I have recently been diagnosed with hypothyroidism and have suffered with noticeable hair loss and hair thinning, my doctor said all the hair I have lost should grow back. I have only been on the medication for a week but am still noticing hair loss and am very distressed. How long will it be before the hair loss stops and I start to notice new hair regrowth?
I also lost vast quantities of hair and felt so depressed. I avoided washing my hair as it broke my heart to see so much of it blocking the drain. Combs and brushes were full of it, pillows, backs of chairs etc- it was everywhere. To be going through the trauma of the illness is bad enough anyway without the added distress of the hairloss. However, it does stop and it does regrow, just as thick as before. My hair has stopped falling out and is starting to regrow- it has loads of bits sticking up all over the place and I am so relieved. Take heart, it will get better, I promise.
Assuming you are on the right dose - which is very unlikely first time round you will not see the effects of the medication for some weeks. I have been on medication since July and am still feeling terrible (and still losing hair). I dont think it is made clear enough that you will not start feeling better after the first pill and that it may take many months to get yur levels right - hang in there!
I have been on meds for several years now but my hair has not improved at all, it is still very thin, especially on top of my head where it is most noticable. My eyebrows have almost gone as well. I dread going to the hairdressers as I know she can't do anything to make it look any better. I am, according to the Dr and test results, on the right dose so it seems we may not all be able to look forward to thick glossy locks again. :cry:
If the Moderator lets me I have put a link in that should answer all your questions about hair loss
That makes interesting reading, thanx
My Levothyroxine dose was reduced 3 months ago, which I think was a big mistake, definately feeling worse since. I have an appt to see Dr tomorrow and will mention the article, especially the T4 T3 treatment as others on this site have said how much better they are on it.
Have been taking a multi vit for hair but not noticed much difference, yet.
Hi
I was losing hair before I was diagnosed with an under active thyroid and after going on thyroxine my hair stopped falling out after around 4 months. I need an increase of thyroxine after blood tests as my TSH was still out of the range at 6.2 and that's when my hair started to fall out again. It was clogging up the bath and coming out in the brush and it felt like straw. My Doctor and Endo said I was in the range and dismissed it. So I slightly reduced the thyroxine and found that my hair stopped falling out.
Although we all share many of the same symptoms, our bodies react differently to thyroxine and it needs time to adjust and accept the medication. You also have to get to know your own body and I find it very helpful to keep a diary of 'symptoms' that I put down before going to bed. This has come in good use when I visit the GP, Endo and recently a Private Doctor.
I've had lots of problems with T4 (Levothyroxine) and have been started on T3. It's still early for me to comment but I will say that after being on it for nearly 2 weeks I don't have the psychotic symptoms that I was experiencing and the severe muscular aches and pains.
I think you should give it some time and see what happens, it's too early to say. If you find it's really bad and it's really bothering you then I think you should go back to your GP. It' not good to suffer in silence, you must let them know what's going on.
Take care
My partner had gone quite grey and lost a fair amount of hair by the time she was diagnosed. As her thyroxine dose went up, her hair did improve - but there was a point after a few weeks/months when loss seemed to be much worse. This seems to be due to an unusually large proportion of the hair follicles all going into 'drop your hair and grow a new one' phase together.
She has also found that Armour Thyroid helped with restoring the waviness to her hair. It is very obvious that within days of re-starting Armour the waves re-appear. And disappear when she stops Armour. (She has tried Armour and Cytomel and combinations with thyroxine in valiant attempts to get better. Not just to get her hair curling!)
Her hair colour returned very significantly (to give some scale to that, say she had got to 70% grey and is now only 20%).
Lots of people appear to have problems with levothyroxine - and I believe at least some of them are due to degradation products formed between manufacture and taking the pills. This degradation depends on temperature, humidity, light exposure and the other ingredients in the tablets - and, of course, time. Either these degradation products have their own effects or simply result in the tablets being under strength.
I am also fairly convinced that sometimes a small amount of T3 can kickstart the proper processing of T4. This is based on reading many posts and some research (e.g. of PubMed). Whether the need for the T3 is permanent or not is, to me, unclear.
Hi,
i am suffering from hyperthyroid nd having 75 mg
thyroxine since 2 months .but i am experiencing drastic
hairfall .each hair falls out from root with white bulb .texture
is thinning out .I am really depressed.i started taking biotin
5mg as i heard it boosts hair growth.
"Hard" water is typically defined as water that has a high mineral content. While large amounts of calcium are often to blame for the development of hard water, high stores of copper and magnesium can also contribute to poor water quality. Though hard water can often lead to hair loss, it doesn't necessarily have to.
I know what you mean about your hair, I had lovely hair, now it is thin and in aweful condition. However it is by no means the worst symptom of this disease. I have so many and I haven't managed to get a Dr who can help me find a way to get on top of it. I have never got back to good health and I was diagnosed in my late 20's I am now early 50's.
I cannot leave the house at the moment I am so ill. Before I got this bad I was only able to go out on a buggy. So if it was only thin hair I would be not over the moon but yeah, maybe I would be if I could get out and live life with my family again. Time is ticking.
All symptoms are relative. Don't get me wrong I hate the hair loss.
People come on forums complaining they cannot run the treadmill any more, I never could I was too ill for that.
So yeah the hair is one nasty symptom, there are much worse ones.
Anyone know of a fantastic thyroid Dr in the UK who does home visits? lol.
Dear, hair growth is very long process..I am also taking this medicine from 2 and half month...in 1st month of medicine, i am also distressed but i keep patience and continue with medicine..There is huge ammount of Dandruff in my hair, which is not going on any condition, since 2 years..main reason of hair fall is that...Dandruff make my hair thin and start hair loss..now after 2 and half month, today 5 june 2014, i fell releif because now there is no dandruff in my hair and my hair lossing is totally stopped, i discussed it about Doctor, he said hair falling is noe stopped, dont tension about hair loss for 4 or 5 hair every day..every hair has age of 3 month...so they fall and new will grown..now its next step for growing...it will grow but take time..so i decided to continue with this medicine may be 6 months or 8 month..now my hair are thick from 2.5 months before and hair lossing is stopped now..Thank God...I know its take time to grow..but medicine suits me and i carry on with this medicine..
I'm sorry to hear about your situation. I hope things get better. Thx for sharing. JB
Thank You!! sooo much for your post I had not noticed any hair loss just thought my hair was finer and not much body as usual, my hair type is fine but plenty of it but this weekend I was bending over and my daughter said Mum your hair looks really thin near the crown and when she looked further through my hair could see noticeable patches I had over the last months got a couple of red spots i thought they were gnat bites but after discovering these bald patches I have made an appt at doctors (friday) so i will post the outcome I am so scared my hair will not grow back to normal, I am currently taking 50mg of levothyroxine my last blood test was high so I was told to decrease from 75mg to 50mg
This is an old post and I'm sorry to squash hope but I need to speak truth. First of all, why are so many people having thyroid issues. 2nd I been on meds for around 2 years and I had very healthy, long hair. In fact, the dry, brittleness of my hair and fatigue are the reasons I went to dr. for a physical. I was put on levothyxine or whatever and my hair loss was immense. I researched and believed going on armour thyroid would help. Several years in and I have a fistfull of hair everytime I comb it. It is very depressing. They told me it was hereditary male pattern baldness. Uh no it's not its thyroid meds! It doesn't get better!
Ok, I'm late on this because its been a year since your post. I took Levothyroxin for several years and it did nothing. I had a non cancerous lump to my doctor put me on Armour which is a T3/T4 med. I recently went back to levothyroxin for the last two months because it was way cheaper and it was a mistake. UGH. More more more hair loss. I went back to Armour yesterday. I bout a "hair skin and nails" supplement and I'm about to buy some Primrose and make an appointment with a thyroid specialist and dermatologist. I'm still fatigued and have never regained my hair for 7 years.
After a year how are you doing with yours?
I too suffered hairloss for years but none of the doctors I saw would help me because my TSH was "normal" and my hair thinning wasn't "severe" (i.e. I wasn't going bald). However, I knew (always trust your instincts) that it wasn't normal.
Then finally, finally, I started on dessicated thyroid and like you I was disheartened when my hair continued to fall out, even as far as three months into it. Not only that, but it got worse!
Normally, my hair would come out moslty when I washed it in the shower. But when it got worse, I found it covering my pillow. Needless to say I was concerned.
However, I persisted with the dessicated thyroid, and after 4 months, it reached a tipping point I finally started noticing a visible reduction in my hair loss, even when I washed my hair.
It's been 6 months now, and I hardly find any hair in the shower, or even on my brush anymore. I am extremely happy with this and I look forward to the summer to see how much thicker my hair will look by then.
Here is what I did: I started on 40mg of dessicated thyroid for 2 weeks, then I increased my intake by 40mg every other week: week 1-40mg, week 3-80mg, week 5-120mg, week 7-160mg, week 9 to 12-200mg. Then by week 13 I had to switch to another brand that only comes in 130mg capsules, so I take 2 of those for a total of 260mg every day.
I was worried at first that it would be too much, but my body has responded well (no signs of hyperthyroidism), my hair loss has stopped and I have more energy, so I'm happy. I am still taking the same quantity now.
Just one note of caution: my hair loss stopped around the time I switched brands, so it's possible that the superior quality had to do with it. It's impossible to know for sure, but bear that in mind and ensure you take a reputable, good quality dessicated thyroid. I would also recommend a product that is as pure as possible, and preferably not mixed with any other ingredients.
Another recommendation would be to take your time (but not too long) between increases: listen to your body. My rule of thumb: minimum 2 weeks in between and the higher the quantity, the longer you should stay at that dosage before increasing again. For instance, I stayed at 200mg for 4 weeks before going up to 260mg. Also, if you find a dosage that gets you the results you want and that makes you feel good, I wouldn't risk increasing it again and getting too much only to have to come back down.
My final recommendation would be to trust yourself, what your body tells you and what your instincts tell you. Sadly, it seems the vast majority of doctors are ill-equipped to help patients with thyroid issues so it's up to us to find the information we need and I hope that what I just shared will be as helpful to you as I think it would have been to me only a few months ago.
Firstly, thanks for encouraging patients alike to feel better. Can I ask roughly how long since starting on the medicine have you noticed improvement in the hair loss and new hair growth?
I am having an extreme amount of hair loss after lowering my dose of thyroid meds. I have continued to lose hair on the meds and my Endoctinologist suggested lowering the dose. The hair loss has really increased since lowering my dosage. Different doctors have two different opinions. I am confused and don't know which one is correct. Any luck with yours growing back?
I have been receiving treatment for hypothroid for many years. I started on synthroid which was not controlling it. Was switched to levothyroxine which leveled my thyroid numbers but has done nothing for hair loss or the over all thinning of my hair. It is very distressing. The hair breakage and thinning is the reason I was tested in the first place. What can I do to regain my hair?