Is my diffused hair a thyroid problem?

[Guest]

Check this out.

I am 22 and started slowly thinning at the temples at age 16-18 and now at 22 I am diffused all over the top of my head and a very very tiny bit on the sides even. I have been on 1/3 proscar for 9-10 months with no change (it might have slowed but I dought it.

I responded to Rogaine on my temples at 3-5 WEEKS (very strongly). Still using it at month 10 and it is thickening the hair at just the temples where I am using it, but not perfectly.

My mother had a thyroid problem (runs in the family).

At the bottom of my legs, there is no or little hair. The pattern matches my head (my left side is more diffused than the right side of my head as is my left lower leg is more diffused than the right lower leg. All leg and body hair seems to be thinning very slowly.

I have white patches all over my arms (not very noticeable but their there) I thought this might be a sign of early skin cancer from too much sun.

Scalp pain sometimes. (usually after sleeping my hair forms to my pillow and in the morning I'll shift those hairs and feel pain at the roots.

Too intuitive. This can get me in trouble because if I read to much into people I get very upset by what they might be thinking. I also can hallucinate on cue like I've taken acid. I think this is from mysticism (it might be my thyroid).

Extreme depression/ anxiety. I always thought that this was caused by my situation (shitty life+early aged hairloss), but it would be nice to not be like this, even for just a day. I get closer to suicide daily.

I always feel weak in the stomach area like I'm hungry but I'm not. I have always been toooooo skinny past my teenage years. I thought maybe I have worms that steal all my nutrients.
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I am going to go see the doctor but I wanted to see what you guys thought as well. If this is true, I bet I am not alone.

I could be suffering from male pattern baldness on top of my thyroid problem but I don't think I would have started this young, maybe more into my mid 20's like my Dad (my hairloss pattern doesn't resemble my Dads).

If this is the case, I have been sick for a long time, It would be a dream come true if I could be different than I am now. If not, this world is complete and utter HELL!

 

[Remix]

Might want to look into L-Tyrosine (not sure if I spelled that right) but only after you check your thyroid levels. L-Tyrosine helps with depression/anxiety or at least helped me and can give the thyroid a boost from what I understand.

 

[Guest]

That L-tyrosene for depression/anxiety is cool but being dpressed is the least of my problems. If I wanted to fight my depression I would go see a pshyciatrist.

I am curious about my hairloss and how it is being manifested.

If what I said about my thyroid is true, than treating that will treat the depression.

I listed my depression as a possible side effect of a messed up thyroid, I'm not asking how I can treat my depression.

Thanks for your kind responses.

 

[Remix]

Read again I said it can boost your Thyroid, assuming your Hypo

 

[itchy080]

paradise lost, i have similiar propblems to u
i have been on propecia for about 10 months with seemingly zero affect
the hair on my legs(all over has decreased) and on the top of my head i have those little thin hairs everywhere
i to think i may have a problem but i still think its male pattern baldness and my body changing a little after puberty, i am going to be checked out in 2 weeks though, shave my head, and strt rogaine-im shaving so i dotn have to deal with the shed

 

[Guest]

Remix, did you have any of the same symptoms as me? Did it effect your hairloss? Sorry for the confusion.
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Itchy080, I too have dismissed a lot of my physical changes as just growing up or coming out of puberty. But I read a couple articles that I found on this websight today (may 5) and it seems that a lot of my symptoms aren't that normal.

Come on, white spots on my arms, circular bald spots at the bottom of my legs (4-5 inch diameter) with slight diffuse thinning on ALL the hair on my body (including all of head though worse on top and temples).

I may have male pattern baldness but the propecia isn't working cause I also may have a thyroid f*** up.... I hope?

 

[itchy080]

i dont have circular spots, i just have thinning of all the hair on my body, and im quite hairless, 22 and cant grow a full beard-not even close to one

 

[Ol'MacDee]

Whats the deal with the circular bald spot on lower leg. I noticed mine when I was about 20 and never thought about it until i started noticed diffuse thinning on my head. I've always suspected I've got Thyroid issues since I'm super skinny and can't put on a pound. So again, what s the corralation between circular bald spot on lower leg and thyroid. Thanks guys.

 

[Guest]

Ol' mcdee, Its one of the symptoms of adrenal insufficiancy as is being really skinny. There's a grip of different symptoms which make it hard to diagnose I geuss.

I'm no expert at least not yet....

Check out the other thyroid thread.

 

[everysixseconds]

the white patches on your arm could be the result of a fungal infection, i forget what its called. you use a cream called daktacort (mecanozole) or something to treat it. it is very treatable. basically, the fungus overgrows and causes disruption in the production of melanin, so when you have tan, that area doesnt tan and becomes obvious.

 

[kamui]

Assuming you are Hypothyroidism.

If it runs in your family and you have a TSH higher than 2.5, then I would be a little concerned.

Only my opinion, but I don't think a TSH of "2.5" can cause hairloss...It might cause some mild symptoms of HYPO such as fatigueness and a little constipation. I think you might need to have atleast a TSH of higher than "7.0" to have hairloss. BUT you can have full blown Hypothyroidism with a TSH of "2.5 - 3.0" if you have low levels of FreeT3, antibodies, or both.

Again in my opinion, I don't like the TSH test much. I would prefer to get a FreeT4 and FreeT3 test. Oh, also helps to get your Anti-TPO(For HYPO), Anti-TG(For HYPO), and TSI( TSI is for Graves/HYPER) antibodies checked out.

Hypo should cause you to gain weight while Hyper causes you to lose weight. But I guess you can be skinny and be Hypo if you have some sort of adrenal gland deficiency.

Anyway, you shouldn't hope to have a thyroid problem. Yea you might regrow some hair if you really do have a thyroid problem, but from my experience of reading so many thyroid help forums, it REALLY sucks to have a thyroid disorder. Even though you are being treated with medicine, your thyroid will get worse and worse throughout the years. Plus you might also develop other autoimmune diseases if your thyroid disorder is caused by antibodies...

 

[Gilgamesh]

I wish I could spend more time here since I have a lot to say (but it's finals week and I'm knee deep in studying).

There are two aspects to this. Mild hypothyroidism seems to only diffuse hair a bit (not enough for flown bown diffuse loss). However chronic low long untreated hypothyroidism fatigues the adrenal glands (the two are like ying and yang). The adrenals try to keep pace and exctrete excess cortisol. Eventually they get overly fatigued too and start firing off very little most of the time with huge spurts (usually during the night). Have you guys noticed not being able to sleep at a proper hour. This usually is also accompanied by fatigue (known as chronic fatigue syndrome - which is just code for hypoadrenalism or adrenal fatigue/insufficiency).

The combination of adrenal (male pattern baldness via adrenal stress and diffuse via thyroid stress) is a 1-2 knockout blow for many youngsters as they diffuse in a male pattern baldness manner.

This disregulation (hypercortisolism) creates an inflammatory environment as well (adrenally mediated I am sure of, how exactly I am not - possible upregulation in adrenal sex hormones).

It becomes a PSEUDO-CUSHING'S syndrome (google this). As you might know, Cushing's syndrome leads to baldness/hairloss in humans and animals.

I suspect Mifepristone will be an astonishingly effective hairloss drug. This is the infamous 'abortion pill'. However it has been fast-tracked for use as an antidepressant (in males as well) as it has shown the best clinical results for treatment in severe depression of any drug ever tested (because it blocks excess cortisol). If I could afford it (super expensive online), I would be taking it.

I'm not 100% sure about all these theories though as I just started to play with them in my head recently. Pretty damn confident though.

 

[junior_senior]

hmmm...
i too have had thinning hair all over my body, ie: legs chest.
it seems that with the onset of my hairloss at age 17, my beard stopped getting thicker (it's quite thick, i just assumed it would continue to thicken until my 30's), and my body hair stopped getting thicker - and has even been thinning since i started losing hair. whenever i wake up in the morning the sheets are always generously covered with body hair. i can honestly say my legs are 'balding' in the company of my head-hair.

sound like a thyroid problem?

 

[kamui]

gilamesh, so if these mild hypo patients get treated, their adrenal glands will go back to producing normal levels of cortisol thus no more hairloss?

Some of these people who think they have mild hypothyroidism are skinny though, but cushing and hypothyroidism is known for weight gain?

 

[Guest]

If my mild case of "hypo whateverism" goes back to normal:

I won't be so skinny (I eat ALOT!!!!, I should way 200 pounds) current weight 150 at 5" 10'
I would have a full recovery with hairloss.
I would not be depressed.
I would have energy to acomplish things.
The small spots of mild vitiligo on my arms would go away.
My body hair would return to normal.
I would sop seeing spots and trails.

That would be cool.

Is it possible for this to return to normal on it's own or does it have to be treated? It seems to be brought on by extrinsic antagonizers.

 

[kamui]

paradise, you're gona have a hard time finding a Doctor to prescribed or treat this so called mild hypothyroidism.

why not be our ginny pig and buy some t4 and t3 and self medicate yourself to see if you grow back ya hair? j/k

hypothyroidism doesn't get better on its own.

 

[misterium]

kamui: I don't think I've any medical concerns to worry about, however I do have hyperhydrosis (excessive sweating) of my upper body, mostly my forehead and chest/back.

I'm 27 and I'm a little overweight but I'm a stalky build at 175 and 5'8'' or so.. could afford to drop a good 15 pounds and replace with lean muscle but who couldn't right? I've always been a heavy sweater, all my life as far as I can remember... It's not stinky sweat though thank god .. I know sweat 'cools you off' but at the same time excessive sweat is an annoyance. I remember even when I was in better condition/physical shape, I still perspired a LOT more than most guys around me after even just a little while of physical activity.

Anyway, I was wondering if there is anything you know of, in terms of the thyroid, that can cause a person to sweat excessively even while simply sitting outside on a bench in humid hot summer weather, when everybody else around me is perfectly dry, even some really obese people.. it makes me wonder if there is a thyroid connection. It's really annoying when I am working and sweat gets in my eyes but that I can deal with.. it's NOT doing anything and STILL sweating that bugs me... though here in Vegas it's dry heat, much more comfortable than Houston, TX where I was before, I still tend to sweat more than others after very little movement/work.

Any ideas?

 

[kamui]

misterium,

are your hands and feet cold? Is your excessive sweating caused by becoming very tired easily from exercise?

Your sweating can mean many things, can be a thyroid problem, adrenal glands, weak kidneys.

Usually Hypothyroidism causes you to be cold and Hyperthyroidism causes you to be warm and sweat easily. But you say you are over weight and Hyperthyroidism causes people to lose weight.

Kinda hard to say what is causing your sweating

 

[Gilgamesh]

oh also, there's an enormous tie in with insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome / 'Syndrome X' going on here: which I wil speculate on soon

some random answers to stuff that was posted: Pseudo-Cushing's will often be very thin (thin arms and legs and such) but have a lot of visceral fat or central obesity -> this seems to correlate with the onset of Syndrome X or beginnings of type 2 diabetes though (very related to male pattern baldness)

The pseudo-cushing response takes a very long time though especially in young folks: but untreated metabolic deficiencies of this nature will often lead there if you give it a few more years (not to scare you)

About treating the hypothyroidism: it is generally believed by those up to date with research that adrenal insufficiency must be treated before thyroid. If you rev up your thyroid too fast the adrenals can not keep up and become even more fatigued. This is why it's key to know which or both you suffer from.