I started taking Tapazole as part of my overall Graves Disease treatment plan. I experienced no side effects. Or so I thought. After taking the medicine for a few months I noticed that my hair started coming out in my brush in the morning at an unusual rate. Then it really started coming out. I noticed how bad it was when one day I was drying my hair in my bathroom with the shade up and the sun streaming in. I could see clearly through to my scalp several inches back across the top of my head. It was at that point I realized just how bad the problem was.
I mentioned it to my mom, she didn't notice. I mentioned it to my good friend Kathy who has been cutting my hair for several years now, she said my hair felt fine. But in reality it wasn't. It just kept coming out for months.
I stopped taking Tapazole on February 1, 2007, at the request of my doctor. It was in late March/early April that one day I noticed while grabbing my hair to pull it back that it felt different. When I put in in a ponytail, which I don't often do, I noticed all these short pieces of hair sticking out!! I couldn't believe it. I thought there must be static in the air, or it must have been caused by my blow dryer on too hot of a setting. Not only was I wrong, but much to my surprise it turned out to be my hair growing back!!! And you couldn't miss it. Hair sticking out all over. And lots of it! I was so excited.
By early May these new hair growths were about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long. When I would slide my fingers along my scalp and grab my hair with my fingers you could feel how thick it was. As I slid my hand out after a couple of inches you could feel how thin it was beyond the transition of new hair growth.
I estimate that I lost a good 25% of my hair, if not a third. It was a lot. I could easily see my scalp, and my hair was just plain thin. I'd been taking the Tapazole for so long that it took new hair growth for me to finally realize the magnitude of the problem I had.
Fortunately for me no one seemed to notice it but me. And I don't have the thickest hair to begin with. I was hopeful and almost certain the hair loss wouldn't be permanent, attributing it to the medication or the overactive thyroid--and I was right. Now I'm just waiting to see if my thyroid levels stay in the normal range so I can avoid medication again. Let's hope so!!
