pain. Most people who get it think they're having a nervous breakdown. Aching limbs and joints; walking was so sore I had dreams that my hipbones were red-hot knives. Physical weakness - your muscles fail, so you struggle to lift shopping, for instance. Muddleheaded and dreadfully tired - falling asleep after breakfast is a classic.

Nails are a giveaway too as they split, peel and crumble. I've always put on weight just by looking at a Sainsbury's window, but I got fat unfeasibly fast. And itching all over from skin dryness.

See, I never had the pain till this year. I was young when I got it.

And you can have different degrees of it at first, depending on how much thyroid is functioning. So symptoms could easily vary

The symptoms are quite vague a lot of the time so pinning it down can be tricky. Lots of things (vitamin deficiencies, hormonal imbalances etc) can cause the muscle aches, joint pain, exhaustion, depression etc.

The things which tend to point specifically to thyroid are losing the outer third of your eyebrows, puffy 'moon' face, swelling at front of neck and a family history or susceptibility to autoimmune diseases - if you had glandular fever as a teen this can be a factor too.

Do any of those ring a bell?

Oh and weight gain despite not eating more than usual, but of course GPs don't believe this and think you're obviously scoffing cake and sitting around with your feet up!

Mine happened after DS1 was born, so recent hormonal upheaval like pregnancy, menopause etc. can trigger it.

Mine was also triggered after birth of DD1. The main symptom was overwhelming exhaustion - I literally wanted to just curl up in a ball on the floor some days. To a lesser extent I also had dry skin, pins and needles, really feeling the cold. It didn't affect my weight at all and I didn't suffer depression when it first happened- although now I tend to feel low/ anxious as a warning sign might need tweaking.

My symptoms were at first confused with menopause and coincided with taking on full time job so by time diagnosed were pretty bad.
Here's what I can remember:-
Extreme tiredness, falling asleep in chair in evening.
Achiness
Pins and needles in limbs
Dislike of light , wore sunglasses a lot
Put on weight
Lack of enthusiasm for things I would normally have been quite excited about
Stressed and snappy
Goitre in neck
Feeling cold all the time
This last one was what alerted anaesthetist when I was in hospital for something else
Good luck
Thyroxine made a big difference

Well for about the last year ive been feeling the cold like never before, I can be absolutely frozen to the bone sometimes. Tiredness def, im usually in bed at 9pm and grab 2 hours in the afternoon when dc has his nap, im hanging again by mid-day with tiredness. I eat well so cant see im anaemic, never were even in pregnancy. Dry skin, itchy. Mood swings a bit, get low easily. Got the Mirena coil so no periods but noticed my sex drive vanished completely for the last 6 months or so which I cant explain. I had glandular fever when I was 5.

It's a very simple blood test to get checked for thyroid function: if you're concerned you should request it from your GP

Can it cause headaches?

Yes, cold, dry skin and headaches all in! It's pretty shit to be fair, but hopefully if it is that, you can get started on thyroxine and feel better soon x

What does it mean by losing the outer third of your eyebrow???

Sorry to gatecrash but just wondered is it possible to have a problem with thyroid function but it not to show up in blood tests?

MsVanRein from what ive been reading about it all it sounds like it is possible, yes. I cant believe the huge list of possible symptoms that you can have!

Thanks MummyB - I have had my thyroid function tested many times over the years (bloods). I have always been told it is fine but I can't shake the feeling that it may not be, there is just so many things that point to a problem for me.

Mrsvan what were your last results?

You could be struggling with iodine and selenium, vit d, iron etc which are helpful to thyroid hormone conversions.

Only recommended daily amounts though.

Secondary hypothyroidism can also (rarely) occur, though this should show up in tests - but you never know.

I do think, after personal experience and a bit of reading, that better iron status for many women would help with a lot of things. Low ferritin happens long before low hb and can also help many processes in the body.

Cold, sluggish, apathetic and unwilling to move (total lack of enthusiasm as everything seemed such an effort). Achey generally, especially in the mornings. Thinning hair, and my eyebrows thinned a bit too. Weight gain, puffy looking round the eyes and legs. Anxiety.
Probably were more symptoms, but as one is brain fog and I think my thyroxine needs upping, i can't remember them!
In my family, out of the ones I know, there is me, my mother, her niece and nephew (my fist cousins) and my cousin's son. So that is rather a lot of us!

Horrible symptoms here. Hair loss, extreme fatigue, aches and pains, very heavy painful periods, feeling of clothes choking me, post nasal drip, bad breath, mood swings, feeling hungover every morning, dry itchy skin, spots, feeling apathetic about everything, feeling of impending doom, wondering how I'd survive the day, shaky, anxiety, bad constipation, mild weight gain, bloating, brain fog, getting words mixed up, broken sleep, muscle fatigue from simple jobs, shaky...

There is probably more but brain fog won't allow! I was started on 100mg levothyroxine when the Dr checked my antibodies (reluctantly, you have to be firm) which are over 1000. It has helped a little bit I think my dose needs increasing as I'm slipping again having had a week of improvement.

This site was of great help to me. I had actually thought I had cancer/was dying/was going mad for over a year. I wrote all my symptoms down and burst into tears at the doctors but she wouldn't medicate me. It was only after she consulted with a specialist, read through my symptoms and took into account my family history (grandmother has hashimotos, all females have hypothyroid) that she urgently started me on thyroxine.

Good luck.

I am wondering about this, because recently I have been losing hair and my eyebrows are thinning especially at the ends which I noticed because I was wondering if I should darken them. I only happened to read that this can be a symptom of thyroid problems and saw that some of the other symptoms fit, I do have a lot of tiredness and sometimes low mood, brittle nails, puffy ankles and constipation. I do sometimes get pins and needles but put this down to my back pain/sciatica. A few years ago I had heart palpitations but that has gone now, but I read that is another symptom. I have always had a bad memory and a bit of a problem focusing that could be described as a sort of mild brain fog, and i do have some problems with hearing. However the problem is all these symptoms could be caused by other things and I do have a weight problem and my diet is not very good ( I just struggle with willpower). Also I dont have some of the other symptoms like feeling cold, low heart rate, generally dry skin. I would hate to see the Dr and get a dismissive reaction and get told I just need to lose weight and improve diet.

I don't think there's any harm ruling these things out. But, do get the results. I was told by several gps I had depression until I changed gps and they checked thyroid. This was 17 years ago, I'm not sure why antibodies were done at the same time then. It seems to be harder these days to get that done. Positive antibodies would indicate that you're likely to slowly deteriorate.

However it's also worth asking to check vit d, ferritin, b12 (and folate). Both if you're diagnosed hypo and if not.

This site helped me regarding this - for me I now know I get mild thyroid symptoms with lowish ferritin - but still within range. It had to get very bad to discover this however (symptoms of rls and muscle cramps) but in retrospect i can remember times when I suspect it was low iron. I've noticed that I have colour in my cheeks and pinker gums which I've not had for years. Pregnancy was partly to blame though.