Weird aches, dry skin, horrible fatigue, puffy face: A thyroid problem

There’s a long list of symptoms related to hypothyroidism, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and they vary. You could feel some, all or none of the symptoms and still have the condition.

“The number-one thing is that people feel sluggish,” said Peter Arvan, chief of the division of metabolism, endocrinology and diabetes at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. “They don’t move as fast. They don’t think as fast. They don’t react as fast. They are tired more. They sleep more.”

For a little gland, the thyroid has big a job. At just two inches long, this butterfly-shaped structure at the base of the front of the neck controls the metabolism and energy for virtually every organ system, Smallridge explained. People tend to think of the thyroid in terms of weight and metabolism, but it also controls the heart, brain, muscles, digestion, breathing and fertility. “It has some say in everything,” he said.