Your thyroid is a relatively small gland in our throat. It produces a hormones that control some important functions in your body. When there's a problem with your thyroid, it usually happens in one of two ways. Your thyroid overproduces these hormones, a condition known as hyperthyroidism. Or it doesn't produce enough of them, a condition called hypothyroidism.
Unlike a lot of other maladies, symptoms of thyroid problems are easy to overlook, ignore, or blame on something else. Those symptoms could include the following.
Skin changes
Your thyroid controls how much and how often you shed skin cells. When you have hyperthyroidism, skin sheds faster, resulting in smoother but thinner skin. When you have hypothyroidism, skin becomes rougher.
In some cases, the skin might also feel unusually warm and moist. In other cases it could feel feel cold and look pale. Wounds and bruises might take longer than normal to heal.
Thyroid problems also sometimes cause redness in the face and hands.
Unplanned or unexpected weight changes
Hyperthyroidism makes you more active and energetic, which leads to weight loss. Sometimes you shed a lot of weight surprisingly fast.
On the other hand, hypothyroidism slows your metabolism down, causing you to become sluggish. You may gain some weight as a result.
You always seem to feel too hot or too cold
Due to their higher metabolic rate, people with hyperthyroidism sometimes wake up in the middle of the night sweating. They might also notice their heart rate is higher than normal.
Meanwhile, someone with hypothyroidism is likely to feel cold due because their metabolic rate has slowed down.
Emotions swing
Thyroid issues tend to have a large influence on your emotions and mood. Hyperthyroidism tends to make you feel tense and anxious.
Hypothyroidism often triggers sadness and even depression. There might also be cognitive issues like forgetfulness, or even physical symptoms like reduced motor skills.
Digestion problems
People with hyperthyroidism make way more trips to the bathroom than normal because hyperthyroidism speeds up everything, including their bowel movements. People with hypothyroidism, as you might guess, often suffer from constipation.
Hair loss
This is one of the more subtle signs of thyroid issues. Those with hyperthyroidism tend to experience hair loss on the scalp and body. Meanwhile, hypothyroidism can cause the outer edges of the eyebrows to fall.
"Bulging" eyes
There's a type of hyperthyroidism called Graves opthamopathy that causes upper eyelid retraction, lid lag, swelling, redness, and "bulging." Someone with this condition can look like they're staring at something in wide-eyed disbelief. This is caused by a build-up of tissue behind the eyes, which eventually makes them look large and puffed out.
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