# Hair loss



## Jezahb (May 17, 2012)

The hairloss is making me batty. I was diagnosed in May and since then my hairloss has continued. Its really diffuse, so not in any particular pattern...just thinning all over. I have no history of hair loss on either side of my family in males or females, so I am doubting it is female pattern baldness...but I am scared. How long until the hair loss gets better? I have been on Armour since July, but found out recently my levels were still too high so most likely I will be getting a dosage bump.

I am just freaked out that at 26 years old I will be a bald woman. Already I can't wear my hair normally or else you see the thinning (its more obvious in places that were already thin like the front of my part and temples) and I regularly cry when I have to empty my shower drains. My doc won't do much because she won't give me a referral to a derm when my TSH is still so high and my iron so low, since she blame it on that.

If you experienced hair loss, how long did it take for it to stop? Did it stop or did it trigger pattern baldness? :sad0049:


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

How high is your TSH, and what is being done about it? If you were being properly medicated since May, it seems to me that your hair loss should have stopped months ago.


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## CA-Lynn (Apr 29, 2010)

Any harsh hair chemicals being used?


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## Jezahb (May 17, 2012)

My TSH was originally 4.8 when I was diagnosed, and now its 5.7...and I am on Armour so its somehow getting worse while on meds.

I am also Iron Deficient, which can cause hair loss and my iron only got back to low normal in October.

I use nothing on my hair, except shampoo and conditioner. I never style it using product or use heat on it, never had to really though now that it is thin I am considering using something to bulk it up


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

I don't want to sound like I'm pushing this supplement, but it was the only thing that helped my hair loss when it was really bad (and I tried everything under the sun--evening primrose oil, Maxi Hair, biotin, etc.)--Viviscal. You can find it on Amazon or sometimes in Walgreen's now, too. It's not cheap, but I swear, it's the only thing that worked for me when my Hashi's was really bad.

But most importantly, you need to get your thyroid and iron numbers back in line, that is the key thing that will stop your hair loss.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Jezahb said:


> My TSH was originally 4.8 when I was diagnosed, and now its 5.7...and I am on Armour so its somehow getting worse while on meds.
> 
> I am also Iron Deficient, which can cause hair loss and my iron only got back to low normal in October.
> 
> I use nothing on my hair, except shampoo and conditioner. I never style it using product or use heat on it, never had to really though now that it is thin I am considering using something to bulk it up


And you are testing free t3 and free t4 in addition to TSH, yes?


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## nvsmom (Sep 30, 2012)

My hair loss BECAME excessive when I started synthroid; it was just some thinning until I started treatment and now it is quite thin and scarey. That increased hair loss continued for about 2-3 months and now has slowed. People on this board said synthroid can cause hair loss as a side effect but my doctor says it's alopecia aretia (sp?) or lupus (not that he'll do anything about it).

I think my body was under some sort of autoimmune attack during the time of my increased hair loss, I just have no idea what was doing the attacking (I also had pretty bad joint pain, fatigue and a red rashy face). I mention this because it sounds like your body has upped it's autoimmune attack if your TSH has gone up while on Armour. As I understand it, TSH often gets very very low when one is on Armour because of the increased T3. For some reason your pituitary thought you needed more T4 and T3 and made more TSH... an odd circumstance... What did your doctor say caused your raised TSH?

Biosil is a supplement that many of my fellow celiacs swear by to help hair grow back faster and stronger (celiac caused thinning hair too). It might be worth trying to help regrowth when it starts. I now have lots of baby tiny hairs sprouting up all over the top of my head. lol

Best wishes to you. I know it's frustrating.


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## Jezahb (May 17, 2012)

I am getting so angry with my doctor!

I went to see a nurse practitioner in her office today for an unrelated issue (shoulder strain) and while there inquired if my doctor had seen the test results yet and what she wanted to do. Apparently my doc saw then and wrote a incredibly short pointless note. It said "TSH very slightly elevated, was supposed to make appt here". First of all, I don't consider a TSH over 5 to be "slight" and secondly, how does essentially blaming me for it because I didn't make an appt (was not my fault, I called and nobody ever got back to me) have to do with anything? No solution, no dosage change...just that note.

So the nurse said she would inquire further into what to do, and I received a phone call a few hours ago saying my doc wanted me to come in and have my TSH tested again there. This is pointless, my TSH was just tested 4 days ago! Yes it wasn't by them, but a test is a test. Not to mention I bumped up my dose of Armour from 30 mg to 60 mg when I got the results since I was feeling terrible. I feel better now that I did that, but if I go and have my TSH tested tomorrow it will no longer be elevated because of it. I am so frustrated. 

What should I do? Stop taking the double dose? How long will it take for my TSH to go back up if I do? I am having my free T3 and T4 tested too, and supposedly those were in the "normal" range (trying to get actual numbers from these labs is like pulling teeth). Then again, my doc apparently considers a TSH of 5.76 to be nearly "normal" so...no hope there


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## allowingtoo (Mar 31, 2012)

I feel for you! That's my number one complaint with my thyroid, my hair loss. I can live with just about everything else - but give me back my hair that I had before the thyroid diagnosis!

Having said that - I can tell you that if I keep my numbers really really low, like in the 2 or 3's, my hair loss is less. But that's just me and that's MY dosage, you will have to find what works for you and where you feel best. I take a dosage of Tirosint and cytomel combined. It can be hard to convince the Dr to prescribe the level of medication to achieve this however, you just have to be persistent. You will know when you feel at your best and when your hair quits falling out! Your Dr is not YOU!


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## surge (Aug 15, 2012)

I feel this post viscerally, since one of my most persistent symptoms when my thyroid went nutty starting last April was hair loss, yards of it. Yuck. Here are some of my observations:

I DO think it's often TSH related, though the iron levels complicate it. At one point, I did get a referral to a dermatologist and he barely even looked at me. He just said: look, you have wonky thyroid numbers right now, particularly tsh (at that point, it was right b/w 5-6). He said it would take time but it would calm down and that he sees this a lot. He also said to get on a multivitamin with iron (he actually looked totally alarmed that I WASN'T already taking iron). Andros here recommended Floradix, which is a liquid and is great for quick absorption. I took it for about 3 months, and then because of travel switched to bluebonnet pills b/c they're non-constipating and easier to travel with. They don't have vitamin C, so I do always take a vit. c tab to help with absorption.

Which brings me to my next observation: absorption. I find I lose less hair when I'm gluten free. I know I don't have an allergy to wheat (I don't have typical symptoms and I have been tested for celiac's), but I also know that b/c my hashis was swinging pretty wildly, I was inflamed and this might have complicated absorption issues.

Other supplements: I also take biotin and evening primrose oil. I've been losing hair long enough that I see and feel regrowth. I'm on levoxyl, and have been on generic t4 and in the past, I had minor hair loss that mitigated itself once my tsh came down, so for me, it isn't a t3 related issue. I do think the evening primrose oil helps with the thinning in the front and on the temples (which I have). It did take 6-8 weeks to show improvement.

Another poster mentioned vivisical, which I also took. It is expensive. It did not stop hair fall for me, though I definitely had a lot of new growth that it might have supported.

Keeping on top of hormone numbers is the most critical, and also know that any change will probably be a gradual change. As your tsh comes down, the hair loss will slow.

Your numbers are off, which does mean that you're undermedicated. You need to be tested every 5-6 weeks and have your dose adjusted. Have you been on the same dose since May until you bumped yourself? At this point, I would probably tell your doctor that you bumped your own dose because you were frustrated and ask if it's an appropriate increase for your levels. If so, put off a test for 5 weeks and re-evaluate how you're doing on the 60. If not, uhh. I'm not sure. How long have you been on the double dose?

Doctors' offices are busy places and while I find the nurses and office staff I work with are amazing, I still have phone calls slip through the cracks. Don't be afraid to call back the next day if no one gets back to you. I follow up often within the same day if it's been 4-5 hours and I haven't had a call back, and every time, I get an apology or "I'm glad you called back; I've been meaning to call, etc." I am never that *****y a person, but I'm a tyrant about these appointments and tests b/c so much waiting time is involved with thyroid, I don't want to wait any more than I have to. So I make sure I get my follow up appointments at EXACTLY 6 weeks. When my endo tried to change my appointment to 7.5 weeks, I just called right back and said I didn't want to wait that long unless I absolutely had to, and lo, they found a spot for me a week earlier...I'm pushy, but I use my nicest possible voice.

Good luck. Try to believe that it won't last forever (you won't be bald!)


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## Jezahb (May 17, 2012)

Thanks for all the advice and commiserating. I just started taking Evening Primrose Oil and am still taking Biotin (been on that for over a year)...I hope the EPO helps. I convinced my doc to let me stay on the 60mg of Armour, and so we are seeing how that goes. Its been over a week on it, and I don't feel hyper so I think it will work. I am being retested in 4 weeks to make sure. My iron is under control, so I doubt the hair loss is because of that since it was in the lower end of normal in Oct and I have been continuing to take high potency iron supps. I just feel so frustrated with this, I am hoping since 60 mg is a decent dose finally that maybe I will see results? I was never happy with the small 30 mg she had me on since I still felt miserable though I was in the "normal" range (1.36). I may be one of the few people who don't feel good unless they are under a 1.0, and maybe that will stop my hair loss too.

Would love to try viviscal but alas, I am 26 and live on my own...so my expendable income is meager to say the least! I am just glad my new insurance is finally covering my Armour, went from being 20 dollars a refill to 3 dollars


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## surge (Aug 15, 2012)

I'm so glad your doc is letting you stay on the 60. That's what I was hoping for, and I bet you were too, right? It does take awhile for the tsh to start dropping and for your body to calm on down. It sounds like your offering your body what it needs as far as nutrients in order to make new hair-- iron, biotin, epo to counter the testosterone production. Just try to get through the next couple of weeks and hopefully you'll start noticing a decrease in the shedding.


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## Jezahb (May 17, 2012)

I am very happy my doc let me stay on the 60 mg, hopefully that gets it back in line! I just could do without having to fear cleaning my shower drain due to the huge mat of blonde hair I usually pull out of it. Losing my hair has given me a complex :sad0047:


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

I totally understand that feeling. I used to cry every time I washed my hair because there was so much hair in the drain; it just mentally does a number on you. But just know that you will not go bald (even though it may seem like it some days!) and eventually the hair loss will slow down and start growing back in.


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