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I have seen many articles talking about hair loss in regards to hypothyroidism but very few about hyperthyroidism. People suffer from hair loss in both thyroid diseases, but is it common to lose hair from the eyebrows while on carbimazole for treatment of hyperthyroidism?

I mean both, hair loss because of the carbimazole or because of the hyperthyroid disorder.

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  • Interesting... I have had hair and eyebrow loss during hyperthyroidism (stabilized after I started sleeping properly)... I wonder if there's evidence for this.
    – Dave Liu
    Dec 11, 2015 at 3:43
  • @DaveL Please explain what do mean by started sleeping properly. Before started sleeping properly what was your sleep pattern?
    – Totoro
    Dec 11, 2015 at 6:51
  • That added question about whether hair loss is reversible is making this question too broad in my opinion. Would you consider removing it?
    – YviDe
    Dec 13, 2015 at 16:35
  • @Totoro "Normally" as in average recommendation for humans... 7-9 hours. Before that, I was averaging 4-6 hours. I also slept at odd times such as 3am - 7am, 6pm to 10pm, etc.
    – Dave Liu
    Dec 14, 2015 at 3:44

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The condition that you're asking about is called in the professional terminology: "madarosis" (but see the picture that I attached). As many proffessional books states, it's common in hypothyroidism, and they don't say it about hyperthyroidism. Then it make sense that it's not common in hyperthyroidism. But in medicine always can be exceptions.

Regarding to the side effect of carbimazole, according to this source which rely on FDA report, there is no such side effect of carbimazole, and obviously it is not common as well.

"Could Methimazole cause Madarosis? - from FDA reports

There is no Madarosis reported by people who take Methimazole yet. We study 2,148 people who have side effects while taking Methimazole from FDA. Find out below who they are, when they have Madarosis and more.

Bibiligraphy:

1) Thyroid Disorders with Cutaneous Manifestations (p.129)

2) Illustrated Synopsis of Dermatology & Sexually Transmitted Diseases (p.384)

3) http://www.ehealthme.com/ds/methimazole/madarosis/

enter image description here

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  • Ubiquitous Student (love your moniker!), the symptoms given in the image for hypothyroidism isn't completely right. Symptoms listed are found more with congenital hypothyroidism and/or more severe cases. It's true that cold pale dry skin is often one of the first physical change that may be detected but it's not always true for all individuals with hypothyroidism. I'm a case in point. When my hypothyroidism had worsened for an unknown reason after being treated and stable for years, my TSH level was 23.59 - no error was made either.
    – Jude
    Jul 3, 2017 at 0:20
  • But even with my TSH that high, I was never cold nor was my skin dry. My mind was very foggy which worried me and I was always tired and lethargic. But my heart rate was around 80 bpm at rest. The only difference I noticed is I wasn't as bothered by the heat as usual during summer (and our summers are quite mild compared to most places). I'm considerably warmer than most women and I like cool temperatures. Only during sleep do I like being warm. I had hair loss - pretty bad actually - but my scalp and facial skin still stayed oily, just less than usual for me.
    – Jude
    Jul 3, 2017 at 0:27
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usually in hypothyroidism eyebrow-thinning happens!which means eyebrow partial hair loss. you can read more:

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  • 3
    Welcome to health SE :-). It's great that you included references in your answer, but generally link-only answers are frowned upon all across SE, mainly because if the links become inactive your answer becomes unusable, but also because the purpose of the website is not to redirect the OP to another site where they can read about their topic of interest, but to provide a specific answer and an explanation (supported by references as proof). Expanding a bit on your answer would add a lot to its value. Thanks!
    – Lucky
    May 22, 2016 at 14:09
  • My question is not about hypo.
    – Totoro
    May 26, 2016 at 5:15
  • hypo and hyperthyroidism has the same influence on hair.
    – Ramyar
    May 26, 2016 at 16:03

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