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Elliarya
November 24th, 2010, 04:19 PM
Hey everyone.. I'm having what feels like a terrible issue..
So I recently started taking levothyroxine.. and one of the horrible side effects seems to be hair loss/shedding... I'm told this will pass, but I'm starting to panic! My hair is almost at my hip (less than an inch away) and I'm seeing all this hair come out, it's frightening! Not to mention embarrassing...
Does anybody know anything I can do to minimise or even stop this shedding?

lovinmylife
November 24th, 2010, 04:54 PM
Im not on that medicine but wanted to offer a hug. :) I am on a different medicine (seasonique) that I think is causing hair loss/shedding as well and I DEFINITELY know that stress feeling. I am mildly (well not so mildly) freaking out!!! :(

Shicurls
November 24th, 2010, 04:54 PM
:grouphug: This must be so challenging for you, emotionally. I know what it's like to fight the effects of medicine upon your body and I can only imagine about how traumatizing it is to deal with your hair shedding at such a long length.

Take heart. Many people on here have shed/lost hair due to medical problems and issues. I'm sure one of them will chime in soon.

I would recommend checking out the Monistat thread. I know that has helped those that have lost hair to chemo. It has helped me to grow my hair quickly and more thickly.

Other than that, I would suggest combing through the archives and searching for some similar threads. I simply don't have the knowledge you need, but I did want to know that I am sending you a cyber hug and I hope that you don't lose any more!

Elliarya
November 24th, 2010, 04:59 PM
Thank you both for the hugs...
It's also embarrassing that people see the hair and they know it's mine.. no one else around has hair that long.. so they see it and look grossed out.. plus, my skin is really bad at the moment and it's stressing me out, which can't be helping the hair situation..
Shicurls, what is Monistat?

Anje
November 24th, 2010, 05:00 PM
Hmmm... Hopefully someone who's on this will weigh in soon. From what I'm seeing, hair loss is a known side effect, but it's also a known side effect of being hypothyroid (lose-lose situation there, huh). Hopefully you'll find an optimal dose that will allow your hair to grow, soon.

Well, good-sized doses of biotin (like 5000mcg/day) and MSM are often credited by folks here for stopping sheds mid-stride. You might want to give that a try. Adding zinc (no more than 100 mg/day total supplemented, ideally considerably less) seems to help prevent the acne that biotin is known to cause for some people. You'll want to double-check all that to make sure there aren't any drug interactions with your levothyroxine, and perhaps try to keep the doses 4 hours apart just to be safe.

Hope that helps!

Anje
November 24th, 2010, 05:02 PM
Shicurls, what is Monistat?
I can answer that...
Monistat is the brand name for the antifungal Miconazole nitrate. It's used to treat vaginal yeast infections and is over-the-counter here in the USA. Off-label, it also appears to encourage hair growth whereever you apply it.

christine1989
November 24th, 2010, 05:07 PM
When I started Yaz I had a horrible week of shedding that had me freaking out. Luckily it was short lived and my hair bounced right back. I was almost perscribed levothyroxine as well but decided since my thyroid was only slightly off that there was no since in taking it. My best advice (if you MUST keep taking it) is to wait a few weeks to see if the shedding decreases. Since the medication is meant to increase your thyroid function it shoud normalize soon and maybe even thicken your hair. If your thyroid is only slightly off like mine and you feel fine without it then you could always stop taking it. Low thyroid can cause lethargy, weight gain and thin hair but if you don't experiance any negative effects then there is no point in medicating it. Doctors are VERY quick to medicate low thyroids even with no symptoms but many are beginning to question what a "normal" thyroid looks like. Some doctors are thinking that a normal thyroid range is actually a lot wider than they originally thought since a lot of people function normally with "abnormal" thyroid function.

Elliarya
November 24th, 2010, 05:13 PM
Thanks Anje! I'm researching those things you recommended as we speak... might go to the pharmacy and ask them what they think as well.

Christine.. I need to take it because I do have symptoms, sadly. Thanks for your advice though! I'll give it a chance to normalize and see if my hair stops falling out T_T

Kosmos
November 24th, 2010, 05:29 PM
My friend has RA and one of the medicines she was taking gave her alarming hair loss, she talked to her doctor about it and he helped give her another medication to help combat the hair loss that really helped her. I suggest you talk to your doctor about your concerns. :)

Elliarya
November 24th, 2010, 06:28 PM
Alright.. I'll update if I have any more news on the shedding (or hopefully, soon, lack thereof).
Also.. does anybody have any advice for horribly dry skin (especially around the lips) and spots? I'm really not used to bad skin.. it was perfect for years and now everything's gone wrong in a matter of weeks T_T

GRU
November 24th, 2010, 07:14 PM
Low thyroid can cause lethargy, weight gain and thin hair but if you don't experiance any negative effects then there is no point in medicating it. Doctors are VERY quick to medicate low thyroids even with no symptoms but many are beginning to question what a "normal" thyroid looks like. Some doctors are thinking that a normal thyroid range is actually a lot wider than they originally thought since a lot of people function normally with "abnormal" thyroid function.

This must be a regional thing, because I had to search high and low just to find a doctor who would treat my symptomatic hypothyroidism because my TSH of 4.6 "wasn't high enough to worry about".

There was actually a study done that showed that the true "normal" range for the euthyroid population is significantly narrower than most lab reports show as "normal" -- I forget the exact numbers (and I can't find the link anymore), but it was something like 95% of the euthyroid population had a TSH between 0.8-1.2.

For the OP, I recommend doing some research and getting copies of your lab results. Your initial blood draw should have included your TSH, FT4, FT3, and antibody values, at a minimum. Six weeks after starting the Synthroid, you should have those same values checked again (except the antibodies, if that was negative the first time around). If your TSH is still high even though your FT4 is high, you'll need to take some sort of T3 replacement as well.

Synthroid is only T4, and if your body can't convert it efficiently, you can have buckets of T4 in your system but your body still won't have the thyroid that it needs. Cytomel and Armour Thyroid are options if you need a T3 boost. For best results with T3, take half your dose in the morning and half in the afternoon/evening -- T3 is very fast-acting, and breaking up your dose into two sessions will allow your body to have a more stable supply of available T3.

You should continue to have your levels checked every six weeks after a dosage change, until you get to a point where your TSH is in the "happy zone" right around 1.0.