Hair shedding : My hair is shedding excessively... - Thyroid UK

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Hair shedding

SickLeo17 profile image
16 Replies

My hair is shedding excessively at the moment, I’m assuming it has to do with experiencing thyrotoxicosis/ graves and severe hypothyroidism from being overmedicated since late last year.

Hoping that the shedding will stop before it becomes obvious to others

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SickLeo17 profile image
SickLeo17
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16 Replies
madge1979 profile image
madge1979

hi Leo,

hair shedding is One of the Symptoms associated with Thyroid disease but one of the most obvious to you ... and to others .

until everything has returned to normal it will likely continue to be a problem.

have you seen your doctor had bloods taken and been given a diagnosis of which Thyroid disease it is likely to be .

......... those are the first steps on your road to recovery.

If you haven't then now is the time to get started.

I have Graves' disease , though now In remission for two years. My hair was falling out in lumps and i had no body or facial hair , eyebrows and eyelashes

after i had treatment and my thyroid became Euthyroid ...... with the help of very vital minerals and Vitamins ...I returned to my normal state .

If you have a diagnosis... you could get started on that right away.

mx🌹

SickLeo17 profile image
SickLeo17 in reply tomadge1979

Oh no. Losing eyebrows and eyelashes is just too much. I could do without leg , underarm and pubic hair.

Valarian profile image
Valarian in reply toSickLeo17

It varies from person to person. I’ve been losing a lot more than usual from my head, but still have plenty left. Eyebrows are a bit thinner, but I didn’t need to wax my legs at all last summer !

Blossom79 profile image
Blossom79

Please also get blood tests for vitamin D and iron levels- you don't need to be horrendously low on Vit D3 for it to make your hair fall out and it isn't something we can produce ourselves in the UK because during the winter months we just don't get enough sun.

My hair was falling out in clumps, had muscle aches, dry skin, bone aches, fatigue, dizziness etc to could be put down to over medication of Thyroxine... please make sure you cover all the bases- because Thyroid symptoms can be very similar to other deficiencies too xxx

SickLeo17 profile image
SickLeo17

Yes the Grave’s Disease has been confirmed and I’m hoping to be stabilised soon.

I did become severely hypothyroid from being over medicated with carbimazole but have improved greatly since finding a wonderful new dr.

My levels went back to the hyper side but not too far off normal. I should be in tge normal range soon.

My iron levels are low and my vit D and calcium were a little low too.

I live in sunny Queensland Australia

SickLeo17 profile image
SickLeo17

How long does the hair shedding go on for?

If my haur loss continues at the present rate I will have very little within the next couple months

ling profile image
ling

It is terribly worrying isn't it. I'm guessing it varies from person to person. Mine went on for about 1.5-3mths. It did not fall out in clumps but instead thinned over the period of time with strands dropping all over. Washing my hair was stressful each time as I would shed a whole ton of it.

At its worst, I was constantly picking hair off my neck and had hair falling into my food and getting into my mouth. Simply annoying. At its worst, my hair had thinned so much I could see my scalp when I combed my hair. Luckily I never actually became bald. The shedding process started to slow down and eventually hair growth outgrew hair loss.

What's interesting was that I grew a new head of hair in that process. By that I mean- my hair used to be coarse and curly. When my hair grew back it was fine very dry thinned out and straight. Now about a year after and with my condition more stable, the curls are returning. Weird.

So take heart. As your condition improves and u learn how to manage the symptoms, your hair growth too should return. If it does in the interim shed too much and becomes noticeable, then perhaps u might need to do something to tide over this period ...

Btw getting enough protein will also help with hair growth and maintenance.

Too much stress can cause the hyper to flare and trigger the hair loss or make it worse. All these learnt the hard way :)

SickLeo17 profile image
SickLeo17 in reply toling

Thank you for your thoughtful reply.

Mine seems to be thinning all over too and not coming out in clumps.

A few years back I had a period of hair shedding that caused me to cut my very long hair back to shoulder length. The chop slowed it down. But this time seems a bit different.

But I do womder if last time could be an indicator of when the thyroid disease started.

ling profile image
ling in reply toSickLeo17

How is it different this time?

The hair loss that time likely was the hyperthyroid unless maybe it was menopause? Did u have other symptoms?

My only episode of hair loss so far was 2.5 years after I was diagnosed and on carbimazole and euthyroid. I did not have hair loss in the beginning. Work stress was the trigger which caused the hyper to surge. Symptoms were severe weight loss plus loss of muscle, hair loss, epigastric problems. A pretty bad episode.

Made me realise this hyperthyroid condition has to be micromanaged. I cannot afford to let the stress get ahead of me cos of the awful after effects

SickLeo17 profile image
SickLeo17 in reply toling

Stress and a virus seemed to aggravate the graves for sure. I haven’t started menopause yet, but I do think I’ Peri menopausal

ling profile image
ling in reply toSickLeo17

That can certainly cause hair loss. If u had other symptoms aside from hair loss that first time, u could then try deduce if its the perimenopause or the graves.

It surprised me how vicious the attack was and simply triggered by stress! And how it creeps up insidiously and wreaks its havoc. Really a lesson learnt the hard way.

SickLeo17 profile image
SickLeo17 in reply toling

It is definitely hard to figure out how long one has had Grave’s for. In my case I have felt unwell for years but only much worse since March 2017

ling profile image
ling in reply toSickLeo17

Ya true. Mine started quite some years before diagnosis, and blew up following a period of severe chronic stress and not much sleep.

Re hair loss. While it's slowed down shedding a lot after that episode, to this day I still lose quite a fair bit of hair when I wash it compared to the past. I suspect my not-so-balanced diet might have something to do with it. The doc says once it starts, it's unlikely to recover completely even if u go into menopause. I don't know if that's true and haven't yet had the time to check this one out.

serenfach profile image
serenfach

I just hope I am getting my summer coat!

madge1979 profile image
madge1979

I can promise you that once you’ve “Normalised “ it WILL grow back in .. my hairs better than it’s been for years . I’d say about a year before diagnosis my hair shedding started .. my hair was just breaking in half whilst combing before that .

It’s vutal to get it back to good condition , to takin vitamins and minerals that you are no doubt deficient .. blood test fir vitamins will show which ones .

B12

Magnesium

D3 ( plus K2 mk 7 )

Zinc

......And a few others .....can help enormously

Mx🌹

SickLeo17 profile image
SickLeo17 in reply tomadge1979

I will check the zinc and magnesium

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