It starts out “innocently” enough. You’re feeling fatigued, but you chalk it up to the demands of life. You’re feeling down, but you tell yourself that we can all get down when we’re tired. Then, there’s a spare tire around your middle. You can’t poop. You get chilled more easily. And you’re shedding hair.
The hormones that are most commonly associated with hair loss are the androgens (DHEA, testosterone, and DHT) and thyroid (hypothyroidism). There are others that are equally important, like cortisol, and another is prolactin, which rarely gets the attention it deserves.
While we understand the desire for a label or “official” diagnosis, it makes me scratch my head (no pun intended) that providers offer scalp biopsies because while they claim that they’ll help to determine an “accurate diagnosis,” they rarely change their treatment plan based on the results.
The medical matrix was developed to save you from the horror of being human. If you’re a machine, you can trust the experts to “fix” you and then you don’t have to get into all that “emotional human stuff.” That would be great if it worked.
The FDA just approved the sixth iteration of JAK (Janus kinase) inhibitors for alopecia. But just because it’s newly approved doesn’t mean it’s great because none of the JAK inhibitors are great. In fact, the FDA has also issued a black box warning.
I’ve traveled this complicated path of undiagnosed autoimmune hypothyroidism and depression that was, perhaps, misdiagnosed. And as I look back over the last 20 years through a different lens, I see that I identify with all of these underlying issues that led to the overly simplistic diagnosis of “depression.”
If you’re experiencing weight gain, sleep disturbance, brain fog, anxiety, exhaustion, forgetfulness, relationship issues, loss of libido, or lack of motivation, would it surprise you to know that these symptoms are present in both depression and hypothyroidism?
Low hydrochloric acid is pretty chronic in the alopecia community. It has a far-reaching impact on our overall health—with two specific relationships that are also chronic for many experiencing hair loss.
Has your dermatologist, endocrinologist, or primary care physician (or chiropractor or energy worker or massage therapist) told you, “You’re just stressed?” Well, I have a few things to say about that.
While optimizing thyroid hormones is a worthy effort, one missing piece of the conversation is often thyroid hormone conversion.
