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Hair loss and Bronchiectasis

Posted by Beth Kiefer @mrf5629, Sep 18, 2020

My doctor has me doing nebulizer treatments twice daily (or more if coughing a lot) with Ipratropium Albuterol, 3% sodium chloride, and budesonide. After a couple weeks my hair started falling out in much larger amounts. Has anybody else experienced this or have a guess about why? Is it the nebulizer treatments or my lower oxygen levels causing it? Or stress?

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maysrx | @maysrx | Sep 22, 2020
In reply to @sueinmn "Heather - I have had a nodule on my thyroid since before 2010, and it is..." + (show)
@sueinmn

Heather - I have had a nodule on my thyroid since before 2010, and it is being watched but no action to date. The endocrinologist recommends against action on asymptomatic nodules. My thyroid hormones are checked twice a year, and the nodule each year in case anything changes. How are you proceeding with the nodule?

I also had a bout of Graves Disease (hyperthyroid) brought on by heavy metal poisoning in 2011-2012. It caused many serious symptoms including hair loss. After the source of the metal (bad hip implants) were removed in 2012, the metal was excreted from my body & the Graves went away.

Thankfully my endocrinologist is okay with conservative measures, because the usual cure for Graves is to zap your thyroid with radiation and put you on meds for the rest of your life.

Sue

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Hi Sue, following this thread as I too have been experiencing significant hair loss over the last year... will be following up with my doctor to have my thyroid levels checked; are there specific tests they should run or just the standard TSH, etc.?
Also curious about the issue you had with your metal hip implant... how did the issue present and what did they replace it with? My mom needs knee replacement surgery but feels she is unable as she has some sensitivity to metals and therefore is afraid to do the surgery just in case she can’t tolerate or has adverse reaction to the metals, but in the mean time, she is in constant pain and frustration over situation.
Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Maryann

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Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | Sep 22, 2020
In reply to @maysrx "Hi Sue, following this thread as I too have been experiencing significant hair loss over the..." + (show)
@maysrx

Hi Sue, following this thread as I too have been experiencing significant hair loss over the last year... will be following up with my doctor to have my thyroid levels checked; are there specific tests they should run or just the standard TSH, etc.?
Also curious about the issue you had with your metal hip implant... how did the issue present and what did they replace it with? My mom needs knee replacement surgery but feels she is unable as she has some sensitivity to metals and therefore is afraid to do the surgery just in case she can’t tolerate or has adverse reaction to the metals, but in the mean time, she is in constant pain and frustration over situation.
Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Maryann

Jump to this post

Hi Maryann, They always start with the TSH, and if outside normal range, they run more tests.
As for the hip implant, it was a new type, supposed to work best for younger patients (I was only 54) with both cup & ball made of metal. Most are/were a plastic or nylon cup & metal or ceramic ball. It turned out the two metal components, rubbing against each other, caused metal ions to shed into the body & caused problems for many. This implant is now off the market.

I am not aware of any similar issues with knees, but she should speak to the ortho surgeon for advice.
Sue

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