Just a few weeks ago, I shared that my hair is growing back and doing well. Unfortunately, it isn’t the case now.

I’ve been super tired for no good reason – no good reason in my mind, anyhow. All this time I’ve been focusing intensely on my hair; putting the real issue on the back burner – Hashimoto’s.

A yearly physical, while not the most fun thing to do, is so important. It helps to get a running start on issues that if left unmonitored could lead to an emergency situation. That said, I had blood labs done for an upcoming physical and my TSH and TPO’s are way out of healthy range, again. This explains my exhaustion and jacked-up hair loss.

My doctor contacted me advising me to increase my Levothyroxine to 100mg 2 days a week and 50 mg 5 days a week. It’s only been a week since the increase, so we wait and see. I can list all the normal levels for each thyroid related count but I’ll spare you. For now, I’ll share my TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) level. Normally, it should be .40-4.20, optimally 1.00-1.20. My level is 5.46. Had my doctor not caught it until my physical in a few weeks, I’d likely be back up to 9 point something and filled with many more bald patches

What am I doing? Maybe I slacked off on supplements a little, taking only the daily regimen of multivitamin, fish oil, D³ and magnesium. I’ve been eating watermelon like crazy, craving it even. What I found out about the things I’m craving is, each of the foods are high in iron. My body wants, no, needs iron. So, back to the basics I go. Taking care of my thyroid as much as I am my hair fallout situation is imperative.

As I said before, many things start from the inside. If I can calm my autoimmune antibodies, they will stop attacking my thyroid gland and hair follicles and whatever other organs they choose to go after. It’s just nuts to me to think of my immune system going haywire. Upon looking at blood lab results a few years back, I noticed that my TSH was slowly rising. Stress can certainly cause that and I was absolutely stressed in 2017, ’18, ’19 and ’20. Knowing my thyroid was already stressed and on the rise, getting the Covid booster while on the verge of a sinus infection and bronchitis, helped those tiny antibodies put on the attack gear.

I’ve learned over the last year that more people have Hashimoto’s than I ever thought. I’ve also learned that 95% of the people with hypothyroid have Hashimoto’s and don’t know it yet due to low to no symptoms – other than TSH counts that synthetic thyroid hormone medication helps balance.

The thyroid is an important organ that we rarely think about until it gets attacked. If you have unexplained symptoms that hang around for a while, don’t hesitate to see your doctor. Be proactive so that you and your doctor don’t have to be reactive.

Until next time, Stand tall – Be mighty.