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Evening Primrose Oil + Conception Question
I have had hypothyriodism since birth. I have more or less been in a very stable condition and consistently took Synthroid at a 0.05mg dosage throughout my life.
But lately, I have noticed more hair loss. I changed to an anti-hair loss shampoo and it helped, but my hair seems to be taking longer to grow back. I have fine baby hair around places and in certain lights, they look like bald spots.
I researched about evening primrose oil pills and ordered some online. However, I have some trouble swallowing pills and the recommended dosage is three 500mg pills per day (totaling 1,500mg). If I only took one 500mg pill per day, would the pills not work at all? Or will my hair just grow at a slower rate?
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My second question is about conception. I read that evening primrose oil supplements can promote a fertile environment for conception. However, I am NOT trying to conceive. I do not want to become pregnant.
How long does the fertile effect of evening primrose oil last?
For example, if I don't take the supplement for 2 days, would my body already be reverted back to a not-as-fertile state as it would be if I had taken the evening primrose oil pill?
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I have already gone to test my levels after noticing the hair loss but my levels didn't change. I am 25, and I'm unsure if this may be a factor.
I've also noticed that I'm having more trouble going to sleep, I'm more moody, and even when I'm not hungry, I have the urge to snack on something. I am unsure if this is related to stress from work (I'm stressed but not THAT stressed) or something going on with my thyroid. Would evening primrose oil help with those symptoms too?
But lately, I have noticed more hair loss. I changed to an anti-hair loss shampoo and it helped, but my hair seems to be taking longer to grow back. I have fine baby hair around places and in certain lights, they look like bald spots.
I researched about evening primrose oil pills and ordered some online. However, I have some trouble swallowing pills and the recommended dosage is three 500mg pills per day (totaling 1,500mg). If I only took one 500mg pill per day, would the pills not work at all? Or will my hair just grow at a slower rate?
---
My second question is about conception. I read that evening primrose oil supplements can promote a fertile environment for conception. However, I am NOT trying to conceive. I do not want to become pregnant.
How long does the fertile effect of evening primrose oil last?
For example, if I don't take the supplement for 2 days, would my body already be reverted back to a not-as-fertile state as it would be if I had taken the evening primrose oil pill?
---
I have already gone to test my levels after noticing the hair loss but my levels didn't change. I am 25, and I'm unsure if this may be a factor.
I've also noticed that I'm having more trouble going to sleep, I'm more moody, and even when I'm not hungry, I have the urge to snack on something. I am unsure if this is related to stress from work (I'm stressed but not THAT stressed) or something going on with my thyroid. Would evening primrose oil help with those symptoms too?
Thank you very much! Fortunately, I don't get many PMS symptoms but I do feel really down and lack patience a week before my period. I hope EPO will help. I got them today, so I hope they'll work for me!
Hi!
I had a hysterectomy (kept one ovary) a few years ago and I was just told after a blood test I'm post menopausal (yes, im in shock, lol)
I've had many symptoms for almost 2 years now but no pms now when I think about it. But I've read that many, many women use it for just that.
One thing I've just learned about is natural progesterone creams, (you can find it at ex Sprouts) is supposed to be very helpful for PMS as well. Because most women have an estrogen-progesterone imbalance. It's all natural, made from plants. Look it up, it sounds promising.
I hope you'll find relief, good luck.
I had a hysterectomy (kept one ovary) a few years ago and I was just told after a blood test I'm post menopausal (yes, im in shock, lol)
I've had many symptoms for almost 2 years now but no pms now when I think about it. But I've read that many, many women use it for just that.
One thing I've just learned about is natural progesterone creams, (you can find it at ex Sprouts) is supposed to be very helpful for PMS as well. Because most women have an estrogen-progesterone imbalance. It's all natural, made from plants. Look it up, it sounds promising.
I hope you'll find relief, good luck.
Thank you for posting about your experience! Besides hair, I also heard that EVO helps with mood and PMS symptoms. Do you find that to be true?
My hair loss started up again this summer as I was dropping fast to very low levels after being very high (subacute thyroiditis) My hair also started to feel gross and straw like. I took/take 3000 mg/day, 2000 mg in the am, 1000 mg in the evening.
In less than 2 weeks my hairs structured changed drastically to very smooth and silky and shiny. My hair loss also stopped dead in its track. It was amazing to me.
That lasted for quite some time but ever since my endo started to mess around with my Levothyroxine doseage, wanting to lowering me even though my levels are low the hair loss has picked up again. It's not terrible and my hairs structure is still nice and smooth but since I have very fine hair naturally every individual hair counts.
I will continue to take EPO regardless for the rest of my life. I also make sure I take fish oil every day to make sure the omega 3 and 6 are balanced.
If you have trouble swallowing the big gel caps, just make a tiny hole in the capsule and drip it into a spoon and take it that way. I can't say for sure but I think it's tasteless.
I got my sister to take EPO as well, she has Graves. And she also noticed a huge positive change in her hairs structure. She doesn't have any hair loss but her hair also felt crunchy, like having a permanent bad-hair-day.
In less than 2 weeks my hairs structured changed drastically to very smooth and silky and shiny. My hair loss also stopped dead in its track. It was amazing to me.
That lasted for quite some time but ever since my endo started to mess around with my Levothyroxine doseage, wanting to lowering me even though my levels are low the hair loss has picked up again. It's not terrible and my hairs structure is still nice and smooth but since I have very fine hair naturally every individual hair counts.
I will continue to take EPO regardless for the rest of my life. I also make sure I take fish oil every day to make sure the omega 3 and 6 are balanced.
If you have trouble swallowing the big gel caps, just make a tiny hole in the capsule and drip it into a spoon and take it that way. I can't say for sure but I think it's tasteless.
I got my sister to take EPO as well, she has Graves. And she also noticed a huge positive change in her hairs structure. She doesn't have any hair loss but her hair also felt crunchy, like having a permanent bad-hair-day.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Since we're a thyroid disorder forum, it's pretty standard to request thyroid related labs whenever anyone has an issue, such as hair loss, that could be caused by an imbalance in thyroid hormones.
Just because your test results are exactly the same as they've been in the past, doesn't mean they're right for you and since hair loss is a major hypothyroid symptom, we'd have reason to believe your levels may not be optimal. Of course, it's your prerogative not to post your labs; however, as gimel pointed out, we have no idea who you are or anything about you, so I'm confused about your refusal to post them. Since you choose not to share your labs, I'm afraid there's really not a lot we can tell you, as we'd first have to determine if your hair loss might be thyroid related. Using any other supplement when additional thyroid hormone is needed is really a lesson in futility.
I've done some reading on EPO and I can't find anything that says it will help regrow hair, although I did find that it can help with healthier hair, in general.
From my experience, taking less than a therapeutic dose is pretty much a waste of money. In other words, if the label calls for 500 mg 3 times/day and you only take it once/day, I can't see that it will do much... That's like my doctor prescribing 100 mcg of Levoxyl and I only take 50 mcg... it's not going to make me feel well. Instead of struggling with 3 pills all at once, why not take 1 pill at 3 different times during the day?
From my reading there's no scientific proof that EPO provides a more fertile environment. However, adequate birth control is always in order when one doesn't want to become pregnant.
Just because your test results are exactly the same as they've been in the past, doesn't mean they're right for you and since hair loss is a major hypothyroid symptom, we'd have reason to believe your levels may not be optimal. Of course, it's your prerogative not to post your labs; however, as gimel pointed out, we have no idea who you are or anything about you, so I'm confused about your refusal to post them. Since you choose not to share your labs, I'm afraid there's really not a lot we can tell you, as we'd first have to determine if your hair loss might be thyroid related. Using any other supplement when additional thyroid hormone is needed is really a lesson in futility.
I've done some reading on EPO and I can't find anything that says it will help regrow hair, although I did find that it can help with healthier hair, in general.
From my experience, taking less than a therapeutic dose is pretty much a waste of money. In other words, if the label calls for 500 mg 3 times/day and you only take it once/day, I can't see that it will do much... That's like my doctor prescribing 100 mcg of Levoxyl and I only take 50 mcg... it's not going to make me feel well. Instead of struggling with 3 pills all at once, why not take 1 pill at 3 different times during the day?
From my reading there's no scientific proof that EPO provides a more fertile environment. However, adequate birth control is always in order when one doesn't want to become pregnant.
My primary concern are the evening primrose oil supplements, hence the title of my post.
I had all my tests and everything was exactly the same as all my tests in the past (as I've said, I've had very stable, unchanging levels throughout my life), so I don't understand this sudden change.
As I said in my post, I don't even know if this hair loss issue is thyroid-related.
I simply do not want to share my tests results whether anyone who ever reads this threads knows me or not.
I've read a lot about EPO for hair loss for people with thyroid disorders and those without but wasn't able to find any answers of the questions I posted above online so I posted here.
I was hoping people who have thyroid disorders who used EPO would be able to answer my questions.
I had all my tests and everything was exactly the same as all my tests in the past (as I've said, I've had very stable, unchanging levels throughout my life), so I don't understand this sudden change.
As I said in my post, I don't even know if this hair loss issue is thyroid-related.
I simply do not want to share my tests results whether anyone who ever reads this threads knows me or not.
I've read a lot about EPO for hair loss for people with thyroid disorders and those without but wasn't able to find any answers of the questions I posted above online so I posted here.
I was hoping people who have thyroid disorders who used EPO would be able to answer my questions.
Your first concern was about hair loss/regrowth. Hair loss is frequently associated with low levels of the biologically active thyroid hormones Free T3 and Free T4, along with low ferritin/iron. It seemed to me that if deficiencies in those turned out to be the likely cause for your hair problem, then why even worry about evening primrose supplements and any questions related to that? So that was why I asked about your thyroid related tests results and reference ranges. Why are you concerned about publicly posting those results when all we know about you is your nickname anyway, not who you are?
I appreciate that you want to be in depth about my thyroid tests but instead of putting my tests up in a public forum, can we focus on the questions I asked in my original post?
Thanks.
Thanks.
We need to have a look at several of your most recent sets of thyroid related test results and reference ranges shown on your lab reports.
I was diagnosed when I was an infant.
My blood was tested to determine the amount of medication I needed and it did not change.
My blood was tested to determine the amount of medication I needed and it did not change.
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