I had some little weird things happen to me last summer (light headedness, lack of energy, etc) that I thought were unconnected. I was already on thyroid medicine (had been since I was around 30), and had been tested 6 or 8 months before. My doc had me take a stress test to make sure there was nothing wrong with my heart. Ended up being my thyroid! Come to find out, if your thyroid is acting up there are lots of other things in your body that can act up, or shut down, too.
image from mayoclinic.com
Here are just the things that I experienced - there are actually even more effects of hypothyroidism:
- Nails brittle
- Hair brittle
- Light headedness
- High cholesterol
- Iron saturation deficiency (super low)
- Weight gain
- Mood swings
- Feeling out of balance
- Difficulty sleeping
- Fatigue
- Frozen shoulder (happened a few months after my levels got to the correct spot)
Luckily, after feeling like my primary care doc wasn't getting it, I went to an endocrinologist who evaluated the right things and got me on the right path - some iron supplements until my iron saturation got back to normal (I use Floradix + Emergen-C packets to help with absorption), ashwagandha, higher levels of synthroid, more greek yogurt, more yoga. I also found out that my thyroid is a virtual moonscape - lots of striations, scar and nodules. Nothing to do about it, just need to keep an eye on it to make sure no nodules get too big or cancerous. Good news is that I was able to get my life back, and wake up feeling like I wanted to get out of bed!!