Posted by florence on March 8, 2005, at 15:57:07
In reply to Tyroid (T3) Augmentation and Hair Loss Question, posted by rod on March 5, 2005, at 7:08:02
I belong to an excellent yahoo group for thyroid disease and I do not agree with the some of the responses here.
First: if you are only taking T3 then your labs are as expected. If your body has enough T3 then your T4 will go down as will your TSH. That is because it is a negative feedback system. TSH is actually a pituitary hormone.
MANY people in my group have SUPPRESSED TSH levels. Yes, less than 1.0. BUT we also have thyroid autoimmune diseases such as Hashimoto's (HYPO- underactive thyroid) OR Grave's Disease (HYPER- overactive thyroid).
Hair loss is discussed alot but it is usually mentioned as a symptom of the above mentioned diseases; especially Hashimoto's.
BTW, I struggled to find a reason for my chronic fatigue and did years of research myself. This site led me to further investigate thyroid issues and FINALLY- the SECOND ENDOCRINOLOGIST I saw tested my Thyroid Antibodies which were sky high.
I hope you have a dr who knows what he/she is doing. I don't hear many good things about endos becuz they tend to rely on Lab tests (often the wrong ones) instead of treating the symptoms of the patient.
I forgot who it was- maybe Dr Peter Whybrow at UCLA a researcher investigating thyroid and mood disorders--- but some dr. said that most drs freak out when the TSH goes below 1.0....I can tell you that even on this site- Psycho Babble- there is reference to lowering the TSH in order to get an improvement with mood.
I take Armour thyroid which has T3 and T4. Sorry to ramble on...I hope I said something to help you or somebody else. Florence> Hi
>
> I experience some increased hair loss the last months, which I attribute to my Thyroid (T3) augmentation. I take 25ug (10^-6) gramm per day.
> The thing I dont understand is that eiter hypo or hyperthyroidism can cause alopecia. Why is that? I actually hoped the augmentation will be good for my hair, because it is thin to begin with. I have read that some sort of alopecia might be caused by impaired convertation of T4 to T3 in the skin of your head.
> My lab results now (after some month of taking T3) show a too much of T3 (surprise surprise) and too low T4 and TSH. TSH is still active so my doc said I could rise my T3 to 50ug, to completely shut it down (which is a good thing for depression, he said).
>
> So does anybody know why I loose hair, and which role T4 plays here? Might also taking T4 help with that? What can I do against it? T3 causes an improvement in depression (especially cognition), so I would like to continue taking it.
>
> Other drugs I take (geez, Im a living pharmacy... :) but dont feel drugged at all. quite the opposite)
>
> Nortriptyline 150mg
> Lyrica 450mg
> amisulpride 50mg
> T3 25ug
> clonazepam 0,375mg
> diphenhydramine 100mg (might drop that soon)
> Nicergoline 15mg
> Pentoxifylline 600mg
>
> Roland
poster:florence
thread:466842
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050308/msgs/468323.html