High thyroid levels can speed up your metabolism and cause weight loss, a racing heartbeat, sweating, and frequent bowel movements. Hypothyroidism slows metabolism and can lead to weight gain, skin or hair changes, and sensitivity to cold.
Thyroid Symptoms: What Happens When Thyroid Levels Are High or Low?
Despite being a tiny gland, your thyroid contributes to many essential functions in your body, such as regulating your temperature, your heartbeat, and metabolism. It even influences your mood.
So, if you have recently noticed changes in your temperature, such as feeling too hot or too cold, or in your weight, such as gaining or losing too much weight, aninternal medicine doctor in Kolhapurmay want to check your thyroid levels. You will notice obvious signs when your thyroid levels are too high or too low.
Hyperthyroidism: High Thyroid Levels
When your thyroid gland produces too much thyroid hormone, your body’s functions might speed up. A common cause is an autoimmune disorder: Graves’ Disease. Your own immune system tells your thyroid gland to produce excessive hormone, thus causing hyperthyroidism.
Overactive thyroid nodules, excessive iodine intake, thyroiditis, and, in rare cases, tumors of the pituitary gland can cause hyperthyroidism. Here’s what happens with hyperthyroidism.
- Weight Loss: Thyroid controls how your body uses energy. With hyperthyroidism, your body may use energy faster than it normally does. It burns calories and breaks down fat stores continuously, even when you are resting. This can cause weight loss, even when your appetite doesn’t change much.
- Racing Heartbeat: Too high thyroid levels can cause your heart to beat rapidly. You may notice a pounding or irregular heartbeat.
- Sweating More: Since hyperthyroidism accelerates metabolism, you might feel hotter than usual, or you may sweat excessively.
- Irritability: Excessive thyroid production also influences your nervous system, making you more susceptible to anxiety, mood swings, and irritability.
- Frequent Bowel Movements: Hyperthyroidism also speeds up your digestion, which may increase the frequency of your trips to the toilet.
Hypothyroidism: Low Thyroid Levels
Hypothyroidism, or a condition where your thyroid gland produces too little thyroid hormone, can have the opposite effect on your metabolism and other body processes. Unlike hyperthyroidism, it can slow things down. A common cause is Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune disorder that attacks your thyroid gland, reducing its ability to produce thyroid hormones. Here’s what it may cause.
- Weight Gain: With hypothyroidism, your body uses less energy throughout the day. The changes in energy levels due to slowed metabolism can affect your weight.
- Feeling Cold: An underactive thyroid can make you sensitive to cold. When the temperature feels normal to others, you may find yourself wearing double layers of clothing. So, if you feel cold often, even during normal temperatures, it may be due to low thyroid production.
- Skin and Hair Changes: Too little thyroid can also negatively affect your skin and hair texture. Your skin becomes dry, and hair might feel thinner and more brittle than usual. Some people also notice hair fall.
- Constipation: The condition slows down your digestion, making you prone to constipation. If you experience frequent constipation and bloating alongside temperature sensitivity and weight gain, thyroid testing is worth discussing with your doctor.
Thyroid treatment at WIINS Hospital in Kolhapur may include anti-thyroid medicines, beta-blockers, or, less commonly, surgery for hyperthyroidism. For hypothyroidism, hormone therapy that replaces the missing thyroid hormone may be needed.
