Re: Hair FALLING OUT! Barb

[Guest guest]

Barb~~

See my second post for Mark and that will give you a peek into my last year.

My real clue was the gobs of hair that come off in my hand in the morning

when I run my fingers thru my hair and that come off in my palm when I shower.

It is disgusting!

Laurie (hairdresser) noticed it too 3 weeks ago when she cut my hair ...

noticed that it was coming off in her fingers by the dozens...

It has not come off in clumps and whacked anyone in the face yet! LOL! But I

suppose that might be the next phase if I don't catch this now...

I really appreciate the detail in your response and will reread again taking

my time. I am sure there are more tid bits I did not get on the first go..

What you suggest about levels TSH and T-4 hormones is a good one, I am not

sure that I have had T-4 but I will ask my doc tomorrow when I see him. He

did bunches of levels last April but I am not sure if it was one of them. I

have not told him of the hair loss. Funny, it never dawned on me but I will.

Also, I recently found out that I have a mass in my breast (great right?) and

am going to have an MRI in supine position with cone table because of my

connective tissue issues on the 31st... But during that visit with my GYN he

found

a low grade vaginal infection (not yeast). He started me yesterday on a 3

day regimen of Cleocin cream. This I think has been going on for about 3-4

months...

What you said about 3-4 months is grand.

The hair loss started about 2-3 months ago so I will have to go back 6 months

.... hum?

Lots of medication changes (alterations really) at that time.

I had my hair cellophane ... this is not really color actually a conditioner

but she put some natural color in it too ... will not cover grey... (lucky I

still only have 3 of those buggers). She did it because my hair was looking so

drab (medications).

Thanks for the info... I have to take off for an hour or so but will take a

pen and pad with me. I am going to think about it today and every time I think

of a change I will write it down. Since I have to see my doc for my hips

tomorrow anyway I will have a list for him about the hair loss and we can review

old tests.

Debbi

[Guest guest]

Deb, you certainly have plenty of natural things going on in your life that

could contribute to the hair loss.

> What you suggest about levels TSH and T-4 hormones is a good one...

When you look at the results, keep in mind that in 2003 the standards for

TSH and T-4 testing changed. Not all labs everywhere have adopted the new

standards and as a result people are still going undiagnosed. The about.com

website has a good reference chart for interpretting your test results.

http://thyroid.about.com/library/weekly/bltest-values.htm

TSH is produced by the pituitary gland to stimulate the thyroid gland to

produce T-4. A thyroid problem usually causes the Pituitary to compensate

by producing more or less TSH. Most doctors rely only on the TSH test to

determine if there is a thyroid problem. The problem is that TSH testing

doesn't always tell you exactly what is going on. It's like checking how

much oil is in the car by checking the size of the puddle underneath. A big

puddle of oil under the car indicates that you are probably low on oil in

the engine, but the absence of a puddle doesn't mean that there is plenty of

oil in the engine.

> Thanks for the info... I have to take off for an hour or so but will take

a

> pen and pad with me. I am going to think about it today and every time I

think

> of a change I will write it down. Since I have to see my doc for my hips

> tomorrow anyway I will have a list for him about the hair loss and we can

review

> old tests.

You're welcome. Hopefully you will think of something from the last 6

months that is the likely culprit. Still, it's good to rule out any more

serious causes so you can ease your mind.

-Barb