Major hair loss

dea4

Can you post your test results with the ranges? Armour has a lot of T3, maybe the Armour and Cytomel is giving you too much T3 in conjunction with your T4.

lexi_Tbrat

Hi,
My labs are
TSH 0.01
Free t4 1.6 (0.8-1.8)
Free T3 500 (230-420)

Is it possible to have this going on with adrenal insufficiency? I'm so frustrated.. just can't seem to get this whole thyroid situation right. I am also pretty tired and lethargic most of the time. I really hope I don't go bald.. what a depressing situation. Fat and bald.. great combo.

dea4

With those labs you are looking a little hyper, the FT3 is a bit high, when mine is higher I feel terrible, your FT4 is more where it should be, mid range is 1.3 and it should be mid to upper, so it is upper, but with the FT3 higher that may be where your problem lies, do you have any heart skips? when my T3 is too high my heart skips like crazy.

m333

I have the same problem with my hair. I am scared that I am going to go bald. Sorry, I have no advice for you, but I get any answers I'll let you know. So sad, isn't it?

lexi_Tbrat

Hi Dea,
Actually, last night my heart kept skipping beats.. but I don't have any other signs of hyper.. I'm not hot, not racy and my basal temp is still in the 97 range. My T4 remained around 1.4 for the longest time and now it is only a couple points higher since going up on the armour...My T3 has always been higher.. infact at one point it was 800 and I didn't have hairloss. Could the increase in t4 do this?

I am so confused.

lexi_Tbrat

Yes this is so sad and scary.. Hope to find the solution to this problem soon.

mintchocolate

Don't be scared about the hair loss. I know it is very distressing to see your hair going down the drain. The good news is, it grows back.

When I started Armour 2 grains, I was loosing soo much hair, I know how you feel. I stayed on the dosage cause my T3 and T4 looked good, my TSH was 0.004 and it needs to be that low for me to feel good. It took almost five months for my hair to stop falling out. It still falls a little but that is normal.

From your results, I agree that the T3 looks high. I hope you find the balance soon.

Mintchoc

m333

My Endo told me that when my thyroid is better, that my hair will be better. I have also read that when the thyroid isn't functioning properly, it produces BAD hair. When that BAD hair grows out 1/4 inch, it begins to beark off because it is not strong enough. Who knows????? I hope your hair (& mine) gets better.

dea4

I don't think the increase in T4 would do it, although with this illness anything is possible. Thyroid controls the rate and function of every cell and gland in the body.
I think though once you get your levels stabalized and are on meds for a while the hair loss should subside.

ad630

Is it possible to take thyroid medication and not have any hair loss (maybe just small dosages)...please tell me this is possible because if losing one's hair is a given then I don't think I want this medication...

dea4

I don't think everyone loses hair, some only lose a small amount, while others lose a lot, I have been on meds for 3 years, I have lost hair, but not in large amounts, not enough that anyone can tell. Untreated thyroid problems can cause you to lose hair, so if you don't take the meds chances are you could lose hair anyway and it may be greater than if you took the meds.
Generally once numbers are stabalized the hair grows back. I know a lady who has been on thyroid meds for more than 50 years, she said her hair actually got thicker, and she does have a thick head of hair.

lexi_Tbrat

So, does anyone think there may be a correlation between let's say .. armour and hairloss? I say this because it seems that this diffuse loss of hair has really kicked in when I got onto a dose of armour that actually relieved other major symptoms.. such as this horrible edema I had and my nails are finally getting somewhat better. It seems the only major lingering symptom I have is this hair loss. The fatigue is getting better now that the cytomel is kicking in. Thanks for all the replies... I will have hope that this hair thing hopefully straightens out.. but for now I am counting all of the hairs I am losing.

dea4

I certainly hope its not the Armour because I am thinking about trying that myself.
Maybe start a new post asking that question, Armour and hair loss vs synthetics and hair loss.
In some people (not all) it has to do with the binders and fillers in the meds, I had a friend who took synthroid and lost more hair, she switched to another brand and the hairloss stopped. All the meds have different binders and fillers and some people are actually allergic to them not the med itself. Even Armour has binders and fillers, there is another natural thyroid hormone called Nature-Throid, it was developed for those who are allergic to the binders in Armour or Westhroid.

lexi_Tbrat

Wow, thanks, maybe I will ask for nature throid or westhroid..thanks.