Menopause and hair loss

[Booblet]

Hi everyone,

I am so upset and distraught at the moment. I am 57 yrs old and have been going through the menopause for the past 9 years. I still have a very, very slight bleed (almost unnoticeable) each 4,5,6 wks.

However, my hair has just started to fall out around the top of my ears and I am now losing it from the front. I really am devastated.

I take vit d, vit b complex, have regular b12 -(self administrated), adrenal supplement........although I have been taking Adrenal x (which was suggested by Dr Peatfield) -(who is a retired Dr who has studied and wrote books on Thyroid.) And NDT (natural designated thyoid) - Thyroid s.

I also suffer from Excema ( which has sadly returned since the onset of the menopause).

I am also taking 267.5 mg Anti-depressants.

Please help..........

[ITYFIALMCTT]

Hair loss is so demoralising and it's sadly common here. Does your GP have an opinion about your hair loss and what's contributing to it?

There have been several recent discussions about hair loss and I don't know if any of the discussion there might be relevant to your circumstances: healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Do you know what your vitamin and mineral levels are, and, if so, can you post them with their reference ranges, please - along with a list of any medications or other supplemental hormones, their dosages, how long you've been taking them, etc.?

[ITYFIALMCTT]

Just to add in an eye-opening and tremendously helpful account of hair loss by Rapunzel (scroll down in the comments - she discusses appropriate wig use there but is, in general, a good source of information about hair loss): healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[mischa]

Do you have any recent thyroid blood tests to see where you are with those? Any change may cause hair loss along with low iron/ferritin. Do you have any recent bloods for D3, folate, etc. A decrease in any of the above will cause hair loss.

Long term hypo can cause low stomach acid which in turn will affect absorption of thyroid meds as well as supplements that enable thyroid meds. Lots of things to consider.

[Hidden]

Interesting post!

I have been losing a lot of hair lately; it's almost like before I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism 17 years ago...I will turn 49 in two months and noticed the first signs of perimenopause about six months ago; mainly night sweats and hot flushes. I never connected hair loss with menopause...I have quite long and thick hair so nobody really notices my increased hair loss, but I have definitely noticed a difference in recent months. Every morning, there is hair on my pillow, and I find more hair in the shower as well.

I still have periods, but not as regular as they used to be; they can come every six weeks or every three weeks, whereas they used to be 28 days apart...

[Lozzer66 in reply to Hidden]

Anna69 ...mine was fine with recent menopause ( although it can be that causing it)....but it's been coming out bad for last 2 months .It's fine and very noticable already ...turns out my t3 is over range with self medicating ndt ..have you had bloods tested recently?

[Hidden in reply to Lozzer66]

Yes, this summer my FT3 levels were out of range on Thyroid-S. I have since cut back 1 grain, and no longer have any hyper symptoms.

[Noji]

You poor thing! I’m learning hair loss is so very common in women. If I were you, I would get my hormones checked. Full sex hormone panel done, DHEA, cortisol, etc. And I would ask for saliva or urine tests, not blood. Your GP is unlikely to offer saliva or urine. So you will need to find someone privately to do so, and get the results interpreted by someone who knows what they’re talking about. You may need to supplement with hormones, but I would advise bio-identical. It is possible you have increased androgen or testosterone. Do you have hair growing on your face?

[RosamundG]

I noticed that my hair was thinning back in February and I tried Dr. Organic Hemp oil Shampoo and their conditioner from Holland & Barratt along with a Biotin supplement (Soglar and my hair is probably better and fuller than it's ever been. Bonus is that Biotin has made my nails stronger. The manager of my local H&B said that he'd had really good feedback on the Hemp oil Shampoo & conditioner -- I wouldn't bother with the Hair Masque but Elastizer from Philip Kingsley is brilliant. Hope that helps.