I honestly hate showering because I don't have the energy to do it and then go get dressed and put lotion on and look presentable...I hate it..Dont get me wrong I DO IT but I dont look forward to it...After I get out of the shower is when I feel how dry my skin is. Especially my face. I have such low self-esteem because I don't have the energy to make myself look nice when I leave my house. I just don't care anymore...

You are not alone. I dread showering because with all the weight I've gained, it's like going to an exercise class just to take a shower. And yes, there're the handfuls of hair I lose with each shower (good thing I have a lot... lol) and the dry skin (can't use regular soap) and the fatigue... not a fun experience. And this is with my thyroid levels "normal" from taking a combination of oroxine and tertroxin.

Living in a dry climate anyway I have been using old school ways to beat the dry skin. Also very good for the dry area around my eye's from TED.
While in the shower after washing I pour baby oil all over my body. I pat dry a little. Your skin should not be so dry when you get out of the shower now.
While brushing my teeth I am air drying. I put on my PJ's coat my eyes with baby oil or Vaseline. I have also tried olive oil. If you have really dry hands or feet, coat with Vaseline and wear cotton gloves and sox to bed. You will be surprized with soft skin in the AM. You will also feel pampered. No matter how tired I do this.

I've had areas of my body become so dry they crack. I have itched to the point of tears, while tearing at my skin. I'm scarred from it in places. I have tried anti-fungals, excema creams, lotions, oils, etc.. Nothing worked. Someone I think either here or over on the diabetes thread said they used baby oil. I figured what the heck.. what could it hurt? So I got a bottle of creamy baby oil. I use it as a last step before I turn the shower off. Within two weeks my skin cleared up and I stopped itching. The scars are there for good but I no longer dig and claw at my skin until it bleeds.

also for my face I've been using an astringent of apple cider vinegar. I originally started using it to make those little spider veins appear smaller. It seems to be agreeing with my skin though and I no longer get the dry patches on my face.

So I just took a nice relaxing bubble bath except one problem...It ended up not being relaxing due to hair falling out and floating int he water..GRRR......

I feel so bad for all of you when I read what you are saying because I used to have the same problems. Fortunately I did not have a weight problem, but believe me I understand the skin problems, the fatigue, etc.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of adequate diagnosis and treatment of the underlying cause of your hyper or hypo thyroid, because that is the first order of business.

It is not enough for a doctor to simply say you are hypothyroid, or hyperthyroid. Hypo and Hyper thyroid are SYMPTOMS only, of an underlying disease process. Often these underlying diseases are autoimmune disorders as in Grave's which causes hyper (overactive) thyroid, and Hashimotos' which causes the thyroid to be hypo (underactive). Other times, nodules on the thyroid are involved, or thyroid cancer.

Once the cause (and there sometimes can be two things going on at once) is identified, getting adequate treatment and adequate hormone replacement hormone if you have a hypothyroid from Hashimoto's or from having to have your thyroid destroyed to stop the Grave's disease process or to eliminate cancer for example, is a challenge.

Getting a "balanced" thyroid hormone in your body is the key to stopping all of your skin problems, and all of the other problems you suffer from as a result of thyroid imbalance.

Too often, patients accept their plight and try a multitude of things to address the multitude of problems caused by thyroid imbalance. You will all spend the rest of your lives suffering and grasping at solutions that only partly help, or only help for a while and then stop helping. Like I once was, you will likely end up with a closet full of creams, a cabinet full of vitamins and supplements, and every aspect of your life will be negatively affected by your thyroid imbalance.

The medical system is grossly under-diagnosing thyroid problems, grossly misdiagnosing thyroid problems, and grossly under-treating thyroid problems. Part of this is because it is not a "glamorous" health issue, and it is not a profitable problem for doctors or for the pharmaceutical industry (thyroid replacement hormones are cheap compared to meds for diabetes for example, the thing most endocrinologist know the most about), and sadly, anther factor is that the large majority of thyroid sufferers are women.

And we all know how seriously the (still) male dominated medical community takes women's various complaints of fatigue, brain fog, skin issues, stress, etc.

I know a female doctor who tells me that even though there are many more female doctors today than ever before, the medical culture in which these women are trained to be doctors, is still firmly rooted in the male-dominated culture that has always been the medical community. In other words, she tells me that the training these women doctors-to-be receive, actually trains them with the same biases that the male doctors have always had.

So we end up with a lot of female doctors who look at women with the same bias as their male colleagues. There are some female doctors, and some male doctors, who are breaking out of this, but they are not always easy to find. You have to know the limitations of the medical system if you are going to get the most out of it.

Please refer to my comments under the discussion titles of "Cytomel" and "Endocrine Dr?" in the "Hypothyroidism Support Group."

I cover a lot of ground in my posts so far.
NB

Oh gosh!

You know, after reading this I had no idea that showering bothered me so much- yes I feel your pain- and like others mentioned, the dry itchy rashy skin, hair loss.

I really understand the not feeling pretty part- I am so inactive and therefore flabby and pudgy. Anyways I do understand.