Exercise and hair growth question

[dang]

Hey everyone,

Quick background: I’m a 33 year old male. Diagnosed with Hashimoto’s a few years ago, currently taking 100mcg T4 / 10mcg T3, last thyroid results were decent but not “optimal” (been on this dose for a couple years now)

I’ve been having some level of hair loss since I was 25 years old, but without ever really going “bald”. Some times have been worse than others but in general the hair seems to grow back (maybe not as thick as it used to be). I’m used to taking a shower and being left with at least a handful of hair every time.

3 weeks ago I noticed I was putting on a little weight due to laziness. And I decided to start a calisthenics regiment to slim down a bit and build up muscle. I’ve had some great success at that, was able so far to loose the excess weight and tone up, and I also noticed an interesting side effect; now in the shower I might only loose 2-3 hairs total, way less than I’m used to. And this got me wondering if it’s connected to the exercise.

I know that building muscle and exercising improves blood flow to the body, possibly all the way to the scalp and that could be a reason? At the same time loosing some weight could also mean that my medication is working more efficiently? Could it also be that exercise for males improves testosterone levels and maybe somehow this is a hormonal result? Or it could all be in my head and it’s just a coincidence? 😅

Does anyone have some idea what’s going on? If it’s anything at all? Is there a connection or am I just being hopeful?

Thanks in advance!

Dan 😊

[greygoose]

If your FT3 isn't optimal - even by blood test standards - then too much exercise isn't recommended. You could just be over-doing it for the amount of T3 in your system.

Have you had your nutrients tested: vit D, vit B12, folate, ferritin? Low nutrients can cause hair-loss, and hypos are often low in nutrients. No direct connection to exercise, though.

Hair-loss is a very, very complicated subject. So, you might never find out why, I'm afraid.

[dang in reply to greygoose]

It’s not that much exercise, just light calisthenics in short reps spread out across the day, 3 days a week (about as light as it can be and still show results). Yep I get all my nutrients tested. Will also have a thyroid check up soon (and see what my values are now, things may have changed).

I understand hair-loss is complicated, just hoping a member here has information connected to how exercise for a man can affect thyroid levels / overall absorption / health etc positively and maybe link it to hair growth. (Testosterone is definitely a subject here as high testosterone levels are also connected to male hair loss, and exercise tends to boost testosterone from what I’ve heard, again I don’t have much info that’s why I’m shooting in the dark here on this forum).

Thanks anyway for you help

[greygoose in reply to dang]

You're welcome.

[jgelliss]

On the days that you are planning more exerting activities why don't you try to add a bit of T3 like 2.5mcg T3 just before you exercise and see how that works for you . greygoose is so right that you might not have enough T3 for the amount of exercise your doing or that your depleting your T3 faster and not replenishing the T3 that you would need at times of exerting activities .

[dang in reply to jgelliss]

The thing is my hair is falling out less now, not more (I’m quite happy about it). I’ve heard many times about this depletion with exercise causing issues. But I’m finding the opposite, everything is actually better. My medication feels like it’s working much better than the past 6-9 months.

Also unfortunately my medication is a single tablet with both T4 and T3 combined. But I have an endo appointment this month and I’m going to talk to him about this, and also have a chance to get my results and see how it’s actually affecting my levels. I plan on keeping up a workout routine just for general health, so if it means I need to increase my dosage then that’s what I’ll do 😊

Thanks for the reply!

[jgelliss in reply to dang]

You might want to ask your Dr if splitting your dose would be the right way to go for you ? I can tell you from my personal experience that splitting my T4- 2x/day and my T3 -3x/day makes a huge difference for me . I have been doing it this way for a few years now and this works for me the best . Dosing with big bursts of energy all at once was to much for my adrenals to deal with .Smaller doses a few times a day is better for me . There are those that dose all their thyroid dose in one gulp . If that works well . Great .

Great that you want to keep up your exercise routines .

[dang in reply to jgelliss]

I used to split my dose actually, but found a while ago I prefer taking it all in the morning. I don’t have any bursts of energy, if anything I have energy when I need it during the day, and at night I sleep like a baby hehe

Thanks! It’s a new routine so I hope I can keep it up 😊 I just think of my grandpa who even in his old age used to wake up every morning and do a bunch of pushups and jumping jacks then do a short jog around the block before starting the rest of his day. He was active and healthy well into his years, I’m aiming for that 😅

[userotc]

On the face of it, a boost of testosterone eg via weight training, shouldn't improve hair loss as far as I understand it. Quite the opposite if more T converts to DHT which normally causes male pattern baldness. But the body is individual as we know and your case seems to show it.

[dang in reply to userotc]

Yea that’s exactly what I was thinking, that if anything it would have a negative impact. The only thing I can kind of imagine is that I lost about 7-8 pounds, and maybe just the fact that I have less body weight means that my daily dosage is now more effective. I know when people gain weight they often have to increase dosage too. But who knows, will be interested to hear what my endo says about it at the end of this month.

[userotc]

I'd be interested to know if your thyroid issues and readings have improved. Exercise is part of a natural protocol for thyroid and other health conditions. So that's the only thing that may make sense of your findings.

[dang in reply to userotc]

I will find out those results soon. I can update you if you’re interested even if my results improved tho I feel it’s hard to guarantee it was connected to the exercise. All I know is that I want to maintain an exercise regiment from here on out, and if that means I need a dosage increase to get the T3 I’m needing, then so be it

[userotc]

Indeed. Even better if you don't need a dose increase (let's hope for a reduction/elimination?) due to the exercise. PM me when you get results.

[dang in reply to userotc]

Thanks for your help and support! 😊 will pm you in a couple weeks then.

All the best until then!

[thyr01d]

Hi dan, I have no answers but your suggestion is very interesting and sounds likely to me as a lay person.

[dang in reply to thyr01d]

Thanks for the feedback I plan on asking my endocrinologist about this at the end of the month, I hope he has some insight into it!