Is this a typical symptom of abx? I'm on Rocephin (2 weeks) and Azithromycin (5 weeks).
It's quite disgusting to find so much hair in the drain after a shower...but then I comb my wet hair and even more comes out! I'm thinking I should go get it cut short but at my age it will take years to grow it out again!
If this isn't a medication symptom, is it a lyme symptom? All my thyroid blood work has been normal so I don't think it's related to that.
Karen
Posted by lymemomtooo (Member # 5396) on :
I wish I knew the answer..My daughter has lost so much hair..But I know lyme can affect the hair and my daughter also has uncontrolled blood sugars which can also damage the hair..
And was just disgnosed via a spect scan of much hypoperfusion in the brain..So guessing reduced blood flow to the brain may be a big reason also.
Good luck..And if you find some answers, please pm me. thanks lymemomtooo
Posted by TBD-PA (Member # 9790) on :
Hi! Hair loss and Lyme, think about thyroid status (might be low in T3-- happens alot with TBDs), low mineral levels, especially ZINC (maybe get a blood/serum level for Zinc, then start 30-60mg of zinc a day), also vasculitis may cause it. there are afew other reasons, but these are the 'top 3'
Good luck!
A
Posted by vachick (Member # 8353) on :
Interesting. Mine is falling out in handfuls from the root!!! I have no idea what could be going on since I am not on abx right now. ugh.
Posted by 5dana8 (Member # 7935) on :
Mine too. I go thru stadges of hair loss. I am in one now.
Every time I shower - handfuls of hair come out- hair all over the place.
I am not on abx right now . I really wish I knew why this happens. It's s#cks
Posted by kelmo (Member # 8797) on :
If at all possible, find a good progesterone cream. My daughter has been using a scalp treatment with TX Blockers along with a progesterone cream and her hair has stopped falling out. It's due to our whacked out endocrine system.
Kelly
Posted by Andie333 (Member # 7370) on :
Hair loss is a pretty common Lyme symptom, I think, but it really is a distressing one.
When I first started Lyme treatment, my hair was coming out at an alarming rate.
I wasn't sure what to do, but I tracked my symptoms each night with a printable chart I got here:
Hair loss was one of the many Lyme symptoms listed on this chart.
After being on antibiotics for about 5 months, I noticed a slowing in the rate I was losing my hair. After a year, my hair was back again and full.
Hope this gives you some encouragement!
Andie
Posted by KP (Member # 9488) on :
I'm not really freaking out other than wondering what is causing it. After each pregnancy, I had alot of hair loss and ended up having my hair cut really short. I've been really tempted to do that again except at age 38, it may never grow this long again!! It's also become curly in the past few years...if I cut it short, it might go back to straight again!
I'm going for a trim tomorrow. Maybe a good scalp scrub will stimulate new growth! I can't do that with my PICC line in.
Posted by kelmo (Member # 8797) on :
You have a lot of hair loss after pregnancy because you have had 400mg of progesterone a day to hold in the hair. After birth, estrogen shoots up and hair falls out.
As the disease decreases, everything should start leveling out. But, until then there is help.
Posted by AZURE WISH (Member # 804) on :
The lyme caused my eyelashes and eyebrows to fall out for awhile. With treatment they stopped falling out and they grew back. I had lost alot of em... the top eyelashes was very thin and the bottoms were gone...
So with treatment if its from lyme it should grow back fine.
Best wishes
Posted by groovy2 (Member # 6304) on :
HI all I had hair loss to --after a few months of good treatment my hair has grown back-Jay-
Posted by pq (Member # 6886) on :
kp check lab report to thyroid test(s). if tsh is within normal range, no further testing of thyroid function will be done unless specifically ordered by the doc.
with me, my tsh was normal, t3 low, t4 high, and tb__? was high. for the sometime before, during and after the test the most lower left hand side of my neck over the location of the my throid gland was warm, and quite warm; additionally, i could feel a vibrative sensation. for years, i was conscious of the presence of this area of my neck, and this extended upward on the left hand side of my neck, the sensatrion diminishing as i went up the neck. absolutely no such sensation on the right side of the neck.
i had hair loss from eye brows, and scalp, as well.
Dr. B. referred to inflammation, and receptor blockade of some kind, relating to lyme.
past tx guidlines by Dr. B. for lyme stated that low t3, and high t4 levels seem to befit the effect of borrelia on the thyroid. tacit assumption being previously healthy person.
i forget the exact tests descriptions for the thyroid panel when one has lyme, but they're somewhere on this site.
can someone please fill in the "blanks" on the thyroid hormone tests suggested when on has lyme/tbds? thanx.
Posted by LostCityAgent (Member # 9050) on :
KP, I am sorry to hear about the hair loss. In all of my studies I have never read that hair loss can occur as a direct response to LD on any plain. However, you may want to speak to your physician about drug selections and possible severe side effects. This could be age related hair loss which can occur as well in women, or, it may be a strange presentation of LD which as we have all seen can happen. It is non-specific and very unpredictable.
Good Luck! Jmcc.
Posted by DolphinLady (Member # 6275) on :
This symptom has improved dramatically for me with continued lyme and coinfection tx.
Posted by KP (Member # 9488) on :
quote: The physician who made your body, is the physician that heals your body. Other things in between, just help!
LOSTCITY - I like that quote!!!
I am going to ask my doc to check my thyroid numbers again. They have been very normal and steady but I do know I have a nodule on my thyroid. An ultrasound is scheduled next week though they only found it by accident when checking other Lyme related problems! I don't have any typical thyroid symptoms.
I really think the hair loss is related to the meds because it has just gotten bad in the past week or so and I've only been on the IV for 2 1/2 weeks. Maybe it's the spirochetes leaving via the scalp!
Karen
Posted by tic chick (Member # 9156) on :
I have been slowly losing my hair over the past year.
I do not have a thyroid anymore as had 3cm finding of papillary cancer inside a nodule and had to have a thyroidectomy in 2005. Taking Synthroid to supplement.
Was dxs with Neuro Lyme last week and believe this disease has caused both of these problems, minus the cancer but, yah never know.
Evening Primrose supplements have been shown to help with the hair loss.
Blessings, Tic
Posted by LostCityAgent (Member # 9050) on :
Ladies, I am very sorry to hear of the hair loss problems. This is by far, unacceptable, and tragic. I am very sorry and I hope that it gets better for you. I know, awful sequences cause by LD, personally.
Good Luck! Jmcc.
Posted by luvs2ride (Member # 8090) on :
Hi folks,
There was a recent thread on another website about the benefits of coconut oil and regaining hair was one of the benefits. The oil is supposed to be very beneficial to the thyroid.
There also was a recent thread here at lymenet about the anti-fungal and anti-bacterial benefits too. Many have used it to treat their yeast issues.
Most people say 4 tbsps a day. Even though it is high in calories, reports say it will balance your weight and even help lose weight due to its enhancement of the thyroid.
Posted by AP (Member # 8430) on :
I use a steroidal shampoo that my dermatologist suggested. It works to a degree, but at times I do have considerable hair loss... It's a bit on the pricey side as well, but there are rebate coupons that my doctor gave me that cushioned the blow.
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