I'd love to know Darkness..
I have been losing hair for so long..
Let's hope the others give us their opinion!

Today on count of hair lost in shower it was 30 hairs in shower filter..I hadn't washed my hair since Thursday..
I always use a brush to comb it out, not to frighten myself..
So a total count is hard!
I do have stray hairs on the floors too..unfortunately I have very light colored flooring!

Me too. It scares me to see so much of my hair left in the shower, brush, clothing, and on the furniture!

I have fine hair, too, but it used to be so thick that a hair clip couldn't hold it all. That is no longer true.

I miss my hair.

The average person loses 100 hairs per day.

Hair has thyroid hormone receptors and is therefore very sensitive to too-low thyroid hormone levels, too-high thyroid hormone levels or changing thyroid hormone levels.

Well, people who are titrating up on their thyroid hormone replacement obviously have too-low levels (that's why they were started on meds) *and* they have changing thyroid hormone levels (the levels are on their way to increasing).

Throw in the fact that the hair growth cycle is 3 months and that means it can be awhile before hair is back to normal.

Unfortunately, this can mean as much as 3 months *after* thyroid hormone levels have been optimized.

I, too, lost hair during the meds titration process. Thankfully, my hair went back to normal after my levels were optimized.

Still, if I get a small dose adjustment to maintain my optimal levels, I'll lose a little hair only to the extent of me noticing. Overall, I'm happy with how things are.

I cannot emphasize the importance of making sure the doctor optimizes levels vs. just getting levels within the normal range.

sigh...typo alert

I cannot emphasize *enough* the importance of optimizing levels....

Darkness, I went thru the same thing when I had long hair. It was difficult to discern that I was losing excessive amounts since we lose a lot having long hair. Excessive amounts stopped as soon as I started the Levothyroxine (T4). My hair WAS also very dry while only taking T4. but once I started Armour (T3 & T4) my hair returned to normal quality. I hope that you have improvement soon.

Thanks for all of your responses; they have been so helpful! cd; I don't think my doctor is aware that thyroid levels can be optimized. As long my levels are in the "normal range" that's all she seems to care about. It's the same with my calcium levels. They're in the high normal range but my pth is high and I have symptoms.

energy: Is it better to use Armour because it has both T3 and T4?

Yes. Our Glands need T3 to function normally also.
All of my HYPO symptoms are gone.

I also discovered that the T3 gives relief to many symptoms:
skin-clears up dry skin and returns to normal. I can also tolerate being exposed to the heat from the sun
Joints, T3 takes away the joint pain
Hair-It made my hair shine and took away the dry coarse look
Clenching-Took away clenching my teeth at night.
Weight loss-Easier to lose weight
Sugar-took away the sugar cravings
BM-regulated my system so if I eat fiber it promotes another throughout the day
Eyes-No longer sensitive to the morning light
Depression-Cleared up. Returned to normal and my face no longer LOOKS depressed
Brain Fog-cleared up. disappeared
Dizzy-No longer dizzy

I think this is ALL of the symptoms that disappeared while on Armour.

Now I wish it would take away my gray hairs -- for good!!

THANK YOU energylost (or regained :> )

What HOPE your post gives me!
I have an apnt with a new doc on the 28th May, my FT3 is low..so I will stress that point.. I will ask about Armour..
Geez, there may be a better way of living ahead!
Thanks again for posting the good news about your progress..

Energylost: Thank you for listing all of the benefits related to switching to Armour! It definitely gave me some food for thought! Thanks again!

When I was adjusting to the meds, I swear you would have thought I was a chemo patient by the amount I was losing. My shower drain looked like something out of a nightmare! It finally stopped (phew), but it can take a while. Also once you get stable, if you still notice a lot of hair loss, don't assume it's still the thyroid. There are other things that can cause that, including vitamin deficiencies!

I was on a lower dose for a while but it was increased. Could that adjustment be contributing to the hair loss? I know everyone is different in how long it would take to adjust to a dosage change. I know that I'm vitamin D deficient but that's due to my parathyroid problems.

Mine was so bad I had to use masking tape to pick it up off my desk and keyboard. Better now since I started on T4 (docs in my country don't prescribe T3) and supplements. Been on barley grass for about 2 months and my hair's soft again, less of it falls off and I've gotten lunas partly back on my right thumb and index finger. Also rub coconut oil into my hair when I remember.

I was losing so much hair at one point, I didn't think it would ever stop. I was petrified to take a shower or brush it or blow dry it, etc. I still have hair loss, but not quite as bad at all, as my levels are still not optimized. I've also noticed allot of breakage, so I have little stray hairs that stick up all over the place. Anyone have any tips for how to minimize those or tame them. I have "wings" near my temples. So annoying.

My hair is really frizzy all the time. I've read that is due to dryness. Nothing seems to tame it! Any suggestions to tame the frizz would be appreciated. Thanks fort he suggestions kklim!