hi Debbi,


re - the thyroid blood tests ...

free T4 - normal is 0.7 - 2.0 (Less than 0.7 may indicate hypothyroidism.)

T3 - normal is 80 - 220 (Less than 80 can indicate hypothyroidism.)

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re - hair loss ...

Thinning hair can be a symptom of low thyroid .. but it's more that hair all over the body becomes thin and sparse, not so much that the scalp hair starts falling out in larger amounts than usual. One classic sign of thyroid-related hair loss is if your eyebrows have become very thin or non-existent.

My hair had been thinning for nearly six months .. it was falling out at the normal rate, but the new hair growing in to replace it was so fine it was nearly invisible, and very fragile .. it broke very easily. Anyway, the dr. rechecked my thyroid, but also checked adrenal hormones and stored iron levels (ferritin). The hair follicle requires iron in order to grow a new strand of healthy hair. Well .. my ferritin level was in my boots!! which suprised me since at the time I'd been eating low carb for over a year, lots of red meat and I just assumed I was getting plenty of iron. Well, some of us may not absorb iron very well from the intestines, and also may be deficient in folic acid and vitamins C & B12 which are needed for proper iron utilisation. So ... might be worth getting your ferritin level checked, if that hasn't been done already. You don't have to be anemic to have low stored iron levels .. my hemoglobin was perfectly fine.

Hair loss that happens suddenly, where your scalp hair is falling out in clumps .. may be due to stress, to rapid weight loss (from any diet or cause), changing hormone levels .. pregnancy, menopause etc. This hair loss is typically temporary, and new hair growth eventually fills back in. The name for this is "telogen effluveum". There's a monster thread about hair loss in the General Health forum .. check it out .. http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=13389


hth,

Doreen