Aa
Hair loss and thyroid
I've been on thyroid meds for 6 years for hashi's. My antibodies have disappeard. Blood test confirms this, problem is that my hair has fallen out the whole time and docs don't know what to do, seems my hair falls no matter what dose I'm on. Right now I'm on .125mgsynthroid plus 30mg natural thyroid. My hair is so thin, I'm just so discouraged, it just never grows in..... no doc seems to know how to help me. Wierd thing is that my blood tests all come back normal and I feel really great.... just don't know what to do.. any suggestions?
Thanks that was helpful i will look into it thanks for the helpful answer to my question! That was very nice of you to help me not many people are nice enough to let other know about things like that i am glad i asked and thanks!
Kristy,
Are you familiar with CHIP? Here is the website which explains the program's general requirements.
http://www.benefits.gov/benefits/benefit-details/1188 - The Pennsylvania Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is a partnership between Pennsylvania and the Federal Government that provides health coverage to uninsured children whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford private coverage.
I believe that almost every state has a program for children and even the school system offers low cost coverage for medical services.
Here in Florida the states medical program for children is called "Healthy Kids".
In the meantime, Biotin and Evening Promrose Oil is supposed to be good for hair growth. I take both of these and plenty of other supplements. Try to steer them away from refined sugar as much as possible because it affects the entire endocrine system.
No supplement can replace thyroid hormone though - and if one daughter is hyper & the other hypo - both need to be properly tested.
Thyroid function is far too important for the body's well-being at any age.
Any family members that would be willing to help financially? Sorry that was too personal of a question.
I would definitely look into PA's progranms!
Are you familiar with CHIP? Here is the website which explains the program's general requirements.
http://www.benefits.gov/benefits/benefit-details/1188 - The Pennsylvania Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is a partnership between Pennsylvania and the Federal Government that provides health coverage to uninsured children whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford private coverage.
I believe that almost every state has a program for children and even the school system offers low cost coverage for medical services.
Here in Florida the states medical program for children is called "Healthy Kids".
In the meantime, Biotin and Evening Promrose Oil is supposed to be good for hair growth. I take both of these and plenty of other supplements. Try to steer them away from refined sugar as much as possible because it affects the entire endocrine system.
No supplement can replace thyroid hormone though - and if one daughter is hyper & the other hypo - both need to be properly tested.
Thyroid function is far too important for the body's well-being at any age.
Any family members that would be willing to help financially? Sorry that was too personal of a question.
I would definitely look into PA's progranms!
I have two kids ages 9 and 7 my girls have thyroid diease i noticing when they comb their hair or wash it they are losing clumps of hair their hair is thining out and they used to have thick hair like me but my 7 year old her hair is shedding like a dog i combed it and clumbs are coming out for no reason.
I called the dr they told me that it is normal normal i said that is not normal they told me that her thyroid is high and that i need to come in for more testing i have no insurance and i can not afford the 250.00 dr bills for each child .
what can i do to get my kids feeling better one is to thin and i think it is her thyroid and the other one she is heavy set and the dr said it is her thyroid.
can vitimins help so they are not losing to much hair any advice i have no insurace and money is tight any ideas on what to do and make note in pa where i am from my city does not have a free clinic and no dr's will accept patients with no insurace !
I called the dr they told me that it is normal normal i said that is not normal they told me that her thyroid is high and that i need to come in for more testing i have no insurance and i can not afford the 250.00 dr bills for each child .
what can i do to get my kids feeling better one is to thin and i think it is her thyroid and the other one she is heavy set and the dr said it is her thyroid.
can vitimins help so they are not losing to much hair any advice i have no insurace and money is tight any ideas on what to do and make note in pa where i am from my city does not have a free clinic and no dr's will accept patients with no insurace !
Hi, My doc saw my low FT4 levels and said it was okay, which is why I have to dump this doc, he doesn't know enough about the thyroid. I've called anothe doc, who I'm sure will help me, I'm so fed up with these docs who think they can help me and then can't do the job..... Yes, I realize my levels are jumping, it's because my docs dose me too low, so I add a bit more, sometimes I go too high.... I really need a good doc who can help me.... I have visited the website you told me about, which has been very help ful. I've changed my meds since last week, I'm now on 125mg dessicated thyroid and .088mg of synthroid. Have you read Dr. Lowe's work, very good stuff. In the meantime, I will check out the forum you mentioned. What dose are you on now? Even when I switch to natural thyroid, my hair doesn't seem to stop, unless I take a very high dose. Oh yes, I have been monitoring my ferritin very closely for about 5 years now.... It was very low in 2002 but I have worked very hard to get it up to 78. So I've ruled out iron def. anemia.... however at one point in time I was very anemic, which is one reason my hair fell out. Thanks for your help...cathy
Just a note.... I understand what you went through, I was on synthroid for about 4 years and my hair fell out the whole time. My endo said it was not related to the thyroid.... he knew my ferritin was low, but didnt' say anything..... Now when I get blood tests, I iinsist on a copy so I can monitor my blood levels.... cath
Hi,
Your FT4 is too low, it should be in the upper 1/2 of the range at least and your FT3 is pretty good, but should be closer to the top of the range. I was on synthroid for 10 years and my hair fell the entire time no matter where the tsh was. Doctors refused to check free levels. All I can say is that now I am off synthroid, my hair has stopped falling. Have you had your ferritin checked?? This is your iron storage and if it is lower than 70-90, it can cause your hair to fall out. You seem to change your doses around frequently, or your doctor does, are you giving it enough time to build in between? Why is your doctor making you wait until april if you don't feel well now? I think they sometimes push you off when they don't know what to do, my last endo did that. Even though I didn't feel well, the appt's were pushed further apart. Goto a website called stopthethyroidmaddness, It is very informative and has a forum as well where you can ask questions moderated by patients who are going through what you are and have done alot of research to help you!!
Good luck, Lorakin
Your FT4 is too low, it should be in the upper 1/2 of the range at least and your FT3 is pretty good, but should be closer to the top of the range. I was on synthroid for 10 years and my hair fell the entire time no matter where the tsh was. Doctors refused to check free levels. All I can say is that now I am off synthroid, my hair has stopped falling. Have you had your ferritin checked?? This is your iron storage and if it is lower than 70-90, it can cause your hair to fall out. You seem to change your doses around frequently, or your doctor does, are you giving it enough time to build in between? Why is your doctor making you wait until april if you don't feel well now? I think they sometimes push you off when they don't know what to do, my last endo did that. Even though I didn't feel well, the appt's were pushed further apart. Goto a website called stopthethyroidmaddness, It is very informative and has a forum as well where you can ask questions moderated by patients who are going through what you are and have done alot of research to help you!!
Good luck, Lorakin
Hi, I'm not a doc, but it sounds like you may have a thyroid problem even if the blood test looks normal. You could buy afew books on the subject to educate yourself. If your hair falls, there must be a problem somewhere.... what is your ferritin level right now?
Hi Lorakin, here are my FT3 & FT4 levels as of early Jan. Doc is making me wait till Apr. for a retest: FT4 10 ref range 10-20 (seems I'm quite low here, the doc didn't say anyting..... I think this is way too low), FT3 4.6 ref range 2.6 - 5.7 (med range here, but I may need to be higher)Measurement is in pmol/L. By the way are you a doc? Oh, I'm currently taking .125mgsynthroid and 30mg dessicated thyroid/day for about 1 month now. Hair is still falling too much.
To everyone else, I've been reading alot over several years, and I think that most docs have it all wrong with the meds - dosing many patients way too low.... I'm going to find a new doc and ask him to put me on a higher dose..... I'm afraid to "overdose" myself.... as I've already done that and I lose hair that way too...Problem with my other docs is they lower my meds so I fit into this "TSH perfect range" which is really a bunch of bunk.... I think symptoms and FT3 FT4 is the way to go when measuring thyroid patients.cb
To everyone else, I've been reading alot over several years, and I think that most docs have it all wrong with the meds - dosing many patients way too low.... I'm going to find a new doc and ask him to put me on a higher dose..... I'm afraid to "overdose" myself.... as I've already done that and I lose hair that way too...Problem with my other docs is they lower my meds so I fit into this "TSH perfect range" which is really a bunch of bunk.... I think symptoms and FT3 FT4 is the way to go when measuring thyroid patients.cb
I too am suffering from thinning and very dry hair. It first started pre-TT when I was put on PTU. Got better after I went off it for the TT, but became worse after RAI. Last Sunday a big clump came out for the first time while showering and I just started crying. I have spent lots of money trying all kinds of hair care products, but not a whole lot of success. I just glad I starte out with thick hair!
Boy I can sympathize with the hair loss thing. I am a newly diagnosed "thyroiditis" case with extremely positive anti TPO antibodies. I see my endocrinologist tomorrow am. This is one of my most concerning questions for him. I currently am not on any treatments as my TSH levels were in the so called subclinical range. My hair loss waxes and wanes. Sometimes it is falling out in clumps. This has been going on since this past September and I feel lucky that I am not bald. But at the rate I am progressing who knows. I have lost about a third of my total volume of hair. Luckily I have curly hair, and it is long, so that helps me. I have been trying the evening primrose oil, but honestly, I haven't noticed a difference. It is very concerning to see my hair falling out like this. I am right there with you on this one sister!
Yes...can I see your actual levels? Also, what are you taking right now and how long have you been taking it?
Lorakin
Lorakin
I'm not really sure what to do...I've read that taking Evening Primrose Oil daily will help with this. I'm sure you could find more info on it by doing a search in Google.
My FT3, FT4 levels always fluctuate depending upon my dose, which has gone from .125mg synthroid for 4 years, then down to .112, then .1, then .088. My hair continued to fall on these doses, so I switched to 125mg dessicated thyroid, hair still fell out on this, switched to 60 mg dess. thyroid, continues to fall out, so I've gone back to .125 synthroid and added 30mg natural thyroid. My FT4 are usually quite low and FT3 is usually in the mid range. Personally, I think I need to be high, but the docs always seem to want me on a low dose. I'm amazed I'm not bald right now, but my hair is so very thin.cb Do you want to know my acutal levels?cb
big hugs about your hair. thats a major fear of mine. i am making aprayer list and will add this!
~rachel
~rachel
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Thyroid Disorders Community
We tapped the CDC for information on what you need to know about radiation exposure
Endocrinologist Mark Lupo, MD, answers 10 questions about thyroid disorders and how to treat them
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
