Severe Hair loss

[Robbie2]

I am a 52 year old female, that use to have enough hair for three heads.  I was diagx in Mrch with renal cell carcinoma.  Had a kidney removed in April started a chemo pill that does not cause hair loss three weeks later.  I was told the end of june that my TSH was a 100.  They started me on Synthroid 50mcg.  The 10 th day I was on it I started shedding real bad.  It took me several days before i figured it out.  By the week end I had lost 50% of my hair.  one week later i could feel follicles all over my head.  The new hair was coming in.  But by the following week I lost another 20% of my hair. I finally cut my hair to 1/2 inch.  I am so sad.  I had my TSH checked on the 16th.  It was a 5.  The dr. did not change my dose.  Will the 50mcg keep bringing it down.  At what point will they change the dose.  For about 9 days before I had the recent test i was taking a natural supplement called Thytrophen.  Will that skew my test results.  I noticed i had a lot of swelling in my fingers when I was taking thr supplement.  That has gone down since I quit.  i am worried that I will never grow my hair back.  Any comments would be welcomed.

[Robbie2]

Do you think that the combination of drugs you are taking have had an impact on your hair. I am taking an oral chemo, and although they have said it does not cause hair loss, I have read that it can.  The high tsh of 100 was the initial culprit.  But what is so weird is it doesn't seem to grow.  i wake up everyday, the first thing I do is feel my head. I have read the effects of Biotin.  Because I feel sick alot I bought the kind of b-vitamins that are made of food.  I bought them and Selenium with E.  This has been a hard summer.  I started thinning at the beach this year.  It took me 5 days to realize that I was losing my hair, over the next 4 weeks my hair was 70% gone. I had some bald spots, but they have filled in.  My husband clipped it down to a 1/2 inch wo weeks ago.  I wear turbans and scarves and a wig if I am only going to be out less than two hours.  I am sorry that you are expereincing hair loss.  It sounds as though you have been through a lot yourself. You would think when one is facing life and death matters that you wouldn't be concerned with har.  But hair is a big deal.  Thank you for taking your time to correspond and sharing.  Do you take Synthroid??? I have a cousin, a mother in law and two other friends that take it and they have a great head of hair.  
Please let me know if the vitamins help.  I am taking mine faithfully.

[lilrocklady]

I am a 55 y.o. female MS patient who has also had an adrenal tumor removed in July of last year (2006).  Since then, even though my blood and urine levels are, for the most part, within normal limits, my hair, too, has thinned dramatically.  My endocrinologist cannot explain the hair loss, especially since I went through menopause very early at age 32.  He suggested I try OTC Biotin 1000 mg , (Vitamin B9), bid and see if there is any effect on my lab reports next visit in 5 months.  I've only been taking it a couple of weeks and it's supposed to help hair loss, nails and skin.  So far I've seen no change.  The slowly emerging scalp, shower drain and comb are daily reminders of what I've lost and am still lossing.

Since Biotin is part of the B-Complex vitamin, ask your doctor if you could give it a try.  

[cheshire]

If your free T3 is much higher in the range than your Free T4 it could indicate low cortisol. That would be something to discuss with your alternative MD. In which City, State (counrty) do you live, and I'll see if i can find a good dr for you?

Many people take Armour instead of Synthroid because of symptoms that do not resolve. High or low t3 doesn't matter. Your thyroid would normally make Free T4 and T3 -- something synthroid doesn't give you. There has also been some findings that T2 plays an important part in metabolism, and calcatonin in calcium absorption, both of these are in armour.

When you have your blood tested make sure you get a copy of the results so that you can see your ferritin. Mine was 11, I had major fatigue, and my dr didn't flag it when 11 is in fact very low. I have learned the hardest way that you have to look at your own test results, do research, and take charge of your health.

[Robbie2]

Thanks for your reply, I will ask about my ferritin.  I know it was low last year as they were checking all kinds of things before I was diagnosed.  The hair seems to be filling in, but it does not seem to grow.  This has been very distressing.  I will have to go to my alternative Dr. to get Armour.  My oncologist will not give me anything they cannot measure.  Also can you take armour if your Free T3 is not low.  I will be having another test on monday, the kidney cancer medicine I take ruined my thyroid.  Thanks for answering, no one knows how bad it is to lose your hair until it happens to them.  

[cheshire]

I'm sorry for your hair loss -- this happened to me too and was very distressing. if you read the Synthroid RX info you will see that hair loss is one of the "adverse reactions". i also had chronic hives to go along with it -- not fun : (  For starters I had to change my medication to Armour thyroid before my hair started to grow back, and reach the right dosage. For most people that's between 180 and 300 mgs, but for some higher. Also, check your ferritin and make sure it is between 70 and 150 -- there is research that shows that a result less than this can exacerabate/cause hair loss. My ferritin was 11 so I had to take 200 mgs of iron for a few months to get it to the right level (70).

[Robbie2]

Thanks for your reply.  The name of the pill is Sutent.  A biological pill.  I will be rechecked this friday and my oncologist says that the pill can wreak havoc on the thyroid in both directions, hence taking it slow to increase dose.  Thank you for your answer.

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

Would not take Thyrotrophin -- this has animal gland extracts -- no data to support its use.

Hypothyroidism causes hair loss -- with a TSH of 100 it was severe!  The hair loss lags behind the hypo usually by a few months -- so this is a matter of catch-up and may take several months to break the cycle.  Target TSH is around 1.0, so you may eventually need a dose increase, but going from 100 to 5 is an dramatic improvement with only 50mcg.

What was the name of the chemotherapy?  Some are linked to hypothyroidism.

[Robbie2]

HAVE YOU HEARD OF THYTROPHIN