Why Latina Women Are More Likely to Have Undiagnosed Thyroid Problems

I was doing everything right: eating clean, staying active, managing stress the best way I knew how, healing, growing, doing the inner work. And still my body felt off. My face looked puffier than usual, my energy tanked for no clear reason, my sleep wasn’t restorative, and I felt inflamed even when I was living a pretty balanced lifestyle.

Like many Latinas, my first reaction was to blame myself. Maybe I wasn’t disciplined enough. Maybe I was overreacting. Maybe it was just burnout or my hormones were off.

But when I finally got my labs done, there it was. Borderline hypothyroidism.

And the more I paid attention, the more I realized how common this is. So many Latina women are walking around with thyroid problems and have no idea, not because we don’t care about our health, but because culturally and medically, we fall through the cracks. 

And when you step back and look at the way many of us were raised, it makes sense. We learned to push through pain, minimize discomfort, and keep going even when our bodies were asking for rest.

This is something we need to talk about openly and without shame.

Your Thyroid Affects More Than You Realize

Your thyroid affects almost everything: mood, metabolism, digestion, menstrual cycles, energy levels, hair, skin, and sleep. According to the American Thyroid Association, about 20 million people in the U.S. have thyroid disease, and up to 60 percent don’t know it. Women are also five to eight times more likely than men to develop thyroid issues. In addition to that, studies show Latina and Black women experience more delays, misdiagnoses, and complications than white women (PMC research).

So from the beginning, the system is not set up in our favor.

Why Thyroid Issues Get Missed in Latinas

1. Chronic stress and cortisol dysregulation

Many Latinas live in long-term survival mode. We grow up overfunctioning, carrying responsibility, supporting our families, navigating systemic barriers, and trying to break generational cycles. Chronic stress affects hormones, inflammation, and energy, and it mimics thyroid dysfunction.

Fatigue. Brain fog. Feeling cold. Weight changes. Irritability. Mood dips. Sleep struggles.

We label it stress.
We push through it.
But we don’t slow down because we were never taught that slowing down is allowed.

2. Cultural messages that silence our symptoms

If you grew up hearing things like:

“No exajeres.”
“No es para tanto”
“Hay otras que la están pasando peor.”

You learn to minimize your body cues. You learn to tolerate discomfort. You learn that pain is normal and asking for help is inconvenient. By the time we seek answers, we have often been struggling for years.

3. Medical dismissal and limited access

Many Latina women report being told their symptoms are due to stress, weight, or “just being tired.” Research shows women of color face more medical dismissal and less thorough testing. Some providers only check TSH, and if it falls “within range,” they call it good enough, even when symptoms continue.

Access barriers also matter. Insurance, language, long wait times, rushed appointments, and fear of judgment all make it harder to get proper care. A study conducted by the JAMA network even noted that Hispanic women were less likely to have seen a physician in the past year compared to white women.

When Your Body is Trying to Get Your Attention

If these feel familiar, your body might be asking for attention: fatigue that doesn’t improve, hair loss, inflammation, puffy face or eyes, cold hands or feet, low mood or depression-like symptoms, feeling more anxious or irritable, brain fog or difficulty concentrating, waking up tired even after sleeping, unexplained weight gain, difficulty losing weight, irregular periods, fertility challenges, or lower libido.

And this is why I recommend to my therapy clients that if they are experiencing symptoms like chronic exhaustion, hair shedding, unexpected weight changes, brain fog, or feeling unusually cold or inflamed, it is important to ask their primary care provider to check thyroid labs. Sometimes what gets dismissed as stress or anxiety has an actual biological component too.

How To Advocate For Yourself

Write down your symptoms and track how long they have been happening. Ask for thyroid labs, requesting TSH and free T4 at minimum. If symptoms persist, inquire about free T3 or antibody testing. Trust your intuition, you know your body best. And seek a second opinion if needed. You’re not overreacting. You’re advocating for yourself.

Why This Matters

Latina women deserve healthcare that supports us, honors us, and actually listens to us instead of dismissing everything as stress or weight. Our bodies carry so much, including generational responsibility, cultural pressure, and the expectation to always be fine. And our symptoms deserve full attention, not minimization. This is not about diagnosing yourself. It is about becoming more self-aware, honoring the mind body connection, and recognizing that sometimes trauma, burnout, hormonal shifts, and thyroid imbalances overlap. What feels emotional can also be physical. What feels like “normal stress” may actually be your body struggling. 

Listening to your body is not a weakness. It is one of the most loving things you can do for yourself. It is wisdom. It is a reclamation. It is the breaking of generational cycles. You deserve answers, support, and to feel well in your own skin.

About the Author

Cynthia Flores is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, Speaker, and Host of the Heal & Manifest Podcast. She supports first-generation cycle breakers in healing generational trauma, building self-worth, and creating emotionally healthy relationships through a culturally rooted, trauma-informed lens.

Instagram:@cynthiafloreslmft
Website:www.cynthiagflores.com