At wits end- Hair Loss/Thinning/Thyroid Disease

I am at wits end with my hair. I have hypothyroidism and vitamin D deficiency which is reaking havoc on my hair, skin and nails. My hair has been texlaxed for years. My scalp has always been based prior to relaxing and it I only use a mild perm. My hair has thickness especially when airdried. However in the past 3 years I have experienced thinning. I had hair loss at the nape-there is a hair loss patch of about 1 inch and I had loss above that point. So 3 years ago I cut it in a graduated wedge and grew it out. Now the nape is itching again and there are small bumps there and I also have thinning at the sides and a little at the top. I cut the front in bangs to take the stress of the sides. I use JBCO but stop on an off because it is so thick for my thin hair. I am paring down all my hair products to keep it simple. I found a sulfate free shampoo (my scalp itches terribly with sulfates) that softens my hair and makes it easy to comb. I found a great leave in with Lacio-Lacio. I use the argan oil or aveda emollient elixir sparingly for shine and to keep my hair soft. I air dry and wrap my hair. I use steam rollers instead of regular rollers because of the manipulation and breakage. I stopped prepooing because I really don’t see any benefit. I only use Silk Elements Megasilk conditioner, Hairveda Strillnah conditioner and Motions CPR. Occasionally I use Aveda Damaged Remedy. I started using emu oil and I know that I have to be patient to see results. My husband the other day said to me why don’t I do something different with my hair(he means cut it different). He did not take my hair problems seriously so I sent him a picture of my nape and let him see that I could not cut my hair at all. He apologized and said he would not mention it again.I have been to the dermatologist and he prescribed me a cream that did that nape area no good at all. My one downfall is overbrushing my hair to wrap it. I am trying not to wrap it so much to keep it straight but flat irons are off limits except when I go to the salon every 2 months. I feel so sad and discouraged when I see how everyone is growing their hair long and beautiful and I am loosing what little hair I have left. I don’t want to go natural since I work in a corporate environment and I don’t have time to heat straighten or blowdry it which I know will fry my hair and I know I don’t have wash and go hair. I am staying away from braid and weaves because my hair has always been to fragile for this as well. I am going to have labs drawn again but I know I am vitamin D deficient and will be back on the meds. Meanwhile I am going to start taking Caltrate which will give me both Vitamin D and Calcium. I will also start back up on my Flax seed oil. I am open to any other suggestions. I just need HELP!!!!

So basically...

1) You have an internal issue that seems to be contributing to the degradation of your hair
2) you hair is thinning
3) You have tried lots and lots of different ways to salvage your hair/thicken it/make it healthy to no avail
4) Actually foregoing caustic chemicals that may very well be contributing to the degradation of your hair is out of the question because you are afraid to rock your hair the way it is naturally.

OK.

Honestly this puts you in a tough spot. Even before i finished reading your post i thought "she needs to lay off the chemicals"...but then i read how you dont want to go natural because you are not comfortable with the hair texture that grows out of your head and you dont want to give your hair a break (via fake hair-extensions, weave)...so i ran out of ideas, lol. I am sorry i am not of much help. I hope the other posters can hep you out. Good luck!

I had my hair natural in the past (short wedge) and a DA style and in truth as long as it is short, kept trimmed it does fine. But with my hair in its current condition-short is out. However I have had my hair long natural and it is too big to let loose and I know my hair can't tolerate tight braids or weaves(Frankly alot of these stylists can't do good hair-I am definitely no letting them add new hair to my head). I am willing to stretch my relaxers if I have to in order to give my hair a longer break. It is only in the last 3 yrs that I have had trouble with my hair so I know it is an internal thing. I am just so tired of dealing with this and the added stress of my busy life(full time mom, full time work) does not help.

I'm sorry that I don't have any practical advice but wanted to say sorry you're going through this. I can relate on the hair and corporate thing--I worked in a very coporate environment for about 8 years (no longer there) and I was natural but wore my hair straight 99% of the time.

Now I work in a very laid back office and rarely ever straighten my hair.
In hindsight, I think my reluctance to wear my hair non-straight in the corp office was more about me feeling self-conscious and less about how "they" felt about my hair. If I had to do it all over again, I would have just stepped out there, worn my natural hair proudly and see what the reaction would be...i might have been pleasantly surprised how quickly people get over something out of the "norm"...you might be pleasantly surprised too...

I have thyroid disease too, hyper thyroidism, and my hair has changed, ends always splitting crown finally growing back and nape.

the meds are causing my hair to shed.

are you on meds? they may be causing your hair to act up as well since the thyroid meds all affect the hair.

keep doing what your doing but try only using a small amount of products. right now I only use one line or hair products for my shampoo and conditioner and my hair has gotten better.

when I was switching my hair products constantly my hair was getting worse.

the deficiencies can be fixed with a hardcore diet of veggies and foods that provide vitamin c and d in them and supplements.

thyroid disease is really bad, not only the way it can make you feel bad physically but the negative effects on the hair.

it will get better.

longhairlover said:

I have thyroid disease too, hyper thyroidism, and my hair has changed, ends always splitting crown finally growing back and nape.

the meds are causing my hair to shed.

are you on meds? they may be causing your hair to act up as well since the thyroid meds all affect the hair.

keep doing what your doing but try only using a small amount of products. right now I only use one line or hair products for my shampoo and conditioner and my hair has gotten better.

when I was switching my hair products constantly my hair was getting worse.

the deficiencies can be fixed with a hardcore diet of veggies and foods that provide vitamin c and d in them and supplements.

thyroid disease is really bad, not only the way it can make you feel bad physically but the negative effects on the hair.

it will get better.

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I have had thyroid disease pretty much all my life. I started out Hyperthyroid from age 2-8. Became Euthyroid. Developed post partum Hyperthyroidism at age 30 was on Tapazole an PTU. I had hashimotos thyroiditis and Graves Disease. Treatment did not work and had to be treated Radioactively. Became Hypo and I am on levothyroxine. Dose finally right after a couple of years of adjustments. I thought the meds would help and not make things worse. At this point I am for all natural dietary solutions with supplements and starting to exercise to get my lagging strength back. I am so tired of being tired and swollen and sluggish. I am trying to keep things simple and I will try to stretch my relaxers to longer than 8 weeks, like 10-12 which I think will help.