HOW TO KNOW IF YOUR THYROID IS MAKING YOU SICK

When it's working well, your thyroid, a small but mighty gland in your neck, keeps your whole body flying high. When it's not which happens more often than you may realize that can cause a wide range of symptoms. Here's how to tell whether something's amiss and, if so, how to find relief.

- JESSICA MIGALA

Have you been gaining (or losing) weight? Do you feel like lying around all day staring at your phone? Maybe you just want to chomp someone's head off. There are a million reasons you might be feeling the way you do-stress, lack of sleep and a go-go-go schedule are just a few potential culprits.

Or your thyroid might be out of whack, which is more common a situation than many of us may realize, in part because signs of a thyroid condition can easily be attributed to less-than-healthy lifestyle habits. The American Thyroid Association reports that up to 60% of people with thyroid disease don't know they have it. An estimated 20 million Americans have this disease, and women are five to eight times as likely as men to suffer from it. Knowing whether your symptoms have to do with your thyroid or not is important so you can address whatever the issue may be; plus, untreated thyroid issues can put you at risk for other conditions such as osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease.

The thyroid gland, located just under your Adam's apple, plays a major role in regulating your metabolism, development and growth. It has a big impact on your health because it releases hormones that travel to every part of your body. When it's underactive (called hypothyroidism), you may feel it in the form of constipation, weight gain and a crappy mood; when it's overactive (hyperthyroidism), you may lose weight and feel nervousness and irregular heartbeat or palpitations. The problem is, "these symptoms are easy to chalk up to the season of life you're in or your menstrual cycle," says Minisha Sood, M.D., an endocrinologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.