Help! doctor changed thyroid med now gobs of hair falling out!!!

[shawneez]

. I was on levothyroid and loosing the normal amount of hair. Since my thyroid wasn't being controlled at optimal level my doctor desided to try me on armour thyroid. I've been on it over a month and noticed more hair falling out. My thyroid was still not controlled so he upped the dose of the armor and after about 3 weeks tons of my hair started falling out. Went back to doctor said I was afraid to continue taking the armour and all he did was reduce the dose. i've been taking reduced dose and hair is still falling out a lot.

Has anyone else ever been through anything like this???

I don't know if I should just stop taking this stuff or be patient that the reduced dose will start relieving the hair fall. I wish he would have put me back on my levothyroid because I had no problem with hair fall with it.

Thanks for any comments.

[UltraBella]

Oh no ! I am no help at all, I just wanted to offer you some support and friendship, that would be terribly upsetting ! I hope it gets better for you :flower:

[christine1989]

My doctor reccomended that I take the same medication but I decided to wait until I am off some of the ones I take now. I know how you are feeling though- I just startes Yaz a while ago and initially TONS of hair started falling out. I ended up sticking with it and within a week or two my hair shed normalized again. Sometimes hair shed is a sign of your body being confused and trying to adjust. I would give it a while (as long as you are not losing hair by the handful) to see if it will normalize in the coming weeks.

If it does not slow down or stop you should request to go back to your previous dosage as long as you felt fine on it. There is A TON of medical debate going on regarding what a "normal" thyroid is. I have been reading numerous medical journals/articles that assert that a normal thyroid range might be much broader than current medical science asserts. A lot of people function just fine with a thyroid that functions higer or lower than what is reccomended. It may take a while but try to play around with the dosages to see what works best for you.

[Deborah]

I switched to Armour Thyroid earlier this year and noticed absolutely no change in my shed rate. Did you maybe change something else at the same time? If so, perhaps that is what is making the difference. Even a change in hair care products can cause shedding for some people. When I experimented with using catnip on my hair, I noticed an immediate shed increase, so of course I stopped that immediately. No catnip for me. :shake: It could be some product that your hair and scalp just don't like.

Of course it could be the Armour Thyroid. We're all different. But before decreasing or dumping something that is vital for your health and well-being, I'd consider whether it might be other factors.

Best of luck in finding a good solution that works for you. :flower:

[shawneez]

I decided to count the hair I'm loosing to get an idea how badly I'm loosing hair and I counted almost 500 hairs that shed while I was washing hair. I don't have real thick hair and wonder how long I can go on like this until it is pretty noticeable. I think I am going to give it another week and if there is no change, I'm going to insist going on my former thyroid meds.

Thanks for your help.

[jeanniet]

Did your doctor try adjusting the levothroid dosage before switching you? It may just be a matter of tweaking things a little. I know my son has had to have his dosage adjusted before. If nothing else has changed, I would go back to the doctor and let him know that you've counted and you're losing much more than a normal amount of hair. If it were just a little above normal, I wouldn't worry and would just wait to see if it leveled out, but 500 hairs just from washing is way too much.

[kwaniesiam]

No advice I'm sorry, I just want to ask where you found Armour? I heard they stopped making it, I've had to order something similar from Canada at quite a high cost. Armour is the only thing that worked for me. Maybe you're just on too low of a dose?

[shawneez]

The Armour was from Safeway pharmacy in Sebastopol, California. They didn't have any problem getting it. Maybe they would let you mail order it.

[teela1978]

I just started thyroid medication (generic levothyroxine) a few weeks ago and am having similar issues. I think I'm loosing less now... but I wonder if I'm just getting used to it? I've decided not to worry about it until any change in my thickness is significant enough to notice on a tape measure, and to mention it to my doctor next time I see him (and after we do another blood test to see if I'm in the 'proper' range nowadays). If 'normal' shedding is 50-100 hairs a day, then I'm fine... but I used to shed much less than that :(