Antibiotics question and my thyroid...

[MelissaMC123]

I have a question about my hair loss and my thyroid....not sure if anyone would have an idea of what went on, but I'm about to start Armour, and I want to be sure I'm doing the right thing here.  \

I have had many hypo symptoms for years ....hair loss, anxiety, freezing all the time, cold hands/feet.....  The most distressing symptom, by a long shot....hair loss.  Three years ago, I had pneumonia.  I was admitted to the hospital, and spent 5 days there recovering on a whole slew of antibiotics.  I came home on antibiotics and NO HAIR LOSS.  I mean, it was like turning off a switch.  I went from fistfuls to absolutely nothing.  This was just before Thanksgiving.  I stayed this way until mid February.  I lost NO hair, after losing so much day after day after day.  Right around Valentines Day, it came  back with a vengeance.  It makes no sense to me, and when I asked my doctor how this would relate to my thyroid, he had no answer for me....which makes me wonder if he's on the right track.  

If any one has an opinion about this, I'd love to hear it.

Melissa

[gimel]

Very surprised that he would start you on iodine without testing first to confirm the need.  

[MelissaMC123]

No gimel, I was never diagnosed with Hashi's.  Iodine was included in the list of supplements that he starts all of his suspected hypo patients on.  I'm taking vit d, magnesium, selenium fish oil, vit c, iron, biotin. He felt that iodine was the most important of all of the aforementioned supplements, and I've been on it since the beginning of July.

He mentioned the 24-hour urine test, and offered it to me, but I wasn't interested.  

[gimel]

Maybe because you really didn't need it.  LOL  Without looking back through your posts, did you say that you had been diagnosed with Hashi's?  The reason I ask is that I know iodine is usually not recommended for patients with Hashi's.  Note the following I ran across on a doctor's site.

"In my practice I always test for both iodine deficiency and Hashimoto’s when a patient presents with hypothyroid symptoms. If they are iodine deficient, I will start them on a trial of iodine and selenium together. In most cases, patients see a significant improvement. In a minority of cases, they cannot tolerate supplemental iodine even with adequate selenium intake.

Unfortunately, the blood test for iodine that your doctor might run is not very accurate. The best way to determine iodine status is with a 24-hour urine loading test. This involves taking a large dose of iodine and collecting your urine for 24 hours afterward. If you are iodine deficient, you’ll retain more of the ingested iodine than you should and the level of iodine excreted in the urine will be lower than expected."

How did your doctor determine you were supposedly iodine deficient?

[MelissaMC123]

Love that saying!!  It really is true....ESPECIALLY in my case, I think.  

I've read tons of opinions about Synthroid and Levoxyl causing hair loss...less about Armour doing the same.  I'm still somewhat nervous about it, but my appt. is not until Nov 5....I'm sure I will be starting it at that point.   My long list of supplements are just not cutting it for me.  In fact, if anything, the iodine seemed to make things WORSE. My hair loss picked up and my anxiety level was just out of control.  I was panicky, nervous, had constant headaches and was balding.  Not a good combination.  I was taking 12.5 mg of iodoral.  I now cut them in half, and all of these symptoms are back to what they were pre-iodoral.  

Any ideas on why the iodine would have me feeling so awful?

[gimel]

I've also heard about Synthroid, or Levoxyl, or Levothyroxin causing hair loss.  In my opinion it is a misconception. From what I read, hair loss appears to be mainly due to inadequate levels of Free T3 and Free T4 and/or low ferritin.  

The misconception occurs because when people first start taking thyroid med, it is very common that their Free T3 and Free T4 levels actually drop.   Serum thyroid levels are a composite of both endogenous (thyroid gland production) and exogenous (thyroid med). So serum thyroid levels often drop, or get no better,  when starting meds, because the meds reduce TSH which reduces output from the thyroid gland.  I have seen info suggesting that total serum thyroid hormone levels do not rise until TSH is low enough to suppress thyroid gland activity,and meds are increased enough to offset the loss of natural thyroid hormone production.  

So, I still suggest that you should start with the Armour thyroid as recommended by your doctor.  A good starting dose is 1/2 grain (30 mg), which contains 19.5 mcg of T4 and 4.5 mcg of T3.  Then it would be good to increase the dose by 1/2 grain every 2-3 weeks until your Free T3 is in the upper part of the range, or as needed for relief of symptoms.   In conjunction with that it would be best to raise your ferritin to about 80 minimum, B12 to the upper part of its range and Vitamin D to around the middle of its range.  

Just keep in mind an old saying, "If you do what you did, you;ll get what you got."  LOL

[MelissaMC123]

Hi gimel :))  I'm not sure!!  A little of both maybe?  I've looked forever for a doctor like this...one that thinks outside the test results, and treats symptoms.  But....he does seem to be very "in" to the thyroid.  He takes large amounts of iodine, his wife, an even larger dose.  I just had to lower my dose in half, because anxiety/panic levels that I could not handle.  Yes, my D is always borderline low, magnesium too, ferritin always hovers in the upper 20s..

I'm hesitant about armour too though....I've read a whole lot about it, and know that some women make their hair loss WORSE by starting it.  God help me, I can't make it any worse than it is.  I'll be in a wig.

So, yes, I'm hesitant about quite a few things.  The fact that antibiotics completely stopped my hair loss a few years ago has stuck with  me.  I can deal with anxiety, cold hands and feet, low blood pressure, low body temp., dry skin....I have a lot of "thyroid " symptoms, but the hair loss is maddening...like, more than I can handle.  

[gimel]

As I recall you had more symptoms than just hair loss, and your Free T4 was borderline, your Free T3 was too low in the range, and your ferritin was way too low.  Hypothyroidism and low ferritin are know causes for hair loss.  Hypothyroidism also relates to being low in Vitamin D, B12 and ferritin.  Meds to increase your Free T3 mainly, along with supplements to increase your ferritin (don't recall your D and B12 levels) are certainly in order.  Since Armour has a higher ratio of T3 than thyroid output from the thyroid gland, it will increase Free T3 more than Free T4, which seems to be what you need to do.  Are you hesitant about taking Armour Thyroid, or is it your doctor?

[MelissaMC123]

Thanks for the reply red star.  I thought it was interesting too....at first maybe thought that the antibiotics had killed off all good/bad bacteria in my intestines, and perhaps the bad bacteria is what was causing the hair loss?  I don't know....the anti inflammatory theory is something else I've thought about too.  I'm not sure which antibiotics I received, but it was a large amount, over a series of days...my pneumonia was pretty severe.  And hair loss went from handfuls to nothing....for three months, then picked right back up again.  If my doc. could link it to the thyroid...I'd be on armour in a heartbeat.

Thanks again,
Melissa

[Red_Star]

"Though technically an antibiotic, minocycline has other properties that allow it to be helpful in improving the symptoms of RA. Specifically it discourages the creation of leukotrienes, metalloproteinases, and prostaglandins — all substances that cause inflammation. It also helps create more interleukin-10, which fights inflammation." - Minocycline: An Antibiotic for Rheumatoid Arthritis?

That is interesting.  Hashimoto's thyroiditis is an inflammation of the thyroid gland so the antibiotic anti-inflammatory effect could explain why your hair stopped falling out for a period of time.