Signs

• Dry skin (coarse skin patches on knees & elbows)
• Coarse/dry hair
• Dry eyes (eye irritation)
• Pale skin
• Slow weak resting pulse
• Low body temperature (cold hands)
• Goitre (swelling just above the collar bone - not to be confused with Adam’s apple) –
  look in the mirror while you hold your head back, swallow and look for any protrusion, bulges or enlargement
• Yellow skin (palms may look yellow)
• Slow reflexes, slow movements/poor co-ordination
• Thick tongue
• Hoarse voice
• Brittle soft nails
• Fluid retention (puffy eye lids, swollen ankles/feet)
• Increased cholesterol levels
• Low or high blood pressure
• Irregular heartbeat
• Decreased perspiration
• Weight gain
• Hair loss – hair blocks the drain in shower
• Loss of eye brows
• Constipation

In Children

• Hoarse voice
• Tiredness
• Dry skin or thickened skin on knees and elbows
• Hair loss (thinning hair)
• Feeling cold
• Hypothyroidism may slow down the growth rate in children
• Delayed or premature puberty
• Learning difficulties – poor concentration – misdiagnosis of ADD in children with hypothyroidism is common
• Mood swings – emotional instability
• Uncoordinated in sport – slower reflexes
• Loss of interest
• Appears lazy
• Slow movements – slow speech

Symptoms

• Feeling cold when others feel warm (cold sensitivity)
• Intolerance to heat (prone to overheating)
• Fatigue/general tiredness
• Feeling lazy (not active)
• Digestive disturbances
• Muscle weakness
• Muscle cramps
• Aches and pains
• Loss of muscle tone (especially in men)
• Joint pain – stiffness
• Reduced immunity - less resistant to viral and fungal infections (thrush is common, frequent colds – difficulty recovering from infections)
• Increased sleepiness (falling asleep easily during the day)
• Excessive sleep (need more than 8 hours sleep)
• Insomnia - poor sleep (difficulty falling asleep or waking up in the middle of the night)
• Sleep apnoea
• Tinnitus
• Symptoms of hypoglycaemia
• Low mood – social withdrawal – depression
• Anxiety/nervousness
• Irritability
• Manic behaviour
• Phobias
• Fear of public spaces (agoraphobia)
• Nightmares
• Panic attacks – racing pulse
• Emotional and behavioural problems
• Personality change
• Cry easily
• Resentfulness towards partner, family and friends
• Lack of confidence
• Low motivation
• Indecisive
• Angry about trivial things – temper
• Mood swings
• Visual disturbances
• Poor memory
• Poor concentration
• Slow speech and thinking
• Headaches
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Numbness/tingling/pain in fingers/toes
• Infertility
• Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)/PMDD
• Low libido
• Milky discharge from breasts
• Heavy longer periods (irregular & shorter cycles)