Hair loss from under active thyroid

[Emmalizzie831]

POSITIVE STORIES ONLY PLEASE AS I AM REALLY STRUGGLING WITH ANY NEGATIVE FEEDBACK AT THIS MINUTE IN TIME :(

So, I finally went to the doctors after losing a lot of my hair. She did some bloods and it came back that I had an underactive thyroid, I am 36 years old.

I have been on levothyroxine coming up to 4 weeks now but I feel like my hair is coming out more. Just looking for positive stories about hair coming back thicker? I am holding on for some positive results as it’s stressing me out.

A few other of the symptoms that I have is severe depression, exhaustion, cannot lose weight, aching joints, always cold. Some of these have improved but not the weight loss and the hair loss. I have heard that REGAINE topical treatment can help… but am I being too hasty, should I wait a few more months with my medication?

if anyone can give me some advice or words of support I would be forever grateful.

Note: I go for a blood test in two weeks time to see if the dosage is correct.

You haven't even been medicated for four weeks yet. At six weeks they may adjust the dose if it's not right, but even then you really need to give it more time to feel a difference. I felt terrible when I first started on thyroxine, no energy, fainting all the time, but those symptoms faded and five years later I feel (relatively) normal. It helped me to be on a low dose of antidepressants while I was getting used to the hormone changes.

I'm sorry you are going through this.
Its entirety possible you are not yet on the correct dose, however I think also give it a bit more time. It takes a while to build up in your body.
Also, don't take your levothyroxine at the same time as any other meds (and a good half hour before/after coffee or food as well) as it can affect the absorption.

Hey it’s far too early in your situation to see the results yet, my hair is better than ever, but you are really looking more long term, at least 3 months onwards. This is not just because of how long it takes to correct low thyroid, but also growth cycles of the hair. It’s good news they found a cause and can treat it, even if the results won’t be as quick as you might like.
Meanwhile do what you can to manage stress, mindfulness, relaxation. Diet wise B vitamins and protein are very helpful, nuts (and eggs if you are not vegan).

I have loads of hair now, when it was very thin and constantly falling previously - bear in mind this is 3+ years down the line of Levothyroxine, but you will start to see improvements over the coming months. To add, I also try to stick to more natural hair care products.

I didn’t mention the weight loss. As your energy levels and mood improves, you hopefully will be able to increase activity and exercise levels which will help. The medication isn’t a magic bullet and it will more support your own efforts to reduce any weight gain over time. Higher doses aren’t necessarily better either, it seems to work best when you are on the lowest dose to keep you in the normal range. I’ve also gained weight when my dose was too high.

I had a little bald patch. It's been gone ages now.

4 weeks is really early days. I'm 18 months in and they're still tweaking my dose. Hopefully you should start to feel improvements soon.

Also don't forget to get your levels checked yearly after they get your initial optimum dose.

I had bad hair loss and I'm back to normal now and have been for years, even when my dose went a bit out of whack and I needed it tweaking.

The good news is that this is a condition that can be and will be managed. But it's not as simple as taking something like antibiotics that kill the bug then you feel better. It's a long game. That's probably doesn't seem like it's in the "good news" category for you now, but actually it's not bad, as long as you realise it.

So now you know, assuming you didn't before, you need to also be proactive with this condition when it comes to advocating for how you feel and pushing for blood tests. For example, I've discovered if I get very very stressed, then 3 months later I'll feel really bad and there'll be a rise in my TSH levels. So when I know a stressful period is coming, I push for blood tests first to be sure I'm in a good starting place.

I also know what the range for healthy TSH is (apparently) and where exactly I need to be to feel good (for me it's just outside the healthy range). I've had to push to get this on my notes so if I have a blood test and another dr reads the results, they don't say "Oh you're fine". Some drs know little about the condition, others more, but none of them will know what normal feels for you, or how the symptoms feel for you. The more you can become an expert in you, the better you can request what you need medically (or know you need to see another dr if necessary).

Its incredibly frustrating that it takes a while for the impact of the dosage to take effect (6 weeks is bare minimum), but it really can be managed. It's also frustrating that it impacts us all so differently, for example, while you lost weight, the only thing I struggle with is weight: I gain it when the thyroxine dose is too low and find it nearly impossible to lose later.

It's going to get better, but not overnight. There will come a time though when you realise that you're not feeling like crap anymore and haven't been for a little while, and it's a nice feeling!

I've been on levothyroxine for 20 years and this year started having significant hair loss, my dose has increased and a couple of months later my hair stopped falling out.

Chances are after another blood test they will increase your dose. Those are quite extreme symptoms of under active thyroid. I have had an interactive thyroid for 27 years and on Levothyroxine. Stable for many years but when I went through menopause I went from needing 100 mg a day to now 225mg per day. Before up to 225mg I had those horrible symptoms. My hair came out in clumps and I was exhausted and cold all the time. Now lots of fine new hair grown back, still tired but not so cold.

*forgot to finish the big about impacting us differently. The frustrating part of that is that we can't directly compare to each other to know when it'll be better - like if you break your leg, there's a fairly standard healing timeline. But that's another reason to tune into yourself - which is not a bad thing to do anyway.

Wow….thank you so much for all of you advice!
im currently on high dose vitamin D, biotin, Vit c effervescent tablets. I take those at night alongside my contraceptive pill as like one of you mentioned not to take levothyroxine with any other meds. I take it at 6am every morning before any food/caffeine.

did anyone try any other things to help hair growth or did you just ride it out?

this is my hair wet

I was recommended a product by this company (link below). TBH I was a bit annoyed at the time because it was quite expensive (current price £50) but you don’t need much, lasted ages, found it gentle on my scalp and pleasant to use (I put it on at night) and can be therapeutic to feel you are doing something while you are waiting for hormones to balance out.
I don’t know if it helped as much as improving diet and the specific nutrition I mentioned above, which was recommended by hair specialist (nuts are expensive these days too of course!). Plus the switch to more natural hair products generally.
The serum possibly did seem to help though and definitely didn’t make it worse, which is the main concern with more chemical/radical solutions, but of course can’t say how it would work for you. uk.lazartigue.com/products/stronger-hair-serum

I waited it out. That's not because I wasn't concerned, but I was so exhausted and tired with a memory like a goldfish that I simply coukd get myself to remember/have the energy to do anything.

I would say that it's unlikely a topical product would solve the problem as the issue is that every single cell in the body is impacted with hypothyroidism. It would almost be better (don't do this) crushing up tablets and applying them to your scalp. It's really an inside out problem.

There is a victim in supplement that is supposed to be good for hair and nails. It's a mixture of a couple of vitamins. However, one of the best things you can do to build your body up is to eat a really healthy diet where you get all the nutrients you need. I'd look up what the nutrients are and try and get them via your diet first.

However, it's really good you've got a photo. Your hair loss shouldn't get dramatically worse now that you're on levothyroxine. Take photos every 3-4 weeks and if you notice it getting worse go back to the dr with the photos.

Try (honestly I know it's not an easy thing - I am bad at doing it) not to stress about it. Literally every single cell in your body has been fighting hard to keep you going and kept doing that even though it was not receiving enough of what it needs. Your body is tired at a cellular level. If you're stressed, your body is negatively impacted at a cellular level too. Anything you can do to relieve any stress will be helpful to you. And if that means buying every hair regrowth product out there, do it. If it means letting taking a back seat and waiting, do that.

I'm sorry you're going through this btw. Reading your posts reminds me of how bad I used to feel. It really does get better.

UPDATE ON BLOOD RESULTS*
The doctor text me this morning and said that my levels are in the right range so carry on taking 100 mg of levothyroxine. Here are my results …before in September and after….I’m quite surprised that it has been ”that simple”

Those results will be skewed if you didn't stop taking your biotin supplement at least seven days before the test.

@DeedIDo thankfully someone mentioned this to me so I stopped taking them 👍🏻

Unfortunately, this time round they have only tested TSH, so you have no idea where your thyroid hormones are at and your TSH is still too high anyway. You still have symptoms and the object of treatment is to relieve them.

I'd put money on your needing another 25mcgs at least.

I lost a lot of hair, which only emphasised my puffy thyroid face, but it's all sorted now. However, it was not a quick fix and there were some bumps in the road. You may need to play the long game on this.

Thanks for update OP, so far so good! Have they arranged to check your bloods again in 3-6 months? Have you noticed any further changes? There can still be fluctuations at the start, so wouldn’t wait longer than 6 months for a review (and 3 months, depending on your symptoms). Well done sticking to the regime, I still find it annoying waking up 30m earlier to time my coffee!!

@DeedIDo TSH has come down from approx 14 to 2 and appears well within the normal range in a relatively short period of time. It is easily possible the dose could prove slightly higher than required over a long course of time.

@Blueink im seeing the doctor on Tuesday.
Some symptoms have improved… and my hair is maybe slightly but coming out as much after washing. I will definitely make sure I get booked for a review though x

My hair really changes over the seasons, years etc. I've been using Nioxin for some months now and before I used it I went to hairdresser and was shocked by how thin it looked scrapped back when wet - even by my standards (far worse than your photo). Had it done last month and it looked a lot better. There might be many reasons for the change though. Could be age - I'm 54 🤷🏻‍♀️. It does take a while to sort.

@tobee hi, I’ve come back to my original post because I wanted to ask you about nioxin.
i’ve just bought a three-step shampoo, conditioner and hair and scalp treatment.

Did you find that it helps?

Stop with the biotin!!! Using this can lead to incorrect results of blood tests. I speak from experience.................

thyroiduk.org/biotin-and-thyroid-testing/