# Hair Color



## polly

Hi everyone,

Thought this was the best place to ask about hair color and Thyroid disease.
I have read many different things on the web about what you should do and not do as far as dying your hair and am totally confused. I've never dyed my hair until this past Tuesday and now am even more confused. I had a cut and a semi permanent dye put on. I went with semi permanent because I was afraid to use anything harsh since I am losing some hair due to a change in my thyroid levels at this time. Even though I was lead to believe that the semi would last about 6 weeks I am already seeing gray again after two washes.

I would love to hear from others who are trying to cover the gray.

Thanks


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## Andros

polly said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> Thought this was the best place to ask about hair color and Thyroid disease.
> I have read many different things on the web about what you should do and not do as far as dying your hair and am totally confused. I've never dyed my hair until this past Tuesday and now am even more confused. I had a cut and a semi permanent dye put on. I went with semi permanent because I was afraid to use anything harsh since I am losing some hair due to a change in my thyroid levels at this time. Even though I was lead to believe that the semi would last about 6 weeks I am already seeing gray again after two washes.
> 
> I would love to hear from others who are trying to cover the gray.
> 
> Thanks


Hi, Polly and welcome. My hair started turning gray when I was in my 20's. Now snow white. I would never dream of coloring it so I cannot answer your question but I wanted to welcome you.

Others will chime in, I am sure.


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## Melimac

Well, I'm 44 and gave up coloring two years ago, coloring every six weeks was getting expensive, especially when I had skunk stripe by week two.
This website helped me so much, should you decide to forgo the color:
http://goinggraylookinggreat.com/


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## lavender

When I used to dye my hair for fun in my 20s, it usually washed out pretty quickly, and grey is harder to cover. 
Now I am 33 and loving my silver hairs! Noticed my first one in January. It was pure white! I have wondered if this has been related to thyroid disease at all, but I suppose it could be age too. I am sad that my hair has lost its beautiful auburn tones this summer, but oh well...hair color is pretty minor compared to everything else I have gone through. 
I figure I have earned every single one of these white hairs, so I am not pulling them out like my mom did for years. With all the thyroid hair loss, I might have nothing left!


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## GD Women

I don't hid my gray hair. Hardly have any and I am reaching a 100 yrs old in the future. My sister says it looks like blond streaks sides and front. I have noticed that I have single strands of copper and shows out in the sun. Go figure, I don't know of any red heads on either side of family. Wondering if it has to do with being hyper. I have read others with Graves' mention they have copper too. I was born with lots of black hair then it turned toe head to now of dirty blond or light brown with gray and copper. I look like one of those bald men with a reddish toupee that doesn't match his original left hair. I really don't like it but I am not going back to coloring as I did 35 yrs ago when I worked. I care about my weight more than hair - well, to each her own.


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## Guest

I can not remembr where at this time but I read about premature graying could be caused by thyroid problems. I am 51 and stopped coloring my hair a few years ago as you said due to the cost and alsoof being tired of having to do it. I have been mostly gray for a long, long time now. My stylist loves my hair and is proud that I stopped coloring, she said some people will pay good money to get theirs to look like mine. She has noticed some hair loss as I have always had real thick & heavy hair, I still have alot but alot is gone bye-bye now. She does not have to texturize as much as she use too.

I talked to my son about it because he is 29 and has so much gray and has for years in his pretty, thick black hair. Mine was like that before I made color changes and it changing colors by itself to what it wanted to be.

So if people want to be nosy and ask questions abou my hair, I just say my stylist does it for me!


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## Guessgirl

Hi Polly, I may not be able to answer alot on here but, I have worked in salons and spas for a decade now. Love to cut, color, wax,..u get the pic. Anyway, I have used the same formula on my hair for years w/ no problems. I started my meds almost a year ago. Kinda let my roots go and stayed a brunette while my husband was deployed. Well, decided about 2 weeks b4 he was due home to bring back his sassy, desperate housewife, red. SAME SALON ONLY FORMULa, went around doing housework while I timed it. I washed it out and I was a strawberry blonde, not a good look on me. Never had anything like that happen to me, however, I forgot to take into account that I had been on meds for over 6 months. Took some tweeking and I am my normal red. ANY med you are on changes how your hair reacts to chemicals. Thyroid being a hormone imbalance could def be a problem. That is another reason why they tell pregnant women to wait until 2nd trimester to color or perm. All those changes can give you something totally different than what you wanted, I dont care how many times you have had the same process. Whatever new growth could be all kinda crazy. A responsible stylist knows this and will not do that b/c it is a gamble. Sometimes ok/ sometimes not. Heart meds, cancer meds, etc... be careful of any change in meds affecting your chemical processes. As for your grey, semi perm color will only go so far, esp on grey.It also depends on how much you shampoo and type of shampoo or conditioner. I lways wait after coloring at least 3-4 days to wash. Too much conditioner will pull colr molecules from the hair faster than any shampoo. If you want real coverage, go permanent.


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## GD Women

I believe that is in mostly hypos who have premature gray. One gray hair under the age of 30 is considered premature gray and is a common medical knowledge.

Tidbit - more hypo's are left handers as well.


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## nyer_at_hrt

i started highlighting my hair about a year and a half ago for giggles...my neighbor is a stylist and offered to do it. I will be 36 next week and don't have gray even if I didn't highlight....my stylist did a few highlights today and then did the rest in one color to change it up and fix my breakage.


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## lainey

I would say it also depends on the base color your hair has. The gray tends to blend better in someone with lighter hair. If you have dark hair, you're going to see the gray growing out more quickly because of the contrast. Adding some highlights as part of your processing will make these less noticeable.


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## fuzzy

lesson on spelling, gray is grey and color is colour, come on you americans!!!!!!!!!!!11


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## polly

Thanks everyone for the input.

*Guessgirl*
I have another question about shampoo. I had read online *not to use* shampoo with* Sodium Laureth Sulfate* in it. Seems most shampoo has that in it. Does it really matter ? Right now I'm using Redken color extend. Would you recommend anything else ? A lot of the grey is back but it still looks better. My hair is a dark brown so the grey stands out. I've had a good bit of of hair loss off and on since diagnosed in August 2006. My hair is thick so that has really helped. I know the hair thing is something minor but it does get to you at times.

Thanks again for your input and if you can help with these questions.

Have a good night


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## lavender

My scalp gets really itchy when I use anything with Sodium Laureth Sulfate in it. I use a tea tree oil shampoo from Trader Joe's (not sure if they exist in your area) that seems to work the best for my scalp problems (which quite likely have nothing to do with thyroid disease, but I think all auto-immune is related).

I am still loosing quite a bit of hair, Since I have really thick hair and a lot to start with, I have only noticed minor thinning which seems like very little to complain about. I'm just wondering if it will end......

I told myself months ago that if it got bad enough, I would just use this as an excuse to shave my head! I did it once in College, and as much as I like my hair, I think it could be fun to sport a bald head again if I had to!

I think I need to be careful about what I wish for!


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## polly

Like you, my hair is thick so others really can't tell, just mainly me. Well of course my husband too, when it is coming out more it seems to get on everything ! I try not to worry about it but it does get depressing when *every *time you brush your hair there's more than usual in it. When my levels straighten out it gets better.

I know my Graves/Hyperthyroidism has been mild compared to others, so I try not to complain too much, and be thankful that it's not worse.

Hope you have a good day : )


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## peaches

Coming from a family full of hair dressers I can tell you this: Semi permanent hair color is different for every one. Some people lose the color very quickly others not so much. I color my hair about every 6 weeks with permanent hair color and yes no matter the type of hair color gray hair will fade way faster than non-gray. I too lose quite a bit of hair. My hair dresser notices that sometimes the hair loss is worse than others. I am very experimental with my color and have not had any ill effects from coloring. I will continue to color my hair because when it is fresh it actually makes my hair look fuller. (I highlight most of the time and it helps witht he fullness look). Depending on the color you choose you may notice that some of the color gets on the towel you use for drying. I notice is for the first week of a fresh color. All color whether semi permanent or permanent fades. I like reds and that fades the worst of all. Good luck with coloring and just know that there are lots of women out there who are very hair conscious so you are not alone.


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## usmc4myson

I can chime in here too!! I am a 41 yo natural brunette...with LOTS of gray! I use a permanent color from the health food store...no ammonia. I used to get a frantically itchy scalp after getting color done at the salon. Since I now do my own, using the brand from the health food store, I have no more itchies! 
Since my hair is so dark, the grays stick out like a sore thumb, so I choose to cover them up. The roots grow in SO SO quickly, it doesn't make sense to go to a salon.

I'd love to stop coloring, but with thick below shoulder length hair, I would have to wear a baseball hat for about a year until it all grew in naturally!!


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## KellyD124

I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's (I'm hypothyroid) about a month after my son was born which is over a year ago, I have since been on synthroid and my levels have only slightly gotten better (just to give a little background of my own journey with this disease) That being said, I have colored my hair professionally off an on for about 7-8 years and have never had any issue with my hair not taking color or taking it in an odd way. I am naturally blonde but every winter I like to change it to a dark brown or red/auburn color so naturally the winter before I was diagnosed I had it colored a red color, I went in to my hairdresser this March to go thru the process to get back to the lighter color I like to keep during the spring/summer, having absolutely no idea that once again my thyroid issues would control yet another issue of my life, my hair! It absolutely would not take what we tried to do and I literally spent 7 hours in the salon because she felt awful because she had no idea that my medication esp effected this. To make a long story short, does anyone have any insight into how I can even slowly begin to get to even a strawberry blonde color if that is all I can get. We tried everything and I just have no clue how to get back to where I want to be :/


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