Levo hair why does it not appear to help

[Jump1]

What is it about hair? Your thyroid results improve. Your vitamins are all fine. Some of your symptoms have improved or improving. But why does the hair not improve. I'm talking eyebrows scalp etc. The quality and quantity of my hair is yuck. My outer edge of eyebrows have disappeared. I'm nearly a year on thyroid meds. I'm testing again in May to check what 125 of levo has done to my bloods. I've though been gauging more how I feel symptom wise than blood test results

[shaws Administrator]

I have alopecia areata and have no hair at all. It has come and gone for several years now. Usually it drops after Easter and I have no hair especially when I go on holiday.

Once we have one autoimmune disease we can develop others - unfortunately.

btf-thyroid.org/hair-loss-a...

[Jump1 in reply to shaws]

😥 sad

[humanbean]

Having good thyroid hormone levels is essential to hair problems. But nutrient deficiencies common in thyroid disease also have an impact on hair.

This link may be of interest - but it has some flaws :

drformulas.com/blogs/news/1...

Some comments on that link ...

1) The link mentions vitamin B9 (folate) and then mentions folic acid. Folic acid was developed and released in 1943. Before that no human had ever taken it. To improve your folate levels read this link to find out the best options for supplementing :

chriskresser.com/folate-vs-...

takecareof.com/articles/ben...

2) The link mentions vitamin E. It comes in 8 forms - 4 tocopherols and 4 tocotrienols. Vitamin E supplements often contain only one or two of these eight forms. Supplementing with the better quality supplements - which contain more of the different forms than the cheaper supplements - is expensive. You should probably look up foods which contain good levels of vitamin E rather than supplement. It would probably be a lot cheaper.

3) Vitamin A usually comes in supplement form as beta-carotene. This is not "real" vitamin A it is a provitamin. The body must convert the provitamin to "real" vitamin A. And guess what, people with thyroid disease aren't good at converting it, so if you choose to supplement you should buy pre-formed vitamin A, although this should be avoided by women who intend to get pregnant or who are pregnant, because getting the dose wrong is bad for developing offspring. (I don't know in what way though - I need to refresh my memory.) Taking too much pre-formed vitamin A should be avoided because in high doses it can cause problems.

4) Iron - this is dangerous to supplement if it is not required. Testing is essential before ever considering taking iron supplements. The body has no way of getting rid of any excess.

5) Magnesium - testing magnesium levels is very unreliable. The body prioritises having the correct amount of magnesium in the blood. The rest of the body could be deficient and you'd never know from a blood test. As long as the kidneys are functional, supplementing sensible doses of magnesium is safe, and excess should be excreted in urine. People with severe kidney disease should not supplement magnesium without the support of a doctor.

6) Zinc/copper - If zinc is low, copper is high. If zinc is high/copper is low. People with hypothyroidism often have low zinc/high copper (although there is no absolute guarantee of this).

7) Selenium - some forms of this are better than others. SeasideSusie has more info on selenium than I have.

[jendwall in reply to humanbean]

Very interesting comment. I recently found out my Vitamin A level is on the very lower side of the "normal" range and began supplementing with Pure Encapsulations brand. (Did some digging how to better help my covid hair loss. ) Bottle says source is from Norwegian cod liver oil and vitamin A palmitate. Do you know what form this is? Thank you.

[humanbean in reply to jendwall]

This link might help (although I wouldn't describe it as great) :

Title : Difference Between Retinyl Palmitate and Retinol

Link : differencebetween.com/diffe...

You might find this link helpful :

Title : The Importance of Real Vitamin A (Retinol)

Link : selfhack.com/blog/importanc...

This link from the Thyroid UK has a short paragraph on vitamin A:

Title : Vitamins and minerals and their importance for the Thyroid

Link : thyroiduk.org/role-of-vitam...

.

Title : Vitamin A

Link : ithyroid.com/vitamin_a.htm

.

My personal experience of vitamin A-related issues:

Throughout most of my life the palms of my hands and the soles of my feet were a fairly pronounced yellow/orange. I just accepted it as "normal for me". Then I started taking thyroid hormones. And at some point after that - I can't remember exactly when - I started taking "real" vitamin A. Much to my surprise the yellow/orange skin faded to a more normal colour. All I took was one bottle of the vitamin A supplement (I can't remember exactly what I bought, but I think it was retinyl palmitate), and the problem has never come back.

[humanbean in reply to humanbean]

Another link :

Title : Vitamin A and the Beta-Carotene Myth: “A” is for Athletics, Aging and Advanced Health

Link : philmaffetone.com/vitamin-a...

[jendwall in reply to humanbean]

Well it looks like I picked a good supplement, lol! Good to know not to take vitamin A with Vitamin D. I had learned to take vitamin A with fat, so I was naturally taking my vitamin D at the same time. Trying to time supplements properly certainly presents a juggling act all day long.

[jendwall in reply to humanbean]

Another interesting note is that I've had very dry legs ever since my thyroidectemy. I just looked, and it seems as though the dryness is a LOT better. Have been taking the vitamin A for about 2 months now.

[jendwall in reply to humanbean]

I've noticed the same on the bottoms of my feet! I'll have to monitor that as well!

Thank you for posting all of this info. Looks like vitamin A is very important for thyroid people. It's a shame you don't hear about this vitamin as you do others. It really impacts a lot of issues due to thyroid.

[Jump1 in reply to jendwall]

I never heard it mentioned as a problem before. .I drink lots of milk and take alot of yogurt I would imagine there is lots vitamin s in these?

[jendwall in reply to Jump1]

Many have issues with dairy and stay away from it. That's a good point. The only dairy I consume anymore is cheese.

[Jump1 in reply to humanbean]

My hand colour changed from that colour when I started thyroid meds

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Are you on strictly gluten free diet

If not, get coeliac blood test done before trialing gluten free

[CG12345]

I’ve found biotin and collagen (I take in powder form via smoothie). Have really helped with growing my hair/nails/good skin. This is general advice though not thyroid specific, I know the modern diet is usually low in collagen. Also good for bones and joints etc. Could also deliver same impact through making/buying bone broth.

[jendwall in reply to CG12345]

Yes, agree. Along with the vitamin A, I added Biotin and was more consistent taking the collagen (in coffee). I lost over half of my hair from covid! So very scary!

I have also experienced a few more hairs showing up in my brush when my thyroid meds (NDT) were no longer working for me, so that's a definite sign for thyroid. Before thyroid surgery, I also lost the outer edge of eyebrows, and even though my thyroid levels have been great, I feel they have never returned to be as thick as they were before.