Losing my hair

[royalscorpio]

Hello!

It has been a while since I've come online here, I had a job for a while that I had no internet access and then at night, I was so tired and had too much to do, I hardly got around to checking here.

However, I now have a job where I can check things online and I'm happy to be back to a contributing member.

I'm hoping that someone might have a suggestion for me. My hair is down to my bottom now, which is great. The ends are fairytailing a bit, and I have a bit of layers in there. But my hair is thinning so bad!! I now have about half the hair I used to have. My pony tail circumfrance has diminished significantly. I've been tested for thyroid problems, but it has come back 'fine'. My numbers -are- borderline for treatmentm but not high enough to warrent it. Despite my insistance of hair loss. And not just on my head. My eyebrows have thinned too. I don't know if anyone has any suggesstions for hair stimulation. If you look through my hair, you can see some spots where there is very little hair. But pointing that out to a doctor seems fruitless. I do have new hair growth, but not enough to account for all the hair I am missing. Anywhere you part my hair, you can see my scalp. It's killing me! Thank god I started with a ton of hair, otherwise, I feel like I would be bald by now!! My hair is very fine. I used to have a ton of it, but no longer.

[Kallenie]

What are your iron levels like?

This summer I shed a significant amount of hair and found out it was due to my iron being dangerously low.

[Rebecca.1905]

Who did your thyroid testing? Was it your regular Dr or an endocrinologist? I ask because, as a person living with Hashimoto's disease, I'm pretty familiar with symptoms and treatments. Different docs interpret numbers differently - so what is borderline to your doctor might be treatable to another doc. I recommend seeing an endocrine specialist if you can, to be tested again. Also, do you have any other symptoms, such as unexplained weight gain (can be as little as 5 lbs - most people don't gain more than 20 from thyroid disease) or exhaustion? Brittle nails?

If you have any of these or other symptoms, PLEASE get yourself (a referral if needed for insurance or appt) to an endocrinologist for more testing!

I have no other suggestions for your hair loss, but your borderline thyroid tests do concern me.

[Talma]

There are a few things that I've heard of for scalp stimulation. You can try the monostat thread...putting the cream diluted with water on your scalp. Many people have had luck with castor oil treatments...applying it to your fingertips and massaging the oil into your scalp. I've also heard of aloe vera juice...putting it into a spray bottle, leave it in the refrigerator and spray your scalp and massage it in a few times a week. There is also carrot oil applied to the scalp. I haven't tried this myself but I have read it in a couple of beauty books. You can get the carrot oil from ebay. Also rosemary supposedly promotes growth. You can add it to your shampoo or to a apple cider vinegar rinse. I have a recipe around here somewhere. I can look for it later if you want it. PM me if you want more details on any of this. Hope that helps.

[royalscorpio]

Yes, I have all those symptoms. Hair loss, brittle nails (so brittle, they kept breaking halfway down the nail bed and it hurt so bad I now get scrylic nails overlay, so they don't break like that.) weight gain and extremly difficult to lose weight, cold intolerance. My regular doctor tested me a handfuk of times. Once was 3.4, another was 12.6 and the next time was 2.6. Honestly, I'm all over the place and that alone to me, seems to warrent treatment. But however, no one wants to treat me.

Hmm.. No idea about my iron level. Last time I gave blood it was 14. That was over 6 months ago. I did lose a ton of it on Prozac... my dose was increased to 40mgm and all of a sudden, I lost a ton of hair. I went off it, and the hair loss went back to 'normal'. But that did speed it up, briefly.

I really do wish my endo would have explored my thryoid better.

[Rebecca.1905]

Is there any way you can get a second opinion? Every one of those symptoms points to a thyroid disorder that (in my humble, non-doctor opinion!) should be treated. I'm so sorry you're dealing with this. Those symptoms, one at a time, aren't so bad, but taken all together can make you just miserable!!

[Madora]

Please get checked for anemia as as soon as possible. I lost a third of my thick hair because I didn't know I had anemia..and I've never regained that thickness. Good luck!

[ravenreed]

I agree with seeing a specialist. There are several different tests they should do to check your thyroid and they might not be doing all of them. Have they ruled out all other possible medical reasons? You might also want to check with a dermatologist while you are at it. Can't possibly hurt. Sometimes you have to be persistent to get doctors to take you seriously. It often seems to me, as a patient, that if they can't give you a reason because they don't know how to fix it, they tell you not to worry about it and send you on your way.

[Nymph]

When I start shedding a lot of hair, it's usually from anemia (which I have more or less all the time). You seem to have other problems as well, but I think it's certainly a good idea to check your iron levels.

[christine1989]

I second what Nymph said about iron. I had a terrible shedding problem in highschool and it turned out to be VERY low iron. A simple iron suppliment went a long way toward thickening my hair up again. It could also be another type of vitamin or mineral defficency so I would reccomend getting a comprehensive blood test. Although doctors are not paying attention to your problem just keep trying new ones. I often find that older doctors are more dismissive of "trivial" problems like hair loss. The younger ones can be more attentive and often more up to date on the latest solutions to medical problems.

[ravenreed]

Another thought, low B-12 can lead to anemia also. Have them check that too.

[girlcat36]

You may still be hypothyroid! To echo some of the other posters---you need to make sure you have TSH, freeT3, and freeT4 tested.
The new range for TSH is .03-3; many doctors still go by the old range of .05-5.0!
I had a TSH of 2.4, and was told my levels were fine. I was losing hair by the handful, freezing cold, fatigued, and gaining weight. Yet my doctor told me I was fine!
It was not until I had a severe mental health crisis(that goes right along with thyroid territory) that someone looked at my freeT3 levels, and they weren't even close to being in range. They were rock bottom, although my TSH was totally fine.

Also, get your ferritin tested. You may be borderline anemic, but with very low ferritin levels.
Low ferritin, even in the presence of normal hematocrit, hemoglobin, and red blood cell count, can cause hairloss.

Make sure your diet has a sufficient amount of iodine. Without enough iodine, the thyroid has trouble converting T4(the storage hormone) into T3(the active hormone).


ETA: Always, always get copies of your lab work!! Sometimes doctors miss things in the lab reports!

[SilvraShadows]

A slight hijack... for those of you on thyroid treatment:

1. Can a thyroid problem be treated in an alternative way... with diet or naturally?
2. Do you need to take meds for the rest of your life once started?
3. Once on treatment, did you regain your thickness back or did you just stop losing hair and found you never did recover your original thickness?

To the OP ~ this is frightening and if you can, do get a second opinion! Girlcat36 has a very informative post. I took notes and hope someday to be able to see a doctor.

[girlcat36]

I am a little different. I do not have a thyroid. It was removed due to suspicions that it was cancerous. While it was not cancerous, the removal of my thyroid has turned my world upside down. I had perfect thyroid function before it was removed, and was sold a bill goods before it was taken out. My doctors told me I would have NO problems--I would just take synthroid once a day, and get my TSH checked once a year.
It has been 2.5 years of hell. My synthroid dose has changed about 15 times in since my surgery in 2008. I am still not stable!!
I was an athlete and full of energy before my thyroidectomy. Now I cannot work out at all, and can only work part-time. It wrecked me. I don't have athyroid, and the surgery killed my parathyroid glands(essential for life, so I 'm screwed there), and now my adrenal glands are messed up because my thyroid levels are so screwed up.
The thyroid is considered the 'Master Gland'---it runs everything, so when it's off---you will feel 'off'!

For those who have a thyroid and think it might be sluggish, these are things that can help:
~adding coconut oil to the diet
~adding dietary iodine(kelp is a good source)
~avoiding goitrogens: soy, cabbage, broccoli, walnuts, etc.
~making sure iron levels are okay

[ravenreed]

In my experience, YMMV, of course:

1) No.
2) Yes.
3) I never lost my hair from that. I had other symptoms, however.




A slight hijack... for those of you on thyroid treatment:

1. Can a thyroid problem be treated in an alternative way... with diet or naturally?
2. Do you need to take meds for the rest of your life once started?
3. Once on treatment, did you regain your thickness back or did you just stop losing hair and found you never did recover your original thickness?

To the OP ~ this is frightening and if you can, do get a second opinion! Girlcat36 has a very informative post. I took notes and hope someday to be able to see a doctor.

[royalscorpio]

Hmm, thank you all for your comments. I will go over my last bloodwork results and see what the freet3 was. My current endo seems to have an odd range they go by, it didn't match anything that I had been reading about. And I still tested -12- at one point. How is that even a little normal? Hypothryoid runs in my family, so I continue to be concerned. I will also add a vitamind supplement to my diet.. something I keep meaning to do anyhow.

[SilvraShadows]

girlcat36 and ravenreed Thank you for answering my questions!

And royalscorpio, your tresses are lovely in your signature picture... !!

[girlcat36]

You're welcome, SilvraShadows!

Also just so you all know, HYPERthyroidism causes hairloss, too. In my case worse than when HYPO.
I am hyper right now, and I should have known--I am suddenly losing alot of hair again in the shower. Just got the labs that show me hyper. :rolleyes: No wonder I can't sleep at night.
So my dose will be changed yet again!

[SilvraShadows]

This is such a frightening thing for you, but you are on top of it! You have such lovely tresses! You are fighting the good fight!

For myself, I am a little helpless. I can't see a doctor and all I can think about is when the time comes (when I can afford this service) there will be endless testing and perhaps no real conclusion... trial and error for awhile, and all the while money flying to the wind to find answers.

So it is on the back burner, this bloodwork I need. I was hoping I could improve my diet and have a magical cure ;)