HAIR LOSS ON THYROID MEDS?

[patt1960]

i was diagnosed a few months ago with low thyroid; put on 25 mcg of Levothyroxine and within a few months started losing my hair. i went back to my family doctor who told me that was a symptom of low thyroid and took blood and told me to double my dose immediately even before the blood test came back.  i never had hair loss prior to taking this medication.  when i called about that blood test (being on 25 mcg) they said i was within the normal range and i wondered why he would double my dose without getting the results of this test.  the hair loss became worse on the higher dose.  so i've contacted an endocrinologist specialist and can't be seen for a month.  i cut my dose back to 25 mcg; still hair loss; and cut it back to half a 25 mcg tablet. i'm not feeling a difference and i'm monitoring my hair loss hoping it stops. when i see this specialist we'll see what the new test results say - if i'm in a normal range or not..

in all the threads i have not seen anyone talk about hair loss.  can you comment? thanks patt

[Kristina538]

I've been having my meds adjusted for the last 7 months (after RAI), and hair loss is one of the first things to start and the last things to stop - my levels have never been totally abnormal since I first started medication, but, as you'll read here, there is a wide variance per individual within the 'normal' range on a blood test form.   He may not have needed to double, but chances are he needed to increase the meds - remember that what you're taking now has full affect in 4-6 weeks.

[artfemme]

If you go to the "search this community" box up top on the right and type in hair loss, you will see that this is a constant topic here, as hair loss IS one of the common symptoms and one that distresses us all because our hair is so much a part of our identity. If you do the search you will get a lot of information from previous posts.

[Barb135]

Hair loss is a symptom of hypothyroidism.  It's not unusual for symptoms to worsen when first starting thyroid hormone replacement, because the body has to get used to having the hormones, again.

Since you've cut back so much on your synthroid dosage, you should probably expect to start having other hypo symptoms, soon.

When on thyroid medication, test results in the "normal" range, is not a green light to stop the medication.  The idea is to stay on the medication to keep levels "normal".

[flyingfool]

Hair loss IS a symptom.  It seems for many people to be the 1st thing to show up and the last thing to come back.  It is very possible that the hair loss is now starting to come on and it was just coincidentally after you started taking the medication. It is possible you were going to lose the hair anyhow.

Many people have also blamed synthroid on hair loss.  Some people are absolutely convinced it was the medicine, others find that keeping on with the medication eventually helps as it is in fact just a lagging symptom and getting their thyroid levels up is what was needed to stop the hair loss. But stopping or reducing the medication only delay's that solution.   But everyone is different.

A body has to get used to having thyroid again.  As a result many people feel worse or have worse symptoms when they first start getting thyroid medication.

Also some people have reactions to the fillers and buffers or dyes in the pills and it is NOT the medicine itself.  Think about it. The "Active" ingredient is a chemical that your body naturally produces (or is suppose to produce). So you are not having a reaction to the active ingredient.

Changing manufacturers of the T4 medication can help some people as each manufacturer may use a different combination of fillers/buffers etc.

You may want to ask your Dr about Tirosint.  This is a T4 medication that is a liquid gel cap that has no fillers/dyes or buffers. So people that are having reactions to these things tend to do well on Tirosint.  I think they can be gotten in the same increments as synthroid.  Tirosint may be more potent in that it seems to be better absorbed since it is a liquid rather than a powder.