How an Underactive Thyroid Affects Your Weight

It’s ironic, really. Your thyroid gland is very small, but if it’s not functioning correctly, it can change your weight by a large amount.

At Phillips Family Medical, board-certified family nurse practitioner Pamela Phillips and our team see many patients who struggle with unexplained weight gain. One cause they usually don’t think about is their thyroid gland, but if it’s not functioning properly it can cause major issues.

Here’s how an underactive thyroid affects your weight.

Your thyroid and your weight

Your thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland located at the front of your neck. Among other things, your thyroid controls your metabolism by producing hormones that control how your body uses energy. If your metabolism is fast, you’ll burn more calories; if it’s slow, you’ll burn less calories.

If your thyroid is underactive, or not producing enough hormones, your metabolism slows down, which affects nearly every system in your body, including how efficiently you burn calories. Because you’re burning less calories, you’ll often start to gain weight, mostly due to water and salt.

As time passes, your underactive thyroid leads to several symptoms:

• Weight gain of 5-10 pounds (or more)
• Increased bloating and water retention
• Harder time losing weight despite healthy habits
• Changes in where your body stores fat

Underactive thyroid can be a sneaky problem, because the changes occur gradually and the symptoms are subtle at first. 

A few common signs that your weight problem might be thyroid-related:

• Hands and feet feel abnormally cold
• Skin is dry and hair becomes brittle
• Constipation
• Concentration issues
• Weight change even though your diet and exercise habits haven’t changed

We understand how discouraging weight gain can be, especially with no clear reason.

What can you do?

To determine if your problem is due to your thyroid, we’ll conduct a physical exam to see if your thyroid gland is swollen, and then we’ll run a few blood tests to measure your thyroid hormone levels.

The good news is that treating underactive thyroid is relatively simple. The most common treatment is thyroid hormone replacement therapy (HRT), usually in the form of a pill you take each morning.

The medication will start leveling out your hormones right away, and after a few weeks, you should start to see your weight come back to normal and your symptoms fade away.

You’ll probably need to take this medication for the rest of your life; if you stop taking it, your symptoms will come back.

If you’re struggling with unexplained weight gain, come see our team at Phillips Family Medical. We’ll examine your symptoms, run some tests, and put together a treatment plan to get you where you want to be. Just call our DeSoto, Texas, office or use our online scheduler to book your own appointment today.