Subclinical hypo with major hair shedding

[Shedding01]

I am subclinical at a 4.4 but  symptomatic with hair shedding and dry skin.  I can handle 25 mcg Levoxyl but when ever I try to increase to 50 mcg blood pressure goes too low 90/68 and heart rate increases too much.  I believe I was inconsistent with my dose which stop the hair shedding 1.5 half ago but my GP wanted me on the 50mcg which makes me sick and sadly two months now of consistency of  taking the med 6 weeks of the 25 mcg and 15 days of the 50 mcg and still the hair shedding which is everywhere has not improved.  Any help is appreciated!  

[gimel]

Just wanted to add  something to the good info you already received.   Sometimes thyroid patients have strange reactions to thyroid med, even small doses, because of low cortisol and/or low ferritin.   I suggest that you should get both of those tested.  It might help understand why you have those reactions.

[Shedding01]

Thank you,  was going to get the  cortisol tested  before but they is you had resolved, but  with just having general anxiety and stress in my life I mean this time just go to an endocrinologist. I did make sure that they treat subclinical, thanks again

[Barb135]

Your Free T4 is too low in the range and you need it higher to stop  the hair loss and help alleviate the other symptoms, so I'm not sure why you don't want to take the 50 mcg since that's higher than 25 mcg.  

If you weren't taking your medication consistently, it's not a surprise that it didn't work properly.   If you're inconsistent for a few days, it's probably not a big deal, but 50 days is almost 2 months, which is long enough to throw things out of whack.

It's also not unusual for a dosage change to cause adverse effects when you first start taking the new dose.  Sometimes symptoms do get worse before they get better or new symptoms arise, then go away once your body gets used to the med.   The rapid heart rate could actually be from being hypo, as well but it will probably go away once you've been on the 50 mcg for a while.  It takes 4-6 weeks for a new dose to take full effect

As for taking 37.5 mcg... if you have some 25 mcg pills and some 50 mcg pills all you have to do is alternate them.  Of course, if you don't have both dosages on hand and the doctor won't prescribe them, there's nothing you can do.  Never throw away medications when dosages get changed for that very reason.

I'm very sorry to hear about your father; and yes, stress can wreck havoc on our body, but consistency is one of the most important things with thyroid issues.

The fact that your doctor told you that Free T3 is "not important" tells me that s/he doesn't know much about thyroid.  Free T3 is much more important than TSH and even more important than Free T4, since Free T3 is the hormone used by nearly every cell in your body... Without adequate Free T3 (yours was way too low), it's almost impossible to lose weight, get cholesterol in check, keep body temp normal, alleviate joint ache/pains and other hypo symptoms.

Yes, vitamin D is also necessary for proper metabolism of thyroid hormones...

It sounds like you need a new doctor if that's possible...

[Shedding01]

Thank you for all this information.  I don’t know how others do it though.  After 15 days on the 50mcg I could not take it anymore.  I had to go to publix or Cvs just to get a reading of my BP which averaged 90/64.  My heart rate being too high going into the 130’s with me sweating  profusely From me just washing my little dog.  The heart palpitations and chest pressure horrible.  4 to 6 weeks of that oh my goodness!  Feeling tired from a low blood pressure but pulse off the wall made me crazy.  Yes my T4 is low like it was a year and a half ago making my TSH back to where it was when I was losing hair back than as well.  Taking 25 mcg Levoxyl for three months reduced me to a 2.6 TSH and a T4 within the 75th percentile.   It was amazing I didn’t only stop shedding hair but I had regrowth.    It Wasn’t like it was before but it  thicker then I had become and was at least growing again even though very slowly.  I was fine on this dose even with a lower TSH of two in December.    I started taking more D3 which was just too much for my body but wouldn’t be for most people.  I wasn’t inconsistent every day of the 50 days but I missed two doses, drank Gatorade a few days and then took the Levoxyl.   And didn’t take it at the same time every day because the exes D3

[Shedding01]

Because the extra D3 made me so sick.  I took a pill  in the morning for the stomach pain and I had every day one day before taking the Levoxyl.   With such a small dose I understand how I screwed it up and most likely should’ve just taken the 25 and waited another three months.   Now I’m back on the 25 and have to wait I guess an additional 15 days or whatever my body takes for this god-awful hair shedding to stop.   I am ultra sensitive to all meds and do have IBS as well.    I wish I could handle the 50 but 4 to 6 weeks I don’t know how others do it it’s just so much,

[Shedding01]

I knew I was sensitive and even a doctor at the sliding scale facility they could not prescribe anything to me due to liability reasons for being subclinical suggested I take 50  I knew I was sensitive and even a doctor at the sliding scale facility that could not prescribe anything to me due to liability reasons being subclinical suggested I take 50 mcg  twice a week because she knew I had them from before.   She said doubling the dose could be hard on the body.    But my doctor said no even when she knows that I have such sensitivity to medications.   Unfortunately that batch is bad because of the hurricanes and the power loss but I do have my current bottle of 50 and have a bottle of 25 waiting for me at the pharmacy, both a 90 day supply.
So would have to figure out the alternation between the two to get that 37.5 but honestly think just taking 50 twice a week three days apart would be sufficient.   I know T3 matters and I wish it was higher but I cannot do anything about it, I tried Cytomel with adverse reactions on a very low dose.  Having sensitivity to meds and adverse reactions is way too common for me unfortunately.  Having sensitivity to meds and adverse reactions as way to common for me unfortunately.   This is why I try to stay away from medications.   If you’re inconsistent on a dose and are at a TSH just two months prior I if you’re inconsistent on a dose and or a TSH just two months prior of it toof a 2  in mid December and by the end of February or back out of 4.4 with the T4 in the 25 percentile  wouldn’t taking this same dose for another three months solve the problem?  I was happy at a 2.6 and in December at a two point no TSH but because I was inconsistent on the dosed as my body require more to resolve the issue, because if I have to make myself get used to the 50 again I’m going to cry.    My doctor said T4 is important for hair, my mistake but she didn’t really emphasize t3 though.   Treating subclinical Patients is  difficult when you don’t have insurance you have to do the best you can.

The 25 µg work before and now I’ve lost 15 days I’ve been consistent on that those by taking the 50 every day but most likely would’ve been the same if I took the 50 twice a week, like you said it takes 4 to 6 weeks to take affect but as far as the hair loss I believe it has more time to get the shedding to stop.

This was mentioned to me by my Publix pharmacist who actually said just take the 25 and wait three months and maybe she was the one who keep the best advice LOL but of course you have to go by what your physician says which I’ll be hearing from soon.   I seriously don’t know how people can do it having heart palpataions  and like you said feeling worse for 4 to 6 weeks before feeling better. I know I sound superficial but I just want to know what to do to make the hair stop shedding  the fastest.   It’s been over two months and it’s starting to hurt my scalp because I can’t take the knots out I just have to pull on the hair.

Thank you again, you were the first person to answer me on a message board ever and you actually know what you’re talking about, I apologize again for the grammar, I have to write this in a small little phone.

Again appreciate all the information that you’ve given to me and any additional information you may have.

[Shedding01]

Whatever I can do to get my T4 up which was just fine in mid December that’s all I want to know when you change doses it delays hair processe whatever I can do to get my T4 up which was just fine in mid December that’s all I want to know when you change doses it delays hair  growth pattern as I was I was told by Publix Pharmacist.  Thank you again

[Shedding01]

This website does not like me very much, sorry for the grammar errors didn’t mean to hit submit.   Last time they  took my T3 it was low unfortunately but still within range but I was told it was the T4 that was the only important part.  I don’t have insurance and was bouncing back-and-forth a year ago between a sliding scale facility for blood work and my internal medicine doctor.  T3 In nov 2.7 on a scale  2.0-4.4.     The fact that such little D3 cost me to have calcium deposits become ill show that I was sensitive to medications which I already knew but the fact that I would back to 4.4  TSH where I was a year and a half ago losing hair and my t4 being in the lower percentile is just too much of a coincidence for me.  After taking 25 mcg of Levoxyl for 3 month  my hair finally started to grow and stop shedding.  Much slower than before but at least it wasn’t shedding  and got a little bit thicker again and now have to go through it again causing a lot of stress and depression unfortunately.   I’m trying to stay positive but it’s everywhere, I know it’s just hair but it’s everywhere.  I feel I should’ve stayed on the 25 and would’ve been consistent now two months but with the taking the 50 for 15 days I most likely have to wait longer and have had no reduction and shedding like I did before after two months.    Sorry For the tmi  it just makes me so angry that due to 50 days of some inconsistency I feel just seeped  out of my body.    I called my doctor and still have not received a response back but I did present her and say can I please do the 50 twice a week or even 37.5 by breaking tablets and she said no 50 every day.  I have never seen it under endochronologist for this issue and really can’t afford it but with all I’ve spent on bloodwork and doctor visits probably should’ve.

This is she did not occur until I had to start caring for my father who at onset dementia along with COPD along with diabetes along with high blood pressure along with cholesterol along with so many other things.  I was told that stress caused all of us and the stress of caring for my dad gave me a panic attacks and I was not given help nor did I walk away and take a break which I should’ve, had  concern for my own health.  I already had IBS, I didn’t need this issue especially when it doesn’t even run hereditary and my family.  I feel like I’ve been robbed of almost 3 years of my life.  I would love to alternate but have to get the go ahead and have been tested for hormones and probably not all of it nor adrenal   Fatigue.   Thank you again for all your help, any other formation would be greatly appreciated.

[Barb135]

What is the 4.4?  Is that a TSH reading?  What are your actual thyroid hormone levels?  You should be getting tested for Free T4 and Free T3 each time you have a TSH test, also.  If you have those, please post the results, along with their corresponding reference ranges since ranges vary from lab to lab and have to come from your own report.  

If 50 mcg is too much all at once, try alternating 25 mcg and 50 mcg for an average of 37.5 mcg/day... Once you can tolerate that without problems, you should be able to go on up to the 50.

[Shedding01]

That’s what I wanted to do to begin with just take 50 mcg twice a week though to get my body use to it.  My doctor said everyday probably because of my weight now 199 gone up from being depressed.  My t4 was on the lower end when I was losing hair before and was on a different scale but it seems it’s on the lower end again now that I’m losing hair again.  Same place I was a year and a half ago.  TSH 4.4 with a t4 of 1.20 on a scale of 0.82-1.77.


My TSH was a even 2 in December before  I idiotically increase my vitamin D3 to 3000 IU  and Mir generate for just 50 days which made me have calcium crystals in my urine, severe nausea, worse than normal constipation, fatigue, and that’s when I became a consistent on my dose of a 25Mcg  of lovoxyl