Hair Loss and IVF

[Anonymous]

Since undergoing infertility treatments the last 1.5 years (IUIs followed by IVF), I’ve noticed thinning of my hair the last 8 months or so. My thyroid also went from .8 to 2.5 and I started taking synthroid to manage it (currently 1.7). I believe hair loss is due to the hormone fluctuations and was hoping for advice from other women on how to promote hair growth. I started taking biotin and I’m taking prenatals and DHA. Please share anything that worked for you.

[Anonymous]

There are multiple possible causes of hair loss. One thing I wish I had thought to do sooner - go see a really good dermatologist who specializes in this. In Arlington, try scheduling an appointment with one of the doctors at SkinDC and tell them you want a thorough workout for all medical causes of hair loss. At the appt, them all your medical history, diagnoses/conditions, surgeries, medications, lab results (bring copies of recent lab results or make a quick summary of key levels such as TSH and any other thyroid labs, ferritin, vit D, vit B12, etc).

Depending on your situation they may want to just look at your hair and scalp, take a biopsy of your scalp, or take special magnified photos of your scalp that are sent off for analysis and can be compared over time to see if any treatments or vitamins you try are working. (SkinDC offers this special photo analysis. Not all dermatologists have the equipment, so if you go somewhere else you may not even be told this is an option. It does cost extra to do the photo analysis and that part is not covered by insurance, but the cost wasn’t prohibitive for me personally. They didn’t require or pressure me to do it, so if you’re not interested in that part of the work up you can feel free to still go to that practice and just opt out of the special magnified photo analysis.)