Underactive thyroid: extreme tiredness, weight gain, feeling cold, constipation, dry skin and hair loss, brain fog, heavy periods. Overactive: weight loss despite eating, racing heart, anxiety, tremor, heat intolerance, poor sleep.
Symptoms creep in slowly, so they get blamed on age or stress for years - but every item has other common causes, so no list diagnoses thyroid. A simple TSH blood test settles it in one draw. Ask for it if a cluster has lasted weeks, especially with family history of thyroid or autoimmune disease. Pymander is a free AI doctor, 24/7 by text, and can help you match your cluster before the test.
What to do
Common questions
How do you tell if you have a thyroid problem?
The thyroid is your body's throttle, so problems show up as a system running too slow or too fast. Underactive (hypothyroidism), the common one: extreme tiredness, weight gain without eating more, feeling cold when others are fine, constipation, dry skin and hair, hair loss, a croaky voice, brain fog and low mood, and heavy or irregular periods. Symptoms creep in slowly, which is why they get blamed on age or stress for years. Overactive (hyperthyroidism) runs the opposite: losing weight despite eating, a racing or irregular heart, anxiety and irritability, trembling hands, sweating and heat intolerance, trouble sleeping, and sometimes a swelling in the neck or prominent eyes. The honest catch: every one of these symptoms has other common explanations, so no symptom list diagnoses thyroid - a simple blood test (TSH, usually with T4) settles it in one draw. Ask for it if a cluster of these has lasted weeks, especially with a family history of thyroid disease or other autoimmune conditions. Pymander is a free AI doctor, 24/7 by text, that can help you match your cluster before the blood draw.