Hello all!
I was diagnosed a month ago and am on 50mcg levothyroxine plus folic acid tablets. I only ever brush my hair when I wash it, which is every 3/4 days. I'm losing about 3 times as much hair as I was before. Is hair loss a symptom of hypothyroidism or side effect of the medication?
Thank you for all your help,
M
Yes - its a sign that you are still under-medicated. You're only on a "starter" dose, so worth re-testing bloods in another few weeks - and ideally testing nutrients as well - so if you can, test TSH, free T4, free T3, ferritin, folate, vit D and B12. This is because you need your nutrients to be optimal for your levo to work at its best.
When you have your bloods re-tested, don't forget to try and get the earliest test you can, leave 24 hours from taking your levo, and don;t eat or drink anything except water until after the test. That gives you the most reliable results.
Good luck x
Hi
As fuchsia-pink has said it’s a sign of being under medicated.
I lost a lot of hair until I got the correct dosage.
Your still only on 50mcg which is a starter dosage and need to be retested in 6-8 weeks to have a further 25mcg increase.
Best wishes
Peanut31
Could be low minerals due to insufficient circulating t3 while you're currently under medicated (t3 is needed to help us absorb minerals in the gut). Doctors don't make this connection to increase our dose, unfortunately, despite being told that aneamia is common in hypothyroidism.
You could ask your GP for a full iron panel as well as full thyroid panel mentioned above. Many GPs are happy to do this when they see that you're showing signs of low iron and aneamia.
N.B. Zinc as well as iron is important for hair and nails.
Low ferritin and low vitamin D can cause hair loss so they need to be optimal when taking Levothyroxine. Also as fuchsia-pink has said 50mcg is a starter does and once you are stabilized on a higher dose your hair should stop falling out. I have had two lots of extreme hair loss and I actually thought I would go bald at one point after losing hundreds a day for 2 years. My hair has now been growing back for about a year and hair is quick to fall out and slow to grown back I'm afraid.
Welcome to the forum
50mcg is only a starter dose of levothyroxine
The aim of Levothyroxine is to increase the dose slowly in 25mcg steps upwards until TSH is under 2 (many patients need TSH significantly under one) and most important is that FT4 is in top third of range and FT3 at least half way through range
NHS guidelines on Levothyroxine including that most patients eventually need somewhere between 100mcg and 200mcg Levothyroxine.
nhs.uk/medicines/levothyrox...
Also note what foods to avoid (eg recommended to avoid calcium rich foods at least four hours from taking Levo)
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, especially if you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) diagnosed by raised Thyroid antibodies
Have you had thyroid antibodies tested yet?
Ask GP to test vitamin levels
Low ferritin is frequently linked to hair loss
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)
Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins
List of private testing options
thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...
Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin (doesn’t include folate)
medichecks.com/products/thy...
Thyroid plus vitamins including folate (private blood draw required)
medichecks.com/products/thy...
Medichecks often have special offers, if order on Thursdays
Thriva Thyroid plus vitamins
Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes vitamins
bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...
All four vitamins need to be regularly tested and frequently need supplementing to maintain optimal levels
Hi, I had the same issue. In fact my hair was very dry & thinning over time but at that time I never knew I had hypothroidism. Once discovered and when put on levothyroxine (75mcg), I noticed that my hair was normal as in, it no longer looked dry/straw-like which was a big difference for me. This took about 4-6 months before there was a visible difference.
It didn't help enough with the shedding though, until I combined this with iron. What I took was pure blackstrap molasses and Hair Omega supplement and this worked very well for me! My iron levels were normal even before starting the supplement (strange but maybe I needed more).
I did not check my vit D at that time so not sure if this contributed to it.
I am no medical expert but this is what helped me and I hope it will work for you as well. You are also on a starting dose, so hopefully with a review they will find what works best for you. Good luck, don't give up!
Taking folic acid without adequate B12 levels can disguise a b12 deficiency which can be from diet or Pernicious Anemia. Very important to check. If you are already supplementing it this will give a high reading.
I would check your ferritin isn't too low because that can also cause hair loss and I was told by a hair loss site that it needs to be over 80 for hair growth. I have had 2 lots of extreme hair loss and I know mine is caused by my levels either being too high or too low. My hair has now been growing back for about a year and looks ok but not as thick as it once was. I now lose about 3 hairs a day instead of about 200 (yes I do count them). I think once you are on the right dose your hair loss will stop. Hair is quick to fall out but slow to grown back I'm afraid. I actually had some hair extensions last time I was losing hair because my hair so thin. At one point I thought I would go bald but luckily that didn't happen.
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