Understanding the Symptoms and Causes For Hypothyroidism (Low Thyroid Levels)

Millions of people suffer from some form of thyroid disease. The vast majority, which accounts for about 80 percent of the United States population, have an under active thyroid (also known as hypothyroidism. Several factors can cause the thyroid to reduce its production of thyroid hormone. One very common cause of low thyroid levels is an autoimmune disorder called Hasimoto's thyroiditis, in which the body launches an internal attack on its own healthy thyroid issues, destroying the gland's ability to produce thyroid hormone.

In some cases, low thyroid levels may be linked to other medical conditions or caused by a medication. For example, people who have been treated with RAI to treat hyperthyroidism often develop hypothyroidism. Those who consume medications such as lithium, prednisone and propranolol are also vulnerable to this condition. In addition, anyone who has undergone thyroid surgery is also likely to develop an underactive thyroid.

Regardless of what triggers an underactive thyroid, the end result is the same : hypothyroidism causes all your body functions to slow down. This total-body slowdown produces signs and symptoms that will eventually become apparent. Some of the hypothyroidism symptoms include unexplained weight gain, heart malfunction, depression, dryness or irregular menstruation especially for the females.

For many people, the most disturbing symptom of having low thyroid levels is weight gain. If you have been trying to lose weight, this may result in a futile attempt regardless of how little you intake or how much exercise you do. Surprisingly, your efforts to eat less may be met with an increase in your weight. However, the weight gain is due to the swelling of tissues and not the accumulation of fats.

In addition, hypothyroidism causes your pulse to slow as your heart rate decreases. You may notice your heart weakening or an increase in blood pressure. As a result of this slowdown in activity, your heart is forced to work harder to get oxygen and nutrients throughout your body. This can unfortunately put you at risk for heart failure which is a life-threatening condition.

To add salt to the wound, having low thyroid levels can even cause your skin to become pale and dry, to the extent of cracking. Some people may notice that their hair has turned brittle and are losing more hair than usual. At the same time, fingernails may become dry and develop grooves that cause the surface to become uneven.

Women who have hypothyroidism may notice that their periods have become heavier and more frequent. To make it worse, some females may stop ovulating and experience difficulty in conceiving. Retaining a pregnancy is also a disturbing issue as research has shown that 6 out of every 100 miscarriages are the result of low thyroid levels.

Treating Hypothyroidism With Synthroid

Synthroid is a brand name for levothyroxine, a synthetic thyroid hormone responsible for bodies metabolism. Synthroid is given as a treatment for hypothyroidism, which is a disorder whereby the thyroid gland has stopped producing enough thyroid hormone.

This condition causes the body's rate of metabolism to drop, with resulting negative effects on its reproductive system. Symptoms of hypothyroidism include fatigue, swallowing difficulty, wild mood swings, hoarse voice, forgetfulness, sensitivity to cold and dry/coarse hair and skin.

Synthroid has to be cautiously prescribed by a doctor as a supplement or replacement, in order to restore the delicate balance of the thyroid hormone in your body.

When undergoing a Synthroid treatment, avoid the following food products, which can cause your body to absorb less of this synthetic hormone: infant soy formula, cottonseed meal, walnuts, and high-fiber foods. Make sure not to change brands without first asking your doctor as different brands of levothyroxine may work differently for the same patient.

Therefore, if you have a prescription refill with different looking pills inside than what you are used to, you would need to talk to your doctor or the pharmacist.

If you overdose on Synthroid, seek medical attention immediately. You will get these symptoms on overdose of this medicine: chest pain, pounding heartbeat, shortness of breath, tremor, leg cramps, confusion, vomiting, diarrhea, or seizures.

In addition, should you have missed a dose on Synthroid, do not double up on it on your next dosage. Keep to a regularly scheduled time with the prescribed dosage, never to add extra to make up for any missed dose. Your doctor may change the dosage required over time to get the best results, follow the instructions properly. Do not continue taking the dosage for longer than what the doctor prescribed.

Take Synthroid 30 minutes before eating, preferably in the morning, and remember to take it at the same time each day, according to doctor's instructions. It is important that you take Synthroid with a full glass (8 ounces) of water, as the tablet can dissolve very quickly and swell in your throat causing gagging or choking.

You will need to schedule regular visits to your doctor for blood, liver, or kidney tests while undergoing this treatment, and do not forget these scheduled visits. You would also need to inform any other doctor or dentist you are visiting, that you are using Synthroid.

Once you are on Synthroid however, chances are high that you will continue taking it for the rest of your life. If you take levothyroxine for long periods of time, it may cause loss of bone, leading to osteoporosis. Be sure this possibility is addressed when talking to your doctor.

Other things you need to discuss before taking Synthroid include if you have any history of heart disease, coronary artery disease, anemia, diabetes, adrenal or pituitary gland problems, or blood clots.

Disclaimer: If you need more information about Synthroid, talk to your doctor or a qualified professional.

Hypothyroid Treatment - Being Diagnosed With Hypothyroidism

More women than men are likely to have hypothyroidism, especially if the woman is over the age of fifty. If you are diagnosed with hypothyroidism, then this means that your thyroid gland is not producing enough of certain hormones that your body needs to function properly. Symptoms of this disease usually take time to show up, but you can have hope through hypothyroid treatment. Whether you choose to treat it naturally or by prescription medications, the important thing is to know what symptoms to look for, and not to ignore them.

Since symptoms may not show up until later on, it is important to be able to spot things that may not stand out brightly. This is extremely important if there are certain risk factors such as hereditary working against you. Some symptoms of hypothyroidism are weight gain, pain in your joints, heart disease, and even infertility. You may even notice things subtly over the years such as fatigue, increased sensitivity to the cold, pale or dry skin, heavy menstrual periods, depression, and elevated cholesterol. Once these symptoms are diagnosed as hypothyroid disease, you can focus on which hypothyroid treatment will be best for your personal situation.

Knowing what causes hypothyroidism can be a little complex. Several things can set off this disease. Certain medical issues such as autoimmune disease, radiation therapy, certain medications, thyroid surgery, and even treatment for an overactive thyroid can cause your thyroid gland to under produce. Sometimes, but less common, hypothyroidism could be caused from pregnancy, congenital disease, a pituitary disorder, or iodine deficiency.

The most common type of hypothyroid treatment given is to give a daily dose of the synthetic thyroid hormone levothyroxine. This helps by restoring your hormone levels to a normal stage. Some patients have noticed less fatigue just after two weeks of starting this treatment. It can also lower your cholesterol levels gradually and reverse the effects hypothyroidism has had on your weight. The good news is that side effects caused by this synthetic hormone are very rare, making this hypothyroid treatment an excellent option for just about everyone. If you have certain problems such as heart disease, your doctor may start you out on a lower does so that your heart can adjust gradually to the increase in your metabolism.

Hypothyroid Treatment - Being Diagnosed With Hypothyroidism

More women than men are likely to have hypothyroidism, especially if the woman is over the age of fifty. If you are diagnosed with hypothyroidism, then this means that your thyroid gland is not producing enough of certain hormones that your body needs to function properly. Symptoms of this disease usually take time to show up, but you can have hope through hypothyroid treatment. Whether you choose to treat it naturally or by prescription medications, the important thing is to know what symptoms to look for, and not to ignore them.

Since symptoms may not show up until later on, it is important to be able to spot things that may not stand out brightly. This is extremely important if there are certain risk factors such as hereditary working against you. Some symptoms of hypothyroidism are weight gain, pain in your joints, heart disease, and even infertility. You may even notice things subtly over the years such as fatigue, increased sensitivity to the cold, pale or dry skin, heavy menstrual periods, depression, and elevated cholesterol. Once these symptoms are diagnosed as hypothyroid disease, you can focus on which hypothyroid treatment will be best for your personal situation.

Knowing what causes hypothyroidism can be a little complex. Several things can set off this disease. Certain medical issues such as autoimmune disease, radiation therapy, certain medications, thyroid surgery, and even treatment for an overactive thyroid can cause your thyroid gland to under produce. Sometimes, but less common, hypothyroidism could be caused from pregnancy, congenital disease, a pituitary disorder, or iodine deficiency.

The most common type of hypothyroid treatment given is to give a daily dose of the synthetic thyroid hormone levothyroxine. This helps by restoring your hormone levels to a normal stage. Some patients have noticed less fatigue just after two weeks of starting this treatment. It can also lower your cholesterol levels gradually and reverse the effects hypothyroidism has had on your weight. The good news is that side effects caused by this synthetic hormone are very rare, making this hypothyroid treatment an excellent option for just about everyone. If you have certain problems such as heart disease, your doctor may start you out on a lower does so that your heart can adjust gradually to the increase in your metabolism.

Hypothyroidism: Too Little Thyroid Hormone

Part 1: Introduction, Causes, and Symptoms of Hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism is a condition in which the body lacks sufficient thyroid hormone. Since the main purpose of thyroid hormone is to "run the body's metabolism", it is understandable that people with this condition will have symptoms associated with a slow metabolism. Over five million Americans have this common medical condition. In fact, as many as ten percent of women may have some degree of thyroid hormone deficiency. Hypothyroidism is more common than you would believe...and, millions of people are currently hypothyroid and don't know it! [For an overview of how thyroid hormone is produced and how its production is regulated check out our thyroid hormone production page.]

There are two fairly common causes of hypothyroidism. The first is a result of previous(or currently ongoing) inflammation of the thyroid gland which leaves a large percentage of the cells of the thyroid damaged (or dead) and incapable of producing sufficient hormone. The most common cause of thyroid gland failure is called autoimmune thyroiditis (also called Hashimoto's thyroiditis), a form of thyroid inflammation caused by the patient's own immune system. The second major cause is the broad category of "medical treatments". As noted on a number of our other pages, the treatment of many thyroid conditions warrants surgical removal of a portion or all of the thyroid gland. If the total mass of thyroid producing cells left within the body are not enough to meet the needs of the body, the patient will develop hypothyroidism. Remember, this is often the goal of the surgery as seen in surgery for thyroid cancer. But at other times, the surgery will be to remove a worrisome nodule, leaving half of the thyroid in the neck undisturbed. Sometimes (often), this remaining thyroid lobe and isthmus will produce enough hormone to meet the demands of the body. For other patients, however, it may become apparent years later that the remaining thyroid just can't quite keep up with demand. Similarly, goiters and some other thyroid conditions can be treated with radioactive iodine therapy. The aim of the radioactive iodine therapy (for benign conditions) is to kill a portion of the thyroid to [1] prevent goiters from growing larger, or [2] producing too much hormone (hyperthyroidism). Occasionally, (often?) the result of radioactive iodine treatment will be that too many cells are damaged so the patient often becomes hypothyroid a year or two later. This is O.K. and usually greatly preferred over the original problem. There are several other rare causes of hypothyroidism, one of them being a completely "normal" thyroid gland which is not making enough hormone because of a problem in the pituitary gland. If the pituitary does not produce enough Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) then the thyroid simply does not have the "signal" to make hormone, so it doesn't.

Symptoms of Hypothyroidism

• Fatigue
• Weakness
• Weight gain or increased difficulty losing weight
• Coarse, dry hair
• Dry, rough pale skin
• Hair loss
• Cold intolerance (can't tolerate the cold like those around you)
• Muscle cramps and frequent muscle aches
• Constipation
• Depression
• Irritability
• Memory loss
• Abnormal menstrual cycles
• Decreased libido

Each individual patient will have any number of these symptoms which will vary with the severity of the thyroid hormone deficiency and the length of time the body has been deprived of the proper amount of hormone. Some patients will have one of these symptoms as their main complaint, while another will not have that problem at all and will be suffering from a different symptom. Most will have a combination of a number of these symptoms. Occasionally, some patients with hypothyroidism have no symptoms at all, or they are just so subtle that they go unnoticed. Note: Although this may sound obvious, if you have these symptoms, you need to discuss them with your doctor and probably seek the skills of an endocrinologist. If you have already been diagnosed and treated for hypothyroidism and you continue to have any or all of these symptoms, you need to discuss it with your physician. Although treatment of hypothyroidism can be quite easy in some individuals, others will have a difficult time finding the right type and amount of replacement thyroid hormone. (More about this on the next page).

Potential Dangers of Hypothyroidism

Because the body is expecting a certain amount of thyroid hormone the pituitary will make additional thyroid-stimulating-hormone (TSH) in an attempt to entice the thyroid to produce more hormone. This constant bombardment with high levels of TSH may cause the thyroid gland to become enlarged and form a goiter (termed a "compensatory goiter"). Our goiter page goes into this topic in detail, and outlines that a deficiency of thyroid hormone is a common cause of goiter formation. Left untreated, the symptoms of hypothyroidism will usually progress. Rarely, complications can result in severe life-threatening depression, heart failure or coma.

Hypothyroidism can often be diagnosed with a simple blood test. In some persons, however, its not so simple and more detailed tests are needed. Most importantly, a good relationship with a good endocrinologist will almost surely be needed. More about treatment on another page.

Hypothyroidism is completely treatable in many patients simply by taking a small pill once a day! Once again, however, we have made a simplified statement and its not always so easy. There are several types of thyroid hormone preparations and one type of medicine will not be the best therapy for all patients. Many factors will go into the treatment of hypothyroidism and it is different for everybody.