I’ve posted many times about symptoms I’ve been experiencing. My gp reduced my Levothyroxine dose at the end of January from 150mcg down to 125mcg. No blood test was done before reducing. Around the middle of April I started experiencing excessive hair shedding and noticed my skin seemed oilier than usual. The doctor has tried reducing my Levothyroxine and the hairloss has got worse. I was also found to be low on b12 & folate in September. I still think maybe the hairloss is linked to my thyroid though as it started up three months after reducing? Nothing is seeming to help...
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Sarahlouise1980
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You probably never needed dose reduction.....far too many GP's only test TSH
Most important results are FT3 and FT4...if they were not over range dose shouldn't have been reduced
The trouble with reducing dose of Levothyroxine is that vitamin levels then frequently drop, sometimes dramatically....then TSH goes even lower
Spiralling downwards into vitamin deficiencies as result of being hypothyroid due to dose reduction
Just testing TSH is completely inadequate
For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12
Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water .
Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood test. (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).
This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)
For thyroid including antibodies and vitamins
Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have special offers, Medichecks usually have offers on Thursdays, Blue Horizon its more random
I've had blood tests that have since shown low b12/folate. I'm just not sure if it is a coincidence that the hairloss started 3 months after reducing my dose. I have enough thyroxine to up my dosage to 150mcg a day and have started this two weeks ago. I've not noticed much difference in the hair yet but think it may take longer to notice a difference? I also intend to supplement b12 and folate.
B vitamins best taken in the morning after breakfast
Igennus Super B complex are nice small tablets. Often only need one tablet per day, not two. Certainly only start with one tablet per day after breakfast. Retesting levels in 6-8 weeks
Or Thorne Basic B or jarrow B-right are other options that contain folate, but both are large capsules
If you are taking vitamin B complex, or any supplements containing biotin, remember to stop these 7 days before any blood tests, as biotin can falsely affect test results
Getting FULL Thyroid and vitamin testing 6-8 weeks after increasing Levothyroxine
Make sure to do blood test as early as possible in morning before eating or drinking anything other than water and last dose Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood test
My vitamin D is around 60 after loading doses from the GP now supplementing with 2000iu a day. Ferritin is 139 as i supplement with ferrous gluconate. Would you think it a coincidence if you lowered levo and started having hairloss a few months later? If i hadn't of lowered my levo i'd be more inclined to think it was due to something else. I have no other symptoms of b12 or folate deficiency.
How long will it take on the increased dosage to notice an improvement? I increased up to 150mcg just over two weeks ago and so far i haven't really seen much difference.
Thank you slow dragon, my blood results on the 125mcg this year were nowhere near hypothyroid as that test a few years ago and yet i still have this hairloss and only since reducing from 150mcg. It is baffling me as to the cause.
My ferritin is okay, vitamin d okay folate and vitamin b12 are low so I’m starting supplementing those, the reason I think the hairloss may be related to thyroid is because it came on three months after reducing my dose and even though on subsequent tests my levels appear to be good I am still losing hair.
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