thyroid hormone combinations

[nursee]

Hi i was diagnosed with hypothyroidism 6 weeks ago with a tsh of 10 and nomal-ish thyroxine, i had diffuse hair loss and thinning for about 5 years with various other symptoms. have started taking 50mcgs of levothyroxine daily and tsh is now down to 3.3 however my hair loss has greatly increased seemingly in line with starting the levothyroxine. Im aware that hair loss can be a side effect of levothyroxine so i aim to swap brands but how easily can this be done safely?Ive read that taking combination thyroid hormones would be beneficial for many particularly those with hair loss issus but my G.p had not heard of this. How can i obtain a t3 or t3/t4 combo drug? can you buy it and what are the dosages?

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

Hair loss is part of hypothyroidism -- I am not convinced it's a side-effect of levothyroxine, but this may be the case.  I would first increase the dose to get the TSH to the target range (around 1.0) then re-evaluate.  The life cycle of the hair follicle is long, so often the cause of current hair loss is an event from 2-3 months earlier.  Protecting the source of levothyroxine (ie brand consistency) is important, but with careful monitoring, you can change to another levothyroxine brand.  T4/T3 combo treatment (ie adding cytomel 5-10mcg/day to the levothyroxine) has not been proven in medical research to help with hair, but some patients do report a benefit.

[hashisgirl]

I'm just another thyroid patient, but I can tell you the hair loss will settle down with a little time, and most likely will grow back thicker. In 95 I went quite hyper and then very hypo, the hair loss was quite large, but after being stabilized for a while it grew back even thicker. I did not go bald. I just went through  many TSH changes, and RAI 131, you won't go bald, it just takes time for your body to adjust to the changes, like everything with thyroid patience is a must. Some take something called Biotin, I choose not to take anything that I don't absolutely have to, I do use styling products that deeply condition, as to prevent drying out that sometimes occurs also. Hope that helps you a bit, Dr Lupo will be answering you soon.
Take Care