Your Broken Internal Thermometer: Do You Have Hypothyroidism?

Hypothyroidism occurs when your thyroid is under-active and can't make enough of the hormones that help regulate your body's metabolic rate, brain development, bone growth and muscle control. These hormones also help your heart pump efficiently and your digestive tract function normally.

What are some of the symptoms associated with hypothyroidism?

Unfortunately, if you have hypothyroidism you may be experiencing a range of symptoms that could be hard to properly diagnose because they mimic symptoms of so many other conditions. Some of the symptoms include fatigue, increased sensitivity to cold, dry skin, depression, impaired memory, muscle aches, unexplained weight gain, high cholesterol levels, slowed heart rate and thinning of your hair.

However, if hypothyroidism isn't correctly diagnosed and treated your symptoms could get worse.

Too many times, patients are misdiagnosed because these symptoms are overlooked and diagnosis relies too much on blood tests. Sometimes, your labs can come up negative but your symptoms are persistent and won't go away. You are then left without the offer of treatment and stuck suffering by yourself.

One of the common blood tests used to help doctors diagnose hypothyroidism is a thyroid stimulating hormone test (TSH) that measures the amount of the TSH hormone in your blood. TSH hormones are produced when your hypothalamus gland makes a thyrotropic-releasing hormone (TRH) then triggers your pituitary gland to release TSH.

TSH also is in charge of producing the hormones triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4), which is what the blood tests focuses on to make sure they are in the proper range. Adults should have a normal range of TSH of 0.4-4.2 micro-units per milliliter or 0.4-4.2 milli-units per liter. However, if your TSH is in normal range but you still are having symptoms, it doesn't mean you don't have hypothyroidism.

What else do you need to know about hypothyroidism and getting the proper diagnosis?

Dr. Kenneth N. Woliner joins Dr. Mike to discuss hypothyroidism, the mistakes that can lead to a medical misdiagnosis and how to properly be tested for hypothyroidism.