I have had major exposure to hypothyroidism as my sister was diagnosed with the disorder when she was 10 years old. By the time she was diagnosed with the disorder, her thyroid hormone levels were critically low. We were very surprised by this because we did not notice any behaviors or manifestations that were atypical for her. The doctors were surprised that she was not obese and extremely fatigued by the time of diagnosis because of her hormones being vastly low. Playing sports helped her to not gain excessive weight and we always just brushed off her low energy as growing pains from childhood, this shows that it is very easy to not put much thought into something that ended up being much more serious. However, with the diagnosis being made, the sign that suggested to our pediatrician that she might be experiencing hypothyroidism ended up being a goiter. He observed this enlargement of the thyroid gland and then had her bloodwork completed to check. After the results came back, he referred my mom and sister to an endocrinologist that was more specialized in the field. He also told them they needed to go right away due to how low her hormones were in the blood screening. After my sister was put on Levothyroxine by her doctor, we all noticed a huge personality change. She suddenly had way more energy and was much more positive overall. The doctors did have to work on her dosage a few times as she was experiencing many adverse effects at certain doses. Now, they have had her on the same dose and it works to keep her hormone levels up and keep her functioning like everyone else. While this disease can be difficult to manage and diagnose, the proper treatment permits patients to live a completely healthy, normal life.