does anyone have hashimotos?

[kdwmw]

I was diagnoses with Hashis Aug. 08. I had been noticing hair loss since the spring of 08, but didn't realize how bad it was until I started seeing thru. it! I went to my internist, she did tests & sent me to an endocrinologist for thryroid antibodies (not hair loss). He diagnosed my thyroid, but said he didn't know about my hair. He was soooo insensitive, he made me cry. We call him dr. mean. He even said maybe my 10 year old was making my hair come out!! jerk. Anyway, I started armour & 4 months later, my hair shedding slowed significantly. coincidence? doubt it, dr. mean. Anyway my hair started falling out again in April. So discouraging, but I got an additional 25mcg of Levoxyl added to my current 30 of armour. It's been 6 weeks, I'm still losing 300plus hairs daily. Don't know if I can take another 6 weeks of this to see if it even helps. Has anyone else experienced this up/down cycle with Hashis?

[dazzleca]

I have Hashimoto Syndrome, too. I was diagnosed 6 1/2 years ago and put on a very low dose of synthroid (.25 mcg). I had not hair loss then but started experiencing hair loss nine months ago. They checked my TSH levels and they were just within normal (4.8) but upped my dose to .75 mcg). My hair loss continued with burning itchy scalp. They ran every test imagineable and, although I at first doubted it, I now believe that the hair loss is unrelated to m thyroid. I am 52 years old and have started menopause (hot flashes, night sweats, missed period for 8 months that suddenly started again.) Accompanied by the burning scalp and hair loss, I suddenly developed tinnitus, too (which all the doctor's say is unrelated to my thyroid but could be 'hormonal'). I am on HRT now but the hair loss continues. I believe I may have estrogen difficiency alopecia and am going to talk to my doctor about upping my estrogen dosage and going on spirolactone to see if that helps with the hair loss. I only want to go on Minoxidil as a last resort.

[dazzleca]

I have been told that synthroid and its generic can cause hair loss after prolonged use. Armour is supposed to cause less shedding. What is your TSH level?

[kdwmw]

always 'normal' range....it's been 1.3 & 1.7. I'm not sure what it is currently. I read that with Hashis your thyroid has lots of starts & stops during its decline. How can you ever get your meds correct if it is constantly changing? According to all my other labs (LH:FSH, progesterone & DHEAS) all normal.

[dazzleca]

You should probably have your TSH checked every three to six months after a change in dosage. I only have mine checked yearly now. But your levels are definitely within the normal range.

[divinem]

I was dx'd with Hashimoto's 2+ years ago, although I believe I had it long b4 then because I have had periods of shedding through the years that were unexplained and dissipated after a while. It is my belief that during those times I had gone hyperthyroid and my doc wasn't keeping tabs on my blood levels at the time.

This past summer, I went hyperthyroid. I knew it and asked my doc for a blood test. He resisted me at first, but after 6 weeks I'd lost 12 lbs. and my hair was coming out in handfuls! He ran the test when I demanded it and I was right. We lowered my meds to get me back into range, but I'm back into a shedding phase again.

It's so aggravating. It seems like every time we take my thyroid levels, I have change my medication. It's never stable, and I believe it contributes to my HL along with my meds: 137 mcg Synthroid and 25 mcg Cytomel daily.

I have to have my levels checked at minimum every 90 days because they're so unstable. And when I get them checked, I INSIST that he check Free T3, TSH and T4 Total to get an accurate picture of what's going on. TSH alone does not tell the doctor whether or not the thyroid is converting the T4 hormone into the usable T3 the body uses. My body doesn't do the conversion, so I have to take Cytomel.

I hope I didn't confuse you with all this information.

~Melissa

[divinem]

After responding to this post yesterday and thinking about the rapid onset HL I had last year plus a 13 lb. weight loss, I've made an appt for a thyroid check today. I realize I've lost ~10 lbs. in the past 6 weeks and my head is tingling/itching and I'm rapidly shedding, similar to the symptoms I had last year when my hypothyroidism went hyper. I think I've gone the other way again but want to confirm it.

Will get back with you. Thanks for bringing this up.

[wmccandless]

Your story is so similar to mine. I was diagnosed with Hashimotos Aug 07, my doctor put me on a low dose of Synthroid and my hair loss seemed to slow down quite a bit. However, in Oct 07 I started lossing my hair by the handfuls and my Dr. increased my Synthroid, this did little for my hair loss so he switched me to Armour (this seemed to work). It's now June 09 and I'm lossing handfuls of hair every morning, my doctor increased my dosage 3 weeks ago and it does not seem to be helping....I don't know if I can wait another 3 weeks to get new blood work done.

[divinem]

Well, my levels fell into "normal" range, so he doesn't believe that I've flipped the switch to hyper again. * sigh * That would have been too easy.

[wmccandless]

Do you think the hair loss is due to Hyper or Hypo Thyroid?

[divinem]

I've found that my sheds came whenever I was in hyperthyroid. When I was in hypothyroid, I just gained weight and felt tired all the time. Others may have different stories on that, though. We all react differently to our endocrine systems.

[dazzleca]

I've only ever been hypothyroid ... but I am not convinced that my HL is thyroid related. I'm going through menopause and have had a lot of other things going on at the same time the HL started (hot flashes, night sweats, ovarian and breast cysts, tinnitus). My thyroid tests (T3/T4, antibodies, ultrasound) all came in normal last fall and my hair continued to fall out. My periods keep starting and stopping ... and three months afterwards my hair starts falling out again.

[Nikki0428]

Hi, I have Hashimotos Thyroiditis, but it was fixed years ago and my hair never came back in and continued to slowly thin. In March I just found out I have Celiac Disease, which is actually an auto immune disorder but is usually categorized as a wheat gluten allergy. The damage that is done to your intestines over the years from eating products with wheat gluten and wheat flour inhibits your body from absorbing nutrients from your food, so what little vitamins you do absorb are directed to vital parts of your body. And your hair being an anatomical accessory is starved and is then shed. I am going on 4 months of being on a gluten free diet (which is not fun) but my hair feels great, it is so much thicker already, it is just amazing. Thought is might be worth looking into for you since the same thing happened to me. I put a couple posts in the general section that will give you a little more info, good luck!!