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texchick
December 19th, 2011, 10:28 AM
Hi everyone,

Last year I was hit pretty hard with thyroid disease and one of the big symptoms is hair loss. At least half of my hair has fallen out. =( I had to cut from waist length to shoulder because it looked so horrible.

The disease is now properly managed and I am seeing some regrowth, but still have handfuls of hair coming out daily. My doctor says hair is so sensitive it can take it a long time to recover. I can see my scalp in lots of places which makes me really sad. It is especially thin around my hairline and at the back of my head.

I'm just wondering if anyone else here has been through this kind of thing and recovered their hair. I'd really like some tips on how to help it stop falling out, topical treatments, supplements, minerals?

A little about my current hair care...I currently use a boar bristle brush and a comb. I wash with baking soda and acv and use filtered water. I blow dry my hair but do not use any styling product or hot irons. No chemical treatments. Vegan diet.

I appreciate any suggestions or advice =)

girlcat36
December 19th, 2011, 10:36 AM
If you are on Synthroid and TSH is the only thyroid lab your doc is running, you may still have low levels of actual thyroid hormone. TSH is a measurement of a pituitary hormone, and will not tell you how much thyroid hormone you actually have available.
Iron helps our cells to actually use thyroid hormone, so if you are not at optimal levels you may be still be hypo.

I am using castor oil; my hairloss is better, but still more than average.

ETA: lost half my post somehow! If you are on Synthroid, know that one of the side effects of synthroid is hairloss.

girlcat36
December 19th, 2011, 10:42 AM
I was assuming you were HYPO not HYPER. HYPERthyroid also causes hairloss, so I'm not sure which you are. My doctor said it take 3 months after fixing a problem that causes a shed for the shedding to stop. I actually cried when my doctor said that, real tears right in the office. It sucks. I have mostly hypothyroid for at least two years, due to being undermedicated by ignorant doctors.

texchick
December 19th, 2011, 10:47 AM
Thank you for the castor oil idea, I have some and will try it tonight!

Yes, I started out on synthroid, and it was awful all around for me, major side effects. Then I got on dessicated thyroid a couple of months ago and felt better quickly.

I love your curls =)

texchick
December 19th, 2011, 11:01 AM
ooh can't edit posts here I guess =) You are right, its hard to find a doctor who knows what they are doing wrt thyroid. I saw 5! Im glad you finally found a good one, what does your doctor have you on?

I have the autoimmune disease, with hypo symptoms and some adrenal involvement. If the dessicated didn't work the next step for me was testing the pituitary but it seems to be working beautifully on all my symptoms except the hair loss. I also take an adrenal glandular support that I am in the process of trying to taper off of.

FrozenBritannia
December 19th, 2011, 11:05 AM
I have been hypo for years, but didn't have any hair issues that I can remember, but I hear it is common. My mother lost her eyebrows. Sorry if this isn't helping, just wanted to let you know you are not the only one.
I think there actually a thyroid support thread around here somewhere?

gazelle
December 19th, 2011, 11:38 AM
You are hypo right? Tour t4 hormone may still be lower than normal. Doctors prefer increasing the hormone pill slowly, to prevent side effects. So your doctor may increase your pill your next control. This is what happened to me

I did have hair loss and very fragile hair. Garlic helped my hair loss, but the smell was awful

gazelle
December 19th, 2011, 11:44 AM
sorry for the same message sending

moon2dove
December 19th, 2011, 11:50 AM
I got terrible hair loss over the past couple of years due to being Hypo T. My hair is just recovering from a hair loss bout from April this year. I didn't want to cut my just past shoulder length hair short, so I started to wear it up, that sort of made me feel better. I also stopped using hairdryer and straighteners, which of course helped a lot too.

nellreno
December 19th, 2011, 06:52 PM
I got hypothyroidism about 8 years ago, it wasn't until about a year ago that I noticed that my hair wasn't thinning anymore and now it feels like I've actually gained some thickness. Now, I didn't actually start properly taking care of my hair until February 2010 and before that I was coloring and straightening my hair a lot so that did ruin any regrowth I may have had and is probably why it took me so long.

texchick
December 19th, 2011, 10:36 PM
Oooh boy I did not want to hear 8 years! Was all that time on replacement thyroid?

akilina
December 19th, 2011, 10:39 PM
i got tested for this about a year ago when i was freaking out that all my hair was falling out...i was hoping for an excuse for it but no, thyroid was perfectly fine. i think its just the climate i live in now. this has never happened to me and then sure enough this winter again im losing ALL my hair :(

nellreno
December 19th, 2011, 11:15 PM
Oooh boy I did not want to hear 8 years! Was all that time on replacement thyroid?

Yes, but I don't think my case is typical for everyone. On top of the thyroid problem I was also severely depressed and stressed out, which never helps the health of your hair/scalp.

BlazingHeart
December 20th, 2011, 01:10 AM
I'm hypo when I'm not medicated properly. It tends to take me 6 months from when I start taking the synthroid to when I stop losing hair, and then pretty soon after that I start seeing regrowth. I've got a little halo of it right now, because my schedule got messed up and I wasn't remembering to take my meds regularly.

~Blaze

girlcat36
December 20th, 2011, 09:09 PM
ooh can't edit posts here I guess =) You are right, its hard to find a doctor who knows what they are doing wrt thyroid. I saw 5! Im glad you finally found a good one, what does your doctor have you on?

I have the autoimmune disease, with hypo symptoms and some adrenal involvement. If the dessicated didn't work the next step for me was testing the pituitary but it seems to be working beautifully on all my symptoms except the hair loss. I also take an adrenal glandular support that I am in the process of trying to taper off of.

I am on Erfa Thyroid which is a dessicated natural thyroid from Canada. I am thyroidless and currently take 3.25 grains. I also suspect hypopit in my case since my TSH is suppressed and my FreeT levels very low. I take isocort and rhodiola for my adrenals.

texchick
December 20th, 2011, 10:39 PM
I am on Erfa Thyroid which is a dessicated natural thyroid from Canada. I am thyroidless and currently take 3.25 grains. I also suspect hypopit in my case since my TSH is suppressed and my FreeT levels very low. I take isocort and rhodiola for my adrenals.

I appreciate you sharing. I have done lots of reading to figure out how to heal myself, hit and miss results of course lol. I am waiting on test results right now to see how the dessicated is affecting my labs. How does the isocort help you?

Pixie0763
December 21st, 2011, 07:46 AM
I've been hypo for 15 years, do best on desiccated (Armour) thyroid. Getting a doctor to treat my hypo aggressively enough was my challenge, once that happened, all symptoms resolved in a matter of a couple of months. You may want to add Biotin supplements to your regimen. I have also tried MSM but couldn't tell that it helped?

girlcat36
December 21st, 2011, 08:26 AM
I appreciate you sharing. I have done lots of reading to figure out how to heal myself, hit and miss results of course lol. I am waiting on test results right now to see how the dessicated is affecting my labs. How does the isocort help you?

The isocort controls my adrenal(low cortisol) symtoms: diarrhea, shaking, heart pounding, dark undereye circles, weakness, salt craving, etc.
It costs 30.00 a bottle OTC, but I cannot function without it.