From Weight Gain to Feeling Cold — 6 Signs You May Have Hypothyroidism

Your thyroid hormone production isn’t something you likely give much thought to, yet you rely on these chemical messengers for everything from your metabolism to your body temperature.

When something is amiss with your thyroid, you can be left with lower-than-normal levels of thyroid hormones, or hypothyroidism, which affects about 5% of people aged 12 and older in the United States.

To help you better recognize when you might have a thyroid condition, the team here at Temecula Medical Group, which includes Dr. Richard H. Rawson, Ryan D. Rowan, PA-C, and Armanda L. Alvarez, FNP-C, compiled a few of the more common signs of hypothyroidism.

Top symptoms of hypothyroidism

One of the tricky things about identifying a possible thyroid issue is that it can lead to a wide range of seemingly unrelated issues, such as:

1. Unexplained weight gain

You’ve put on some weight, yet you haven’t made any changes to your diet or to your exercise regimen, and these new pounds are stubborn and resist your efforts to get rid of them.

2. You feel cold

Another sign of hypothyroidism is feeling cold all the time, even when you’re in a warm room. This cold feeling seems to go right through to your bones, and you have trouble warming up.

3. Fatigue

With lower-than-normal thyroid hormones, you might feel lethargic and fatigued, even when you’re well rested.

4. Joint and muscle pain

People with hypothyroidism often experience aches and pains in their joints and muscles, even if they haven’t overexerted themselves.

5. Irregular periods

For women with hypothyroidism, menstrual cycles may be irregular, and you may also experience heavy bleeding during your periods. Infertility can also be an issue with an underactive thyroid.

6. Dry skin and thinning hair

If your hair is drier than normal (you may also have brittle fingernails) and you’re seeing more scalp because of thinning hair, it could be related to hypothyroidism.

As you can see, these symptoms are very different but taken together, they often spell hypothyroidism.

Getting help for your thyroid disorder

If you recognize any of the symptoms we outlined above and you’re just not feeling yourself, we urge you to come see us so that we can investigate further. First, we start with a blood test to measure the levels of thyroid hormones in your body. 

If we find that they’re low, we get to work on diagnosing and treating the hormone deficit. Rest assured, our priority is to get you back to optimal health, so we work quickly to re-establish your thyroid hormone levels while addressing the underlying thyroid condition.

If you have more questions about thyroid conditions or want to be tested for hypothyroidism, we invite you to contact our Temecula, California, office or visit our clinic from 8:30am to 5:30pm, Monday-Friday.