trying my best to identify whatever is going on with me. been on Levo thyroxine for 20 years, same daily dose 150mcg, same brand in the main. No problems whatsoever up until 18 months ago where i suffered a nasty head impact playing football and suffered with whiplash for 2 weeks, i then had a bad car accident 4 months later and suffered another whiplash which lasted another 2 weeks. I know Whip can cause issues with thyroid and pituitary, approx 6 months after the car accident i started to develop arm and leg tremors, leg weakness, muscle twitching, blurred vision, fatigue and it come and goes, however i have also suffered with significant hair shedding on my Head, notable shedding of my Eyebrows, my Under Arm hair, Pubic hair and in all the aforementioned areas the Re Growth has slowed dramatically, also my facial beard growth seems to slowed as well.
Just wondered if anyone else has suffered with similar issues with their head, eyebrows and body hair as myself. Not sure if it's down to either that i've gone under medicated for some reason coincidentally or that the i have possibly damaged my pituitary or knocked my thyroid "out" with the Whiplash incidents (not sure you can knock thyroid out of sync)
If other people have suffered with similar hair loss and re growth issues then that would possibly indicate its more a doseage issue rather than a possible problem with pituitary or thyroid itself..
Many thanks indeed for any response.
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thank you for that link, i have seen numerous posts on here about head hair and eyebrow shedding and slower re growth but the comments are normally that it is very common for those aspects to be affected by under or over medicated with thyroid medication but seen no mention of additional issues with under arm or pubic hair so i'm not sure if it is thyroid or something else.
I agree with shaws you might have that which means it could all grow back. Someone I know had some injections into his scalp because he was getting circles of hair loss on his scalp. The doctor he saw through his private health care said it could have been caused by stress. His hair has now fully recovered but he did find it distressing trying to hide the patches. He used a spray the same colour as his hair to disguise them.
thankfully it hasnt reached that stage of circles as yet and hopefully it wont. i only just realised after writing my original post but i noticed last night that also the hairs on my arms, legs, chest are far less as well so whatever it is is causing hair issues ALL over the body, its not just shedding, it's a re growth issue as well all over.
The problem i now have is if i see my GP she is in meltdown about my TSH at 0.01 and i am really nervous that if i go to see her she will just pressure me again to reduce stating she thinks that is the issue and not investigate fully, ie, cortisol, adrenals, Pituitary etc which means me going to see someone privately which i cant afford at the moment. I have been absolutely fine on the daily dose i am on of 150mcg and with a TSH of between 0.01 and 0.03 . To my mind it must have something to do with the head impact and then subsequent car accident as i was fine before those, it's too coincidental.
slowdragon kindly suggested cortisol and DHEA saliva test which i shall have to fund myself.
I have scoured this site but have not come across any posts where someone has experienced similar for the whole body.
Perhaps you could ask your GP for a referral letter to see a dermatologist? I paid privately to see one over 10 years ago. Unfortunately she didn't spot I had a suppressed TSH of 0.002 and goiter. However they can help by giving you some injections in your scalp to help your hair stop shedding. This is what my son in-law had when his hair started to fall out in clumps. Luckily this did help with his hair recovery and he doesn't have the bald patches anymore.
yes, i wasnt sure whether it would be better to see an endocrinologist or dermatologist given the other symptoms i'm suffering apart from the hair issue, with the tremors, palpitations, etc. Ideally i need to try and identify the underlying problem for those which may well in turn be causing the hair loss..not the easiest task at all
I have seen a dermatologist twice the first time was because I had an itchy patch on my head which I thought might be eczema. I had told my husband to wait in the car because I just thought the doctor would just take a skin scraping. Imagine my horror when he said he needed to take a sample of my scalp! He then numbed my head and cut a 2 inch strip of scalp from my head and stitched it. I felt a bit sick afterwards and had to lie down with a glass of water lol After all that the results were inconclusive and I was just given some ointment for it.
I would ask to see both a endocrinologist and a dermatologist just see if they can find out what is causing all this.
I have had alopecia areata every year for the past ten years. It begins to falls out for six months and then slowly, slowly begins to grow back and then drops again.
I also had injections in scalp the first time it began to fall but my husband was also present and he couldn't bear watching and even though my hair begins to drop every year he couldn't bear the thought again.
Yes you did tell me this and it must have been so painful. My son in-law only had a few large patches which the doctor injected and it did luckily work for him and his hair has now grown back. He has private health care as well through his job so he was seen quite quickly. The doctor seemed to think his was caused by stress after his wife had a traumatic time giving birth to his son.
I think a number of things can be a 'trigger' to other autoimmune disease, alopecia being but one. I can feel that my scalp is under 'attack' so I know what to expect in the following weeks till no hair is left at all.
It's just like the thing that my hair begins to fall in Spring so no hair well past autumn so you've hair over the winter but none in summer.
Thanks for your link. Some people might have hair loss due to being to hot. Mine has definitely been diagnosed as alopecia areata and that is an autoimmune condition. It's all we need just to make things worse is to lose our hair.
I've read that once we've one autoimmune we can get more than one. I have three at present. I think baldness for women might be more stressful.
Do you remember Duncan Goodhew famous Swimmer .. he fell from a tree when he was 10 years old and developed Alopecia Universalis ... because of the fall .
Saying that though , I have Graves Disease, diagnosed 2014 .. the slow but devastating loss of all body hair and also much of my head hair was only one of the awful symptoms.
After Successful treatment for Graves disease and a regime of clean healthy eating and a number of Vitamins , minerals and nutrients all of my symptoms gradually decreased , including my Hair Problems.
it would be wise to see a Specialist I think . Best of Luck .. mx🌹
thanks for your reply madge, i didnt realise that why he lost his hair but having researched its all over google that shocks to the system like car accidents, head impacts etc can cause scalp and body hair issues , its the other symptoms that i'm suffering as well though that are confusing..going to have to see a specialist i guess to attempt to get to the bottom of it
Having read all of the replies .. many of course are very helpful.. but
If I were you .... and I'm not !
.....I would have a full Thyroid blood test done ....as it looks very like a Thyroid issue .. also worth remembering that a Trauma of most sorts can in fact, kick off a Thyroid attack .
Hi Madge, my gut instinct is that the head trauma at footy which was very significant and subsequent whiplash plus the car accident and whiplash have affected either my pituitary and/or my thyroid. What i can't understand is why whenever i attempt to take the usual supplements, ie, Vitamin D, B Complex that within less than 24 hours they trigger palpitations and the other symptoms. Anyway i think i need specialist help with this.. Well Fed Up
I lost all of my body hair and half of each eyebrow many years ago now but luckily not the hair on my head although it has changed it’s texture. It has recently started to grow again but extremely sparsely. Good luck .
hi, thanks for reply. was there anything in particular that you remember happening that may have caused the loss?
Hair loss and eyebrow loss seems to be fairly common at various times with people on thyroid medication but hardly anyone else on here seems to have had body hair issues in other parts of the body than those two areas.
It was a long time ago and l lost all of the body hair when l was diagnosed with a thyroid problem. I was over active until l had RAI treatment and became under active and unfortunately l can’t remember when l lost the body hair and my eyebrows, sorry.
Hi, its interesting that it was a thyroid diagnosis that was concurrent with losing all your body hair.
mind you, if it is purely a thyroid medication issue for me i would have expected to perhaps see far more posts on here about losing body hair and not just head and eyebrows, having said that, its the head and eyebrows and under arm which are most immediately noticeable, it has taken months for me to actually notice my arms, legs and chest hair are affected as well, those are areas i suppose that you don't really take anywhere near as much notice of.
You might like to find a Positional Release practitioner for your whiplash. (Using certain techniques trigger points prompt the body to replay the positions of injury and the body re-sets and heals.). I cannot comment on your hair loss as to whether it is linked or not but whiplash is a trauma and will affect all of the body. Maybe fix the whiplash and see what happens; one thing at a time.
This sounds very distressing for you. It is hard to work out the cause and effect due to the accident. Some of the symptoms can be caused by both over and under medication. But the accidents could also play a part. I think you have to work through methodically with a sympathetic practitioner to try and put the puzzle together.
Thanks for your reply Gill, yes all very distressing, don't think there is going to be any swift resolution whatsoever, one step at a time time as you suggest.
I had the same problem. Hair loss on underarms, legs and pubic hair. It was great for my legs and underarms no more shaving. Since my Levo has been dramatically reduced my hair has grown back.
thanks for your reply. were you getting any other typical symptoms of being over medicated other than hair loss? also, did you have any head hair or eyebrow loss at all?
yes I lost half of my eyebrows and my hair was falling out. As to other symptoms I had bouts of stomach cramps which led to loose stools. A lot of digestive problems I used to get really bad indigestion. It was ironic really cos once I got the migraine the rest followed in the day. It went through my body. Migraine, indigestion, stomach cramps then loose stools. Then I was alright for a week then it would start again. I had lots of buscopan to hand and I was on naproxen for the migraines. All stopped now thank goodness. Do you get any of these symptoms
none of those symptoms at all. i get arm and leg tremors, leg weakness, raised resting heart rate, blurred vision, wooziness, and the hair issues, apart from the hair problem the other symptoms come and go and if i am particularly worried or stressed they return temporarily, but, if i try and take any supplements, magnesium, Vit D, B Complex etc they all trigger the palpitations and to a lesser extent the other symptoms and it can then take a week for them to subside, very confusing and thats why i suppose its going necessitate seeing a specialist, problem is finding one that actually knows what they are doing and that is a lot easier said than done
It’s absolutely awful when you have all these different symptoms and nobody seems to know the cause. It is so frustrating too. I hope you get sorted out soon
Had all these symptoms it was due to a change of brand of Levothyroxine Teva it’s stronger than the one I was on Mercury pharma hope it’s not that as my doctor says don’t time watch as he doesn’t know when I will be back to normal been back on Mercury pharma now for two years it’s getting better doctor hasn’t told us what caused it as he said his hands are tied the Teva I was given had only months to use by date where mercury pharma has always got over a year and if Levothyroxine is left to long it can turn into T3 so don’t think I will ever be told what happened to myself and daughter as she is the same.
blimey thats interesting, your the first person i have come across on here with all the same symptoms, does that include the head, eyebrow, under arm body hair etc issues as well as the tremors etc?
I was on Actavis Levo for 10 years, same dose and no problems at all until after my head injury and car accident, i have since thought that it must have been those 2 incidents rather than simply the levo causing it (still could be in my case) but all started as mentioned 6 months post accident, i even swopped from Actavis to mercury Pharma about 6 months ago and although the tremors, leg weakness, blurred vision, palpitations arent quite as bad they still come and go and the hair issue there is no slowing down or improvement at all, i do feel as though Mercury Pharma is not quite as strong as Actavis though..
did you by any chance experience any vision issues, not just blurred but weird floaters, not the usual floaters that a lot of people get..?
hi, yes i have been wondering about that, mind you i am struggling to keep weight off and feeling the cold more than i normally so wouldn't normally expect that if i was hyper. I'm not knowledgeable enough to know, confusing to say the least. My biggest concern is trying to get to the bottom of this via my GP who like many is only interested in TSH and doesn't understand how to treat thyroid issues properly.
were you diagnosed and treated for Graves via your GP or a specialist?
..... as very often they are the same for HYPO and HYPER ..
You could very well have Hashimotos Thyroid disease in which case ... you may swing from HYPER to HYPO .. and back ..
Which is most confusing indeed for so many .
I suffered severe symptoms of HYPER for years but had no idea what was wrong with me at all .and my Doctor kept telling me it was just my age .. I was fine !!!
I was very ill !!
Sweating was a Huge symptom for me .. all day and all through the night ..
I would get up in the middle of the night ....splash myself with water and stand in front of an open window to try to cool my body down ..
My nails We're shredded and my toenails came out of the nail beds
My skin itched from head to foot
By blood pressure was very high !
My heart thudded in my chest .. I explained my feelings to my GP as ...
......I feel like I'm going downhill in a car with no brakes 😱.
Terrified of everything !
But !!
My sweating was so bad ... and I was losing the will to live basically, when I went to see a Dermatologist .. she was a Darling !!
She asked my everything about how my health was ... and eventually after seeing to my sweat rash all over my face and torso ..
She said .... " You HAVE A THYROID DISEASE "
...........and I'm writing to your GP now to tell HIM so !!!
I could have kissed her feet !
When I told my GP and he read her letter he said
SHES A DERMATOLOGIST !!!!!
Yes I said .. but she KNOWS what's wrong with me !
He reluctantly took a full Thyroid panel of Bloods ... and after many years of suffering I had my Diagnosis !!
The rest of my history is another story from that point on ...
but I must impress on you .. if it is your Thyroid that is causing your problems .. you will never know until you see the results of blood tests !
You should therefore .. insist that you want Full Thyroid blood tests done ASAP
Tell your GP by phone appointment that you need a copy of the results .. which they are obliged to give to you .
Come back here with your results and you will be given very good instructive advice on what next to do .
I do hope you have those tests as your physical well-being is at stake here ... and you need answers sooner than later .
thank you very much for your reply and sharing your experience x I will get another set of bloods taken, will have to do privately again as my Health Centre now ONLY tests for TSH and no longer checks T3 or T4 !! i had one done by medi checks about 6 months ago which i will post on here later to hopefully get the views of the lovely and ever so helpful people like yourself on here, there is an anomaly with them which i will explain in the post...
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how accurate is a tsh blood test? can you have normal results but still have thyroid problem?
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