21 year old daughter hair loss and amenorrhea

[worriedmom168]

My daughter is 21.  When she first began menstruating her periods came every other month.  Within 3 years she didn't menstruate at all.  Her hair began to thin.  I saw every local physician, dermatologist, endocrinologist, a wholistic doctor, and gynecolgist.  Through all of this all of their hormone studies came back normal.  The wholistic doctor put her on 17 vitamins and pig thyroid.  He felt she was heavy for all that she ate and that her skin was dry.  She is 5'4" and weighs about 150 pounds.  All of the doctors agreed to put her on birth control so that she would menstruate.  She also seems to have a fatty back of her neck just enough to make her seem like she has poor posture.  Her hair continues to thin all over the top of her head and it just makes me crazy.  Something isn't right and I don't know what else to do.  I think the birth control is just masking one of her problems. They ask me every time if she is stressed.  It isn't stress, it has been going on for 3 years now.  Does anyone have any ideas.  Thanks

[Barb135]

If both are present, they will both have to be addressed, at some point; however, I agree, from what I've read, adrenals should be addressed *first*.

When hypo, the adrenals kick in and work overtime to try to make up for lack of thyroid hormones.  Once adrenals are normalized thyroid hormones will have to be provided.

[allmymarbles]

My doctor told me that when the thyroid and the adrenals are both involved, you treat the adrenals, not the thyroid.

[Barb135]

Could you post the lab results for the thyroid hormones, please?  Be sure to include reference ranges, since these vary lab to lab and must come from her own report. Sometimes just being "in range" isn't "normal" for a certain person.

The thinning hair is a classic symptom of both hypothyroidism and adrenal issues.

With the fatty area on her back, you might want to have her tested for Cushing Syndrome, since the "buffalo hump" is one of the signs.  Other signs are "moon face" (round, red, full), acne, purple "stretch marks" on her skin, lack of menstrual cycle, plus others.

you can check out: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000410.htm  for more information.

[allmymarbles]

My husband's nieces have that hump formation. They have cystic ovaries and one of them is infertile. The thinning hair suggests and adrenal problem. The endocrinologists are missing something. Sometimes that see only the tests and don't take a good look at the patient.

A few months ago I was in the hospital for testing. After four days and who knows how much money, they came up with nothing. But they were looking at the tests, not at me. I had all the signs of hypothyroidism and all the signs of candidiasis. My own common sense and the common sense of my family doctor treated the obvious and I began to recover.

[Super_sally888]

Hi,

do you have test results you can post?

This sounds like it coudl be thyroid, it could be adrenal, it could be PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) or it could be a combination.

Agree that it is important to look for cause and try to treat cause rather than just giving birth control pills.

Is the pig thryoid a supplement or a medication?  What dose is she on and what are her thyroid results?