When you think of low thyroid, the image of middle-aged, overweight woman probably comes to mind. And you wouldn’t be far off, because hypothyroidism is certainly far more common in women, especially middle-aged and older, and in many cases, can cause weight gain and weight problems for sufferers. Those who are diagnosed with hypothyroid often find that common prescription medicines are not always as effective as one might hope. The following is a sentiment shared by all too many women:

“I have recently decided to come off of prescribed medication for hypothyroid after one year. I have low thyroid function and many of the symptoms, but I have experienced no change or relief from thyroxine so have chosen to eliminate that drug from my system.” (From Natural Living)

In most cases such as this, the patient will return to the doctor who will simply try to increase the dosage:

“Doc retests and the blood tests show hypothyroidism. So the Doc ramps up the Thyroxin. The patient then feels good for about another week or so and then begins to crash with the original hypothyroid symptoms again.

“This continues to happen for years for unlucky ones. For the lucky ones, this cycle stops in its tracks after a few months worth of chasing proper thyroid function.” (From Naturopathic Perspectives)

Fortunately, there are effective tests and treatments out there for those who are hypothyroid, but many suffer from the condition without even knowing it, because they don’t show the common signs. There are some particularly telling — but little known — signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism that some doctors, and even fewer patients, are aware of, but can help lead to the correct diagnosis.

1. Loss of the Outer Edge of the Eyebrows

Hypothyroidism is very often associated with hair loss. You may notice a heavier-than-normal loss of hair from the head. Even body hair, — including underarm and pubic hair — may shed or thin. This sort of hair loss can be due to a thyroid problem, but it can also show up with other hormonal imbalances, illnesses, age, and due to genetics and heredity.

But one type of hair loss is considered unique to hypothyroidism. It is the loss of the hair in the outer edge of the eyebrows. This is a characteristic sign of hypothyroidism, and is not linked to other diseases, and so many physicians consider it a very important clinical sign.

Men may not notice this quite as much as women, who may find themselves plucking their outer brow area less, or even “drawing in” the missing eyebrows in that area with an eyebrow pencil.

If you have any unexplained hair loss, and especially, if you have loss of hair from the outer edge of your eyebrows, it’s time for a thorough thyroid evaluation from a knowledgeable practitioner.

2. High Cholesterol That Doesn’t Respond to Drug Treatment

Many people have elevated cholesterol levels, and doctors are becoming more aggressive about recommending treatment. Often for borderline-high levels, doctors recommend a trial of diet and exercise to get the numbers down and back into balance. If that doesn’t work, or if the numbers are especially high, doctors may recommend cholesterol-lowering drugs, most commonly, the statin drugs, like Lipitor.

Undiagnosed, untreated hypothyroidism can make elevated cholesterol resistant to treatment. Despite diet, exercise and prescription medications, cholesterol levels may remain high, confounding doctors and patients alike.

Generally, if you have high cholesterol, you should always have a thorough, comprehensive thyroid evaluation to completely rule out hypothyroidism before taking cholesterol-lowering thyroid medications. And if you are on cholesterol-lowering drugs that aren’t working, definitely talk to your doctor about your thyroid.


3. Persistent Constipation

It’s one of those topics we often don’t want to discuss, but persistent or chronic constipation can be a sign of an underactive thyroid. Because the thyroid regulates metabolism, the metabolic slowdown of hypothyroidism also slows down the digestive system, and food moves more slowly through digestion and elimination, frequently resulting in chronic constipation. Often, common remedies — such as increasing water intake, fruits like dried prunes or prune juice, upping the fiber intake — are tried, with no results. Over-the-counter, herbal and prescription drugs may also fail to resolve the problem.

If you are experiencing chronic constipation, you should always be exhaustively evaluated for an underactive thyroid.

4. Loss of Sex Drive

Many women consider loss of sex drive as an unavoidable part of getting older, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Low — or no — sex drive may actually be a sign of undiagnosed, untreated hypothyroidism in some women. If you have a problem with your libido, any medical workup your doctor does to evaluate you should also include a complete thyroid examination, to rule out low thyroid as a potential cause.

5. Depression

As many as 21 million Americans — some 9.5% of the population age 18 and older — have a mood disorder, including major depression, dysthymic disorder (milder, longer-term depression), and bipolar disorder. Depression and mood changes can be a symptom of untreated low thyroid. And unfortunately, some of the millions of people diagnosed and treated for depression and mood disorders are actually suffering from undiagnosed hypothyroidism.

There is no blood test for depression, so diagnosis is made based on a discussion of the symptoms. But thyroid disease diagnosis requires evaluation and testing, and so with today’s 5-minute doctor visits and managed care cost containment, mood-related symptoms are quickly attributed to depression, and a prescription written for antidepressants or antianxiety medications, rather than a more time-intensive thyroid evaluation, and the cost of bloodwork to test the thyroid.

While some thyroid patients can have a separate mood disorder that also warrants treatment, it’s essential that everyone diagnosed with depression or other mood disorders be fully evaluated as early as possible to rule out any underlying thyroid imbalances.

Even those who are diagnosed with hypothyroid find that common prescription medicines are not always as effective as one might hope. The following is a sentiment shared by all too many women:


Mary Shomon is an internationally-known thyroid patient advocate, and is author of a number of best-selling health books, including Living Well With Hypothyroidism and The Thyroid Diet. Since 1997, she has run the Internet’s most popular thyroid patient sites: About.com Thyroid Site, and Thyroid-Info.com.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 27th, 2006 at 2:23 pm and is filed under Mary J. Shomon. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.