Thyroid Hereditary?

[kels9]

I am a 19yr old athlete and seem to be short on energy, low blood circulation and have bags under my eyes all the time. I am wondering if this has anything to do with my mom that has a underactive thyroid. I cant seem to find much information on this and am wondering if something like this would be hereditary.

[AlexL]

Having a mother with any kind of thyroid condition does put you at increased risk for any kind of thyroid condition. Easy enough to diagnose. Your doctor can perform a simple blood test called a TSH. That will answer the question definitively. However, another common cause of fatigue is inadequate sleep. If you're getting less than 8 hours per night on a regular basis, challenge yourself to get 8 hours/night and see if that doesn't solve your problem. If not, definitely see your doctor about other causes.

Alex
Happiness in this World

[kels9]

Yes I usually get a solid eight hours of sleep at night also but I will have to go to the doctor soon and get a checked out. thanks

[Chillax]

Originally Posted by kels9

I am a 19yr old athlete and seem to be short on energy, low blood circulation and have bags under my eyes all the time. I am wondering if this has anything to do with my mom that has a underactive thyroid. I cant seem to find much information on this and am wondering if something like this would be hereditary.

actually thyroid hormone is responsible for protein synthesis and cellular respiration

so a lack of Thyroid hormone, could perhaps make you feel tired, but it won't give you bags around your eyes or do anything with your blood pressure

[AlexL]

Chillax,
Actually, not entirely correct. Hypothyroidism causes proteoglycan deposition in soft tissues which causes a "doughy" appearance to skin and conceivably could cause bags under the eyes. Hard to tell, of course, without actually seeing the patient in question! Agree with your comment about blood pressure, though.

AlexL
Happiness in this World

[funchy]

this is an interesting thread with wonderfully detailed answers

kels9 - I agree you should see your doctor and get blood work done. He may want to do other blood tests at the same time. It may or may not be a thyroid problem.

[openeyes]

If, as mentioned, you're going to the doctor soon and he'll be taking care of testing you may not need to bother with the following links, but if I were concerned about my thyroid functioning I'd read this:

"While this test [TSH] is commonly used, and recent improvements have made it more sensitive, there is a good chance that the standard reference ranges used by many laboratories are so wide that many people with subclinical hypothyroidism are not correctly diagnosed. This means that potentially tens of thousands of people suffering from depression, heart disease, or weight gain may be unaware that their conditions are actually due to low thyroid hormone."

Thyroid Regulation: Online References For Health Concerns

and have these blood tests done:

Thyroid Panel (TSH, T4, Free T4, Free T3) Blood Test