The word Hypothyroid is a medical term Doctors use to describe a condition where your thyroid gland is working slower than usual. If the doctor says you have a mild Hypothyroid Condition it just means your thyroid is working just a little bit slower than normal. If, on the other hand, the doc says you have a severe Hypothyroid Condition it means your thyroid is a real underachiever. Some of the signs that you may have a Hypothyroid Condition include thinning or loss of hair, weight gain, loss of focus and losing sleep.

Have you ever sat in your living room and found yourself combing your hair with your fingers and find that your had hair coming out of your head and into your hand? You might have a hypothyroid and it could be causing your hair loss. You're probably saying, "I used to have thick, long, beautiful hair, but now it's so thin if I part my hair, my scalp shows."

Have you ever found that you were gaining weight and can't seem to lose it, even when you exercise and diet, just like you did when you were in your twenties and thirties? The thyroid is the master of our metabolism. It sends messages to our brain, which in turn sends messages to our cells and keeps balance in the way our body metabolizes food, uses energy, and affects how our body uses its nutrients and vitamins. If the thyroid isn't working fast enough (due to hypothyroid), your body doesn't use the food you eat to its full advantage and you don't metabolize your food enough to keep more muscle and less fat on the body.

Do you get distracted from something you are doing; like you go to the bedroom to pick up your laundry and you see the bed isn't made, so you make the bed and get involved in straightening up the bedroom, and completely forget that you went to get the laundry? That's a problem with focus. This happens quite frequently when you have a hypothyroid condition. You have a condition that a friend of mine used to call a "brain fart." It's when the mind gets distracted and you can't keep your mind on one activity for very long.

Have you ever felt tired during the middle of the day but just couldn't fall asleep while trying to take a nap? Do you find that sleep doesn't come easily to you at night when you should be sleeping? This is another hypothyroid symptom. The hypothyroid tends to make you tired but won't let you sleep.

When you find that you have these symptoms, the first thing you need to do is go to your doctor and tell your doctor what your symptoms are. Your doctor will then in turn have you run lab tests, and from the results of those tests your doctor will find out if your thyroid is the culprit upsetting the balance of your body. If your thyroid numbers say it's slow, then you have a hypothyroid and the doctor will prescribe medication for you to balance out the thyroid so it will do its job properly.