Thinning hair

[Dolphin40]

My 6 year old daughters hair has been thinning daily, scary to see and worrying when it will stop. Started Levothyroxine 7 weeks ago but noticed thinning about 10 days ago. Any advice greatly appreciated?

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Dolphin40

Hair loss can be due to vitamin deficiencies, see:

hubpages.com/health/16-Vita...

It might be worth discussing with your GP and ask for further testing, ferritin in particular needs to be at a certain level. See:

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

particularly the part where it says:

According to some experts, ferritin levels of at least 40 ng/ml are required to stop hair loss, while levels of at least 70 ng/ml are needed for hair regrowth. The optimal ferritin level for thyroid function is between 90-110 ng/ml.

[Dolphin40 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks. I have asked for this to be done.

It only started happening after meds though. Lovely thick long hair 2 months ago.

[Luna1390 in reply to Dolphin40]

The insert that comes with my child's Synthroid says that hair thinning may occur in children during the first few months but will stop. I myself had hair thinning for the first few months of starting it, as well. Hope that helps!

[Dolphin40 in reply to Luna1390]

Did it grow well? Thank you

[Luna1390 in reply to Dolphin40]

Yes, mine all came back. However, each time I would adjust my dose, it would thin again for a few weeks. It was definitely a process.

[Dolphin40 in reply to Luna1390]

It keeps going 😞 its been nearly 8 weeks x

[jimh111 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Very low ferritin can cause hair loss and hypothyroidism can cause low iron levels. However, I wouldn't trust these numbers, 40 is close to the average for the female population and the 70 figure comes from a cosmetics company that sells shampoo with iron. No doubt the recommended levels are different for children.

I don't know where the 'optimal ferritin level for thyroid function' comes from I've only seen one study showing low ferritin affecting thyroid function and that was an experiment carried out on rats. It may be a statement intended to generate trade on a sponsored link for iron testing.

One quarter of the world population has anaemia and they tend to have normal hair and thyroid function. Anaemia can cause hair loss but it shouldn't be overstated.

[Lora7again]

When your thyroid levels are changing like you daughters are it can make your hair fall out. Once her levels are right for her the hair will grow back. I know how distressing it can be and I had some hair extensions put in the last time my hair started to fall out by the hundreds for over 2 years. This has happened twice in the last 12 years and my hair has grown back both times. My hair has now been growing back for nearly a year and it looks ok but not as thick as it once was but it is early days because I had been losing hair for a long time before it stopped.

[Dolphin40 in reply to Lora7again]

So this may continue for a long time 😞 it was only since starting meds so makes me think shes on too much? Only on 25mcg though 😞

[Lora7again in reply to Dolphin40]

I could carrying on until her levels are right I'm afraid. When is she due a blood test?

[Dolphin40 in reply to Lora7again]

Tomorrow x

[Lora7again in reply to Dolphin40]

That is good because she might need an increase. Try not to worry I know how distressing hair loss can be. Someone thought I was having chemo because my hair was so thin and I had to tell them I only had thyroid disease not cancer. Your daughter's hair loss might not get as bad as mine because I was left untreated for over 2 years. Also I had low vitamin D and ferritin so that contributed to the hair loss as well. Can you ask her doctor to test these?

[Luna1390 in reply to Dolphin40]

She may need a higher dose. My daughter has been on T4 for a year and we have had to raise the dose 3 times so far. As they get into the tween years, they need higher doses until they hit puberty, and then the dose will come back down a bit.