I may be clutching at straws here but I'm wondering whether anyone else has experienced hair loss on the Teva brand of Levothyroxine?
My 20 year old daughter has a diagnosis of (secondary) hypothyroidism and takes 10mcg of Liothyronine plus 50/75 mcg of Levo on alternate days. She was very ill when diagnosed 2 years ago but but is now much improved with no hypothyroid symptoms other than hair loss which started, quite suddenly, about 3 months ago. We have booked a dermatologist's appt for a few weeks' time but in the meantime we're trying to figure what might be causing this hair loss. She was switched to Teva Levothyroxine a few months ago when we forgot to request a non Teva brand as we have done previously, so I'm wondering whether this might possibly be the cause as I know other people have had issues with this brand.
She's already seen the GP who agreed (very grudgingly!) to test her vitamin D and Ferritin levels. The vitamin D came back at 88, and the Ferritin was 46 (range 10 - 291) which is on the low side of normal. When she was very ill 2 years ago, she had an iron infusion which immediately raised her Ferritin from 12 to 282 however her levels been slowly dropping since then despite a diet rich in red meat and liver etc, and I'm also wondering whether this might be connected to her hair loss as well?
Our GP has refused to do any further blood tests, so I've ordered a full iron panel and a female hormone profile (to include a full thyroid panel) via Medichecks. Her FT3 and FT4 were last tested in May and seemed okay - they were slightly at the lower end of the range but as she feels well, her Endo didn't think she needed an increase in dosage:
FT4 - 12.9 (10.5 - 21)
FT3 - 4.7 (3.5 - 6.5)
I would be really interested to hear if anyone experienced anything similar with Teva or has any other suggestions as to what can be causing this hair loss. Thank you!
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Cookerybookaddict86
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Was it done as recommended? early morning, ideally just before 9am, only drink water between waking and test and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test
This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)
T3 ….day before test split T3 as 2 or 3 smaller doses spread through the day, with last dose approximately 8-12 hours before test
Low vitamin levels suggests perhaps she may need to change Levo or T3 dose
Suggest she get retest of thyroid levels
Is her hypothyroidism autoimmune?
What were most recent vitamin D, folate and B12 results
What vitamin supplements does she take?
Many, many thyroid patients find they need to take vitamin D, separate magnesium and separate vitamin B complex daily
Some also need separate B12 as well, especially initially
And significant numbers struggle to maintain GOOD iron and ferritin levels
Does she eat plenty of red meat, liver or liver pate once a week and other iron rich foods
Testing options and includes money off codes for private testing
Her hypothyroidism is secondary rather than auto-immune, or least this is what her endocrinologist said.
She's going to do more blood tests with Medichecks next week including another thyroid panel which will hopefully shed some more light on her hair loss.
Secondary hypothyroidism per a renowned UK endocrinologist speaking on a YOUTUBE video for The Pituitary Foundation, states that it always starts with problems with growth hormone. Secondly, gonadotrophins. So, it is good that you are going to test her female hormones. Thirdly, it affects the thyroid. Fourthly, the adrenals. In that order.
Vitamin B2 , per Pernicious Anaemia site in Australia, and b12 oils.com, is key to the thyroid functioning properly, and if vit B2 not high enough, Vit B12 will be biologically inactive regardless of what a serum or active B12 test says. It is not as simple as that. You'll need to read it for yourself. If she is taking a B vitamin complex and there is enough B2 in it, her urine should be bright yellow. Otherwise, she needs more B2.
I think they imply that not until B12 and B vitamins and thyroid are optimal, will you be able to get Vit D and iron properly sorted. You need to try to optimise the core vitamins , but it may be difficult for reasons explained on the site.
I was on the Teva brand alongside liothyronine. I didn't feel brilliant on Teva and my hair seemed brittle. When I switched I felt better. I know take Eltroxin alongside Liothyronine
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