Newly diagnosed hair loss worse could Teva be the cause?

[Lrden]

Hi

I've had some really good starter advice on this forum already and are hoping someone can help with this.

I was diagnosed 2 weeks ago with Tsh level of 5.1 and one of my symptoms being hair loss. I've only been on the 50mcg Teva for 2 weeks but the hair loss is even worse could this brand be to blame? Most pharmacies seem to stock this one and some have activis should I swap? Thanks

[shaws Administrator]

Unfortunately hair loss can be a clinical symptom of hypothyroidism. It is a very common question on the forum.

This is a link which I think you will find helpful.

verywell.com/how-thyroid-pa...

[Lrden in reply to shaws]

Thanks Shaws, in the article I note tsh should be around 1-2 to avoid hair loss it is just the fact the in the short time I've been on Teva it seems worse that worries me most

[shaws Administrator in reply to Lrden]

mischa has made a response of her own experience of hair loss which might be helpful to you..

[Lrden in reply to shaws]

Thank you

[mischa]

Hi

When I first began taking Levothyroxine my hair loss worsened. It did slow down after about six weeks. Every time I increased the dose the hair loss increased but slowed down after a period of weeks. This is a side effect of Levo. I get this on anything I take that has T4 in it including NDT. I didn't have this experience on T3. When I explained this to my GP they didn't believe me saying that it stops hair loss. It can for many but for others it can increase hair loss initially.

If you look on the search engine above and type in Levo and hair loss you will see lots of posts on it.

[Lrden in reply to mischa]

Thanks mischa, after it slowed down did your hair eventually grow back? If taking levo means my hair loss is going to be even worse I would rather not take it, as the hair loss is making me feel pretty miserable which overrides everything else for me

[mischa in reply to Lrden]

My hair improved. This was the most difficult aspect of having auto immune for me. This is made more difficult because of having to wait weeks to get thyroid levels stabilised. This can take weeks/months and as the weeks/months pass you do see changes for the better. Some people see this sooner some later.

My journey has been a long complex one and although I have achieved much in the way of recovery - I'm still not 100%.

I found that Levo alone did not improve my health sufficiently and I had to switch to T3/T4 combo to get better health. I'm not suggesting that this is what you must do - we are all different. If you can achieve well being on Levo alone so much the better - less complicated. But it takes time.

Make sure that your vitamin levels are good and also ferritin as well as your diet. Cut out gluten if you have auto immune hypo. As long as the groundwork is good then improvements can be made.

[Lrden in reply to mischa]

Thanks mischa, I haven't had antibodies tested yet but know what you mean about about complexity, I've got another auto immune disease pulmonary sarcoidosis not sure if it is linked to thyroid issues, chest consultant said not but has admitted they are not sarcoidosis experts

[Patientpoweruk]

You should look at normalizing thyroid function and then probably best bet is platelet rich plasma injections on the scalp with 7% minoxidil to grow it back. Nothing else really works that well if you want to gain it back

[Lrden in reply to Patientpoweruk]

Thanks patientpoweruk, I already suffer from androgen hair loss I'm female and have been on minoxidil since early 30s but in the past 12 months it has got so much worse which I now think is a combo of the thyroid issue I was unaware of and having to take steroids for sarcoidosis. I tried to look into such scalp injections but was struggling to find anywhere. Do you have any knowledge of a reputable clinic that offers the injections? Thanks

[Patientpoweruk in reply to Lrden]

Hi Lrden

My wife had same problem.

She went to a clinic called Harley street healthcare (104). They did course of PRP and have her prescription strength minoxidil (much more powerful than what you get at pharmacy) .

She had 4 sessions and she's now looking great, but it cost her about £1200, so expensive but she got her self esteem back, so was worth it for her.

I can ask her for the number and PM you if you like.

Good luck

[Lrden in reply to Patientpoweruk]

That would be great, thank you so much.

[Patientpoweruk in reply to Lrden]

Hi, I checked and apparently they do blood tests first and only offer the treatment if they think you will benefit. Their number is 02079356554.

They also said to her that they give a part refund if it doesn't work for you. If you go for it, let us know how you get on

[Lrden in reply to Patientpoweruk]

Thanks, that's great - I presume it would be wise to get thyroid levels stablised first of all but this has given me hope

[jax2005]

Have you checked your iron levels I had hair loss and it was due to low iron levels I found out I have coeliacs which is quite common for people with hypothyroidism and low iron and hair loss are symptoms I had no other symptoms I have what is known as silent coeliacs your doctor can do an initial blood test to check

[Lrden in reply to jax2005]

Thank you jax2005, probably silly question but is the ferritin level the same as an iron check? I will look into the coelliacs my ferritin level was good probably because I'm taking a high strength hair supplement hairfollic

[jax2005 in reply to Lrden]

There is your iron levels and your iron stores and it is the stores that is more important as supplements will show high iron but you need to build up your iron stores and blood tests show both some people can't store iron and that is what leads to the problems I'm not 100 % but think ferritin is the stores

[Lrden in reply to jax2005]

Thanks will check this out when I go for blood retest

[Netteann]

I had to come off TEVA this week neVer felt so bad in my 25 years of thyroxine..

I was loosing my Hair quite bad , and was tired beyond belief .. just felt out of it like numb on them ... I changed back to my usual brand which is Wockhardt

And I feel better already after just 3 days ... I would consider changing

TEVA don’t have good reviews

But hypothyroidism is a sign of hair loss ... get you vitamins checked too

[Lrden in reply to Netteann]

Thanks Netteann, that's really good to know I've had headaches since being on the Teva not sure if it's linked. Wockhardt is another brand the pharmacy can get as well as actavis I wI'll ask to change to that one

[Netteann]

I feel so much better in just 3 days .. coincidence or not .. I’m better not on TEVA... Hope you get it sorted post up how you feel in a few days ... take care

[Lrden in reply to Netteann]

Thanks

[rioqueen55]

Hi Lrden. I would tell anyone to steer clear of TEVA Levothyroxine. I have had an underactive thyroid for 16 plus years, and have always felt relitively well. My hair loss has always been minimal, and my weight has stayed the same for years. In the last year I have felt so ill, my hair loss has been extremely bad, I have put on 24lb in weight since January this year, i've had bad shakes, chronic itching, thrush, insomnia, and then sleeping most of the day, and evening, chronic fatigue, acne on my chin, depression, which is something i've never suffered with, and the list goes on. I found an old packet of 50mcg Levothyroxine with the brand name of Mercury on them. This led me to do some research, and find out what happened to Mercury, and who exactly are TEVA. Mercury was taken over by a company called AMCo, and they were taken over by a company called Concordia, and they still do Mercury products, and one in particular called ELTROXIN Levothyroxine, which is what I now take. I then started to research ingredients, and TEVA have an ingredient in theirs that no one else has, it called MICROCRYSTALLINE CELLULOSE, so this led me to believe that that one ingredient was causing my problems. My daughter who is underactive, has also been taking TEVA, and she also had the same symptoms. I stopped taking it the following day, and instantly felt better. I then researched TEVA, they were taken off of the market in 2012 by the government for having substandard quality, and they came back on the market in September/October 2016 with the new formula, the new formula being the one extra ingredient I just mentioned. I also found that ingredient in a antihistamine I take, and also a prescribed diuretic I take. I still feel like i'm barely functioning with this chronic fatigue, and my hair is still falling out, but most of the other symptoms have gone, or are going. It's only been a couple of weeks since I changed to ELTROXIN, and stopped TEVA, so still early days. A lady on one of the groups said that they are trying to ban TEVA in France because of that one ingredient. Sorry it was long winded, but I hope it helped.

Best wishes

[rioqueen55]

Just adding on from my last post, I also had sweating, especially, head, face, and neck, to the point my hair got soaking wet. I still have some sweating, but I was told it takes about a month to get TEVA Leveothyroxine out of your system. My doctor will only test me for TSH even though i've told him that it doesn't give a good overall function picture of the thyroid function. He said he doesn't agree, and that TSH is adequate, and will tell him everything he needs to know. I told hime I would have a full thyroid function test done privately, and have my B12 tested as well, as he won't test that either. Our doctors are ignorant as far as having any knowledge about thyroid goes.

[Lrden in reply to rioqueen55]

Thanks rioqueen55 for all the info, strangely when I googled Teva there was something on gov.uk about it being reintroduced in 2016 I thought that was odd. I don't know if profuse sweating from the head is a thyroid issue because I've had that anyway for a few months but have felt really hot over the past couple of weeks since in Teva. Local pharmacies all seem to do Teva but can do actavis and wockhardt, one of the other members with hair loss has got on well with wockhardt so I'm going to ring pharmacy tomorrow to see if I can switch to it.

I must say I've had so much helpful advice in such a short space of time on this forum it's quite overwhelming, thanks everyone

[rioqueen55 in reply to Lrden]

I changed my TEVA for Mercury (Concordia) ELTROXIN Levothyroxine. Mercury is under the umberella of Concordia International. I'm glad I was of some help to you.

[Lrden in reply to rioqueen55]

Hi

I've had my 6 week retest results and they are serum tsh 1.4 range 0.1 - 4 and serum free T4 level 13.3 range 9.5 -22.

Are these results good? Seeing doctor tomorrow will ask for antibodies and vit d test.

Does anyone know what it the optimum tsh level for hair loss to stop?

Thanks

[mischa in reply to Lrden]

Lrden. Post this information in a new post otherwise no one will respond as they wont see it.

[Lrden in reply to mischa]

Ok thanks will do

[Oanab]

Hello Larden! After all this time i would like to ask yoi if the hair loss imprived while taking the meds? Thank you!