hair loss

[katherine107]

for a few months my hair has been coming out .a lot on hairbrush every time I brush.i have very fine hair anyway. Also outer eyebrows none existence. I am on 50 mcg of liothyrine. No thyroxine. I take multi vitamins b tablets with biotin. Have Brazil nuts everyday for selenium. Can anyone help ? Am I lacking a vitamin.

[Buddy195 Administrator]

We can only tell if you are lacking key vitamins if you test first, then post results and ranges on the forum Katherine107. We recommend you test key thyroid vitamins (ferritin, folate, B12 and vit D). It would also be useful to have recent thyroid blood test results for:

TSH

FT3

FT4

Plus results of any thyroid antibody tests.

Multivitamins are not recommended here due to presence of fillers and overall quality issues. Please don’t consume more than a couple of Brazil nuts per day as selenium in high doses can be toxic. Nuts from selenium rich soil contain between 50-90ug selenium each and you don’t want to exceed 200ug daily.

When retesting, please don’t take biotin in the week before the test as this can affect blood results.

[Jazzw]

Iron is one of the biggies when it comes to hair loss. What are your iron and ferritin levels like?

[France92 in reply to Jazzw]

what should a good ferritin level be as I'm having same problem with hair loss. Had vitamins done ferritin was 60.8 thankyou

[Jazzw in reply to France92]

Most of us do much better with a ferritin of over 70 and many recommend to try to get it up over 100.

Vitamin C can help with the absorption of iron from your diet.

[France92 in reply to Jazzw]

thankyou I take vit c 1500mg everyday do you know a low dose iron which is gentle on fragile stomach

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to France92]

have you had full iron panel test for anaemia

Higher ferritin levels with autoimmune disease can mask lower iron levels

[katherine107 in reply to SlowDragon]

i am having full blood count tomorrow at gp surgery

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to katherine107]

looking for at least these 4 tests together

Hopefully GP will be doing

medichecks.com/products/iro...

[France92 in reply to SlowDragon]

is that a special test I've had basic bloods with dr plus did medicheck thyroid

[katherine107 in reply to France92]

its full blood count and thyroid test

[France92 in reply to katherine107]

had this with Gp last month ??

Low colour

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to France92]

Red blood count and hematocrit slightly above range

Most likely cause slightly dehydrated when did test

[SlowDragon Administrator]

as per previous post 8 months ago

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

You need to get FULL thyroid and vitamin testing done

Day before test divide T3 into 3 doses spread through the day with last dose approx 8-12 hours before test

Ideally test 8-9am ….so last 1/3rd of daily dose T3 approx 9pm night before test

Test vitamin D, folate, B12 and ideally full iron panel test for anaemia including ferritin

[HowNowWhatNow]

You have my sympathies.

I’ve got very low ferritin at the moment. This time, not only is my hair falling out a lot, but my hair is now very greasy. Has this happened to others here?

[HowNowWhatNow in reply to HowNowWhatNow]

For me, iron is always the hair loss culprit - so far.

I see that you had some tests done for the actual menopause and that - I think! - they didn’t suggest you were in it. Might this instead be perimenopause? Have you got any of the other symptoms?

[Sparklingsunshine]

How many Brazilnuts a day are you having, excess selenium can cause dramatic hair loss.

[shaws Administrator]

Your dose of T3 seems reasonable as 25mcg of lio has the effect of around 100mcg of levothyroxine.

If we have one autoimmune condition we can develop more. I have 3.

You may have Alopecia but GP should (hopefully) be able to diagnose.

I have alopecia areata which caused my hair to drop out until I am bald. It took months to grow back but has fallen out once more.

[katherine107 in reply to shaws]

i am taking 50 mcg of liothyrine. Having blood tests tomorrow

[katherine107]

i have had test results. All normal except b12. It's above range..its 1259 Ng. ( Reference 197-771) gp

wants to speak to me. I am taking b supplements but didn't take them day before test. Also ferritin 187ug (ref 13.0-150) folate 20.0ug (ref 2.1-268). Not sure why I feel so tired all the time.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to katherine107]

High B12 seems to be an issue only when it occurs without other explanation such as taking supplements.

For example, a liver problem (or some other issues) could result in release of stored B12 from the liver. In that case, high B12 could be an indicator of that liver issue.

B12 doesn't usually drop substantially in the short term (days or weeks). A day without will have had almost no effect.

Obviously there is a possibility of having a liver issue while taking B12! So taking a supplement doesn't, on its own, prove you have no other issues. But a clear possible cause is a good start!