# Hair shed and now grey hairs??



## missydawn (Aug 19, 2011)

Hello

I am 29 years old, I tested positive for hashimoto. One doctor thinks I had a bout with thyroiditis the other thinks I have secondary hypothyroid. I had MRI pituitary is fine. Also my other hormone test are fine such as FSH and Prolactin. Leading up to Feb. I went though a lot of stress for a few months. In Feb my thyroid levels where very low then the next tow months high. I was put on medication..Now In May my hair texture changed within it seems like a week. Then the shedding began, It seems to slow down and then pick up a little more. I see new hair growth but I am using Nioxin. Some new hair growth looks thin. It seems just over the past two I am getting a lot of greys all though out my hair. Some of it is new hair growth but mostly it is on hair the long hair. I dont know if this was caused by the emotional stress, the thyroid or the medication. If stress I would think the grey hair would have arrived a lot earlier?? Any thoughts? Anything that can help? Thank you

Blessings 
Melissa


----------



## northernlite (Oct 28, 2010)

I would guess that I lost approximately 1/3 of my hair before being diagnosed. More even in some places. The hair I lost was light brown and now all my new hair growing in is grey!! I am 50 and had a few grey hairs anyway but now I am quite silver. But fortunately, my hair is normally thick again, just a different color!

Interesting article below about grey hair. You aren't that early, it says people start going grey mid 30's.
http://www.webmd.com/healthy-beauty/guide/abcs-premature-graying

In my case, I think I am just replacing more hair than I normally would so that is why the fast move to grey. You might be seeing some of the same thing.


----------



## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

I started going grey in my early thirties...prior to that, I NEVER thought I would color my hair. Now, I'm 42 and have been doing that very thing for probably 10 years.

As for your hair falling out, if one of the new medications you were put on was Synthroid, Levothyroxine, or some semblance thereof, a side effect of that is losing your hair for the first few months. I started my thyroid replacement meds in May or June of this year, and have lost a lot of hair since then. But I have VERY thick hair, so it's not at all noticeable. The hair loss has slowed in the past few weeks.


----------



## I DClaire (Jul 31, 2011)

My hair was jet black when I was young BUT I was _salt and pepper_ by the time I was in college. I've been solid silver-gray since I was in my early 40's. My hair is thin and baby fine, I dread the prospect of losing what little I've got!

Talking about stress though, I may be as wrong as wrong can be but I honestly believe I've had subclinical thyroid issues since I was in my mid-30's. Nothing major but my gut feeling is something was happening even back then. I'm now 65. I am 100% convinced stress has done a number on my health.

I've lived with almost unbearable stress since my father died unexpectedly in 2004. My 89-year old mother is a difficult person and I've had a hard time understanding and working through a lot of her problems. Then, in 2007, my 15-year old pug (Rosebud) got terribly ill with arthritis and a heart condition. I'm not kidding when I say I slept on an Aerobed in our den for a year so I could get up and down all night, take her outside, etc. I was totally exhausted when she died in 2008 but I thought I'd be able to return to a normal routine and I'd feel better. Three months later my 13-year old pug (Gumdrop) was diagnosed with a degenerative spinal disc.

I went back to sleeping on the Aerobed so I could help Gummy. The saddest thing was that while her back legs became all but useless, her overall health was virtually perfect. I was determined to give her the best quality of life possible and I did for almost a year...but, by then, I literally was almost crazy from sleep deprivation and worry. After Gummy died, I thought surely I'd get a chance to get my own health back. I *KNEW* I was in trouble, I could feel and see the toll the past several years had taken on me...plus Mother presented new challenges every day.

Unbelievably, 3 months after Gumdrop died, a wasp stung my healthy 10-year old pug's right eye resulting in three tremendous efforts to save his eye. The eye ulcerated, the "third eyelid" was sewn shut but the stitches pulled out, then the eye was stitched closed for 2-3 months, finally we went out of state to a specialist - all in an effort to save the eye and hopefully some vision, which we did but it took a solid year of hard work and stress.

My endocrinologist, when I asked her if something caused my thyroid problems, said it could often be the result of one of two things - serious illness or serious stress. I had not been seriously ill in the truest sense of the word BUT I know serious stress has taken a toll on me and I'm not altogether sure how healthy I'm ever going to feel.

It's a shame when we find ourselves in such stressful situations but sometimes that's what life becomes, through no fault of our own. I've developed a whole new admiration for people whose entire lives are stress-filled because of things they have no control over.


----------

