Hair loss

[VJW53]

I am on 100mcg levothyroxine and was diagnosed with Hashimoto's just over a year ago. I am beside myself as I am losing so much head hair, not in patches but all over and I've also lost a lot of my eyelashes. The rest of my body hair I don't care about! Is this is symptom of hypothyroidism and/or Hashimoto's and - more importantly - what can I do about it? I am so very fed up about it all. My GP recommended Regaine hair treatment but the leaflet made it sound so dangerous I'm not going to use it. Any help please as I am feeling very desperate! Thank you.

[fuchsia-pink]

It is - sadly - pretty common if you are under-medicated / not at optimal vitamins.

If you do't have recent full blood testing, it will be worth doing this - TSH, free T3, free T4, ferritin, folate, vit D and B12 - so you can see where there is room for improvement.

[VJW53 in reply to fuchsia-pink]

Thank you so much - I've never had a blood test for all those, so I will ask for one, but probably not until life gets back to an even keel after the coronavirus!

[Marz in reply to VJW53]

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Full testing was suggested in your post of a year ago !! See above link

[Westcott6 in reply to Marz]

Given the thyroid issues, fuchsia-pink probably forgot. I'm guilty of something like that. Fuchsia-pink, where are you in your healing process? Updates?

[Marz in reply to Westcott6]

My reply was not to fuschia pink but to VJW53 ...

[Westcott6 in reply to Marz]

Oh I see - I was looking at Fuschia’s name but reading from VJW

[Marz in reply to Westcott6]

Next to my username you will see a small arrow pointing to the member to whom I am replying !

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Previous posts show you are vegetarian

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

What vitamin supplements are you currently taking?

When were vitamin D, folate, B12 and ferritin last tested?

It’s very difficult to maintain optimal iron/ferritin levels as vegetarian patient with Hashimoto’s

All four vitamins need regularly retesting

Low ferritin is frequently linked to hair loss

How much levothyroxine are you currently taking?

Add most recent results and ranges

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

Low vitamin levels are extremely common with Hashimoto’s and especially if vegetarian

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)

Is this how you do your tests?

Private tests are available. Thousands on here forced to do this as NHS often refuses to test FT3 or antibodies

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

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

Come back with new post once you get results

Links about Hashimoto’s and hair loss

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

hypothyroidmom.com/10-thing...

B12

academic.oup.com/nutritionr...

The present review of the literature regarding B12 status among vegetarians shows that the rates of B12 depletion and deficiency are high. It is, therefore, recommended that health professionals alert vegetarians about the risk of developing subnormal B12 status. Vegetarians should also take preventive measures to ensure adequate intake of this vitamin, including the regular intake of B12 supplements to prevent deficiency. Considering the low absorption rate of B12 from supplements, a dose of at least 250 μg should be ingested for the best results.3

[VJW53 in reply to SlowDragon]

That's such a helpful answer - I will print it up and go down the private testing route as the NHS test is only T4 and it's a very wide band of normality. And thank you also for the links to the research. I really feel a bit hopeful at last!

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to VJW53]

We get hundreds of Hashimoto’s patients on here who are vegetarian...many/most struggle with low iron/B12

All Hashimoto’s patients need to regularly retest vitamin levels, extremely common to need to supplement to maintain GOOD vitamin levels

Gluten intolerance and/or lactose intolerance common issues too

[Marz in reply to VJW53]

How did the testing go for you ?

[shaws Administrator]

I sorry I cannot help and the reason is that I've lost all my hair for about six months every year and then it begins to grow back. I wish it would reverse the months, i.e. I lose my hair around April/May and am completely bald up until the beginning of November. This has been diagnosed as Alopecia Areata. This has been ongoing for ten years now and once we have one autoimmune condition, we can develop others.

I've also had treatment on scalp but when husband came with me - he couldn't bear seeing injections into scalp and has forbidden anymore. The fact that the hair grew back for a few months and then fell out, again it's not worth it.

If we have one autoimmune condition we can develop others. Alopecia is another autoimmune condition. I now have four other autoimmune conditions.

I know exactly how you feel and hope your hair begins to grow back quickly. You may only have hair loss and not another autoimmune condition. Quite a number of members state hair loss has happened.

[Batty1]

I know what your saying about Rogaine I threw mine away about a year ago.

[Flowerflower]

Sorry to hear you're going through this. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's about two years ago and when I got pregnant, I started loosing hair allover my body. Shortly after I was diagnosed with Alopecia Areata - you might want to look into that as well as it's another autoimmune disease that can happen in connection with your Hashimoto's. You would need to go to a dermatologist to get it diagnosed...

[VJW53]

Thank you for this - it's very helpful and I will check into it. It just keeps getting better....., so depressing!!

[TheProf]

I have a friend who had this problem which she put down to the change in formula of levothrox here in france - Have a look at thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/treatm...

I don't have an issue with this but there are many here in France who have complained of the new formula - there are two versions now available here - Levothyrox and Euthryrox

[ForeverFree]

I have had hair loss and Hashimoto's for about ten years. I know this might not be what you want to hear, but it gets a lot easier when you quit stressing about it and just deal with the loss. Hair pieces and wigs today are nothing like your granny's. They are fabulous and so, so easy to wear. I have save hours and hours of hair fussing time and the expense of hair products many times over when I turned to wigs. And I had many, many compliments on them as well. Find one you like and give it a try. You might find what you've been resisting is actually a blessing. And one tip .. if you get a full head wig, use a wig grip, not a stocking type cap to keep it in place. No shifting, total confidence with a velcro wig grip.

[Westcott6 in reply to ForeverFree]

Hair loss is not something you should tolerate by any means. That is your body signaling that yet, thyroid is not optimized. Keep searching and digging. If you are on a T4 only med or T4 and T3 combo, then look into Reverse T3 issues. Also research Thyroid Hormone Metabolism.

[Lora7again]

I think that 100mcg is quite a low dose and you might need an increase but we need to see what your levels are so we can advise you. Also having suffered with extreme hairloss twice now in 12 years you need to have your vitamin levels tested because at one time my vitamin D was very low at 7 and my ferritin was low as well my hair was falling out by the hundreds every day. At one time you could see my scalp and I honestly thought I would go bald and started looking a wigs. This didn't happen thank goodness and my hair has been growing back for about a year now. It is not as thick as it once was but it looks like a normal head of hair now. I actually need it cutting now because I haven't had it cut since March because of the coronavirus. I think losing hair is one of the most distressing symptoms of this horrible disease and I once sat in front my bald male GP who said "It's only hair" I don't think doctors take it seriously and I think they think when women get to a certain age their hair does become thinner. This is not always the case and one of my elderly relatives who is in her 80s has a thick head of hair. I think there is always a cause of hair loss and over the years I have noticed that there is a lot research going on and believe there is a cure out there but I do wonder what would happen if one was found. A lot of companies might go out of business because there would be no need for Rogaine or hair replacement etc. It would be wonderful if there was something we could take which would make a hair grow back or stop it falling out. I once didn't wash my hair for 2 weeks because I found it too distressing watching it all fall out in the sink and I would actually count how many hairs I was losing a day. Now I lose about 3 which I think is a normal amount for me.