Synthroid for Hypothyroidism??

[yodie]

Please share your experience with using this med. I read a lot about people losing their hair while taking Synthroid. I took Synthroid for 4 days, but stopped because of negative reviews. I felt GREAT while taking Synthroid for those 4 days, but I'm a little leary about the hair fall. I already struggle with my hair and can't afford anymore setbacks.

Thanks for sharing?

 

[yodie]

Bumping!!!!!!!!

 

[moonpower]

My best friend has been taking it for 3 years with little to no side effects. She is extremely healthy though..eats a very healthy diet, exercises and take multivitamins. Maintains a healthy mindset as well. Her hair did become a bit drier in the beginning though..
I do know that once you start taking Synthroid, you're not supposed to stop unless your doctor instructs you to..
Google some foods that you should and should not consume while taking Syn as well...
Hope this helps..

 

[SelfStyled]

I have been on Synthroid for 9 years- and yes ma'am my hair sheds. I have always been a shedder though. I never knew that Synthroid caused hair shed, just looked up the package insert and see that is listed as side effect........

I always ask my doctor to rx branded Synthroid rather than generics as generics can fluctuate by FDA as much as up to 15% in variance compared to brand names. Also keep in mind that when the original clinical trials were done for Synthroid the patients were all hypothyroid anyways, and hair loss can be a side effect of hypothyroidism.

There are things that we can do to handle hair shed, I would rather have my underactive thyroid corrected, as the thyroid impacts so much systemically.

 

[yodie]

Thanks for responding ladies.

moonpower, does your friend take anything to supplement her adrenals? (You may notknow this). I read that Synthroid only works on T4. I don't know all the lingo here, just what I've read on the internet.

SelfStyled, do you take anything to supplement your adrenals? I've never had issues with my hair shedding. It's just hard to grow, breaks easily,etc. I don't consider that sheeding and I'd hate to have issues with it now. I also read lots of reviews where the people had alot more negative comments to say about generic Synthroid.
Of course I'd rather take something natural, but I dont know what.

My T3 and T4 all came back within normal range, but my thryoglubin (sp?) is way high and I'm showing positive for some autoimmune.

I don't think my doctor is all that knowledgable about this.
I want to a Naturopathic, but they're expensive and it takes awhile to get to the root/cause/healing.

 

[moonpower]

Not sure..She takes a multivitamin, Vit C, Flaxseed Oil, Calcium & Phyto Estrogen. She's been taking that for a while..I'll ask her and post her response. If your doctor is not completely versed on Synthroid..get a doctor that is..that's very important. My friends' doctor is a female and just seems to take really good care of her...just a suggestion.

 

[mg1979]

yodie: I take levothyroxine which I guess is the generic version. Not sure if that matters. Its hard to say if the hair shedding would be a side effect of the medication or a symptom of hypothyroidism. I cant imagine not taking it though. I think endocrinologists are the best doctors to see for the thyroid though.

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[yodie]

I keep reading that Armour is a better supplement because it's natural dessicated thyroid. Have either of you ladies taken Armour?

 

[Nubenap22]

Well if y'all didn't know but a side effect of having hypothyroidism alone is hair loss.

Id say take a hair/skin/nail/daily vitamin drink plenty of water

 

[yodie]

Yes, I knew hair loss is a side effect of having hypo, but I'm aware that taking Synthroid meds might cause additional hair loss as well.

 

[laurend]

You will lose your hair if you don't take the medicine, that's for sure. I started on Synthroid and I felt awful then I went on Armour and I felt better. Armour has T3 and T4 hormones and that's why I felt better but sometimes you can't find it. Two years go the plant that makes Armour was shut down and it took weeks to get a refill so I went back on the Synthroid. My endo doctors told me to take the synthetic T3 Cytomel and I have been on it with great results.

 

[yodie]

laurend, you're just helping me out all over this board.
Can Cytomel be purchased over the counter or do you need a prescription for it?

Do you take Cytomel with Synthyroid or just Cytomel? Just figuring out what I need to suggest to my doc.

Thanks.

 

[SelfStyled]

Thanks for responding ladies.

moonpower, does your friend take anything to supplement her adrenals? (You may notknow this). I read that Synthroid only works on T4. I don't know all the lingo here, just what I've read on the internet.

SelfStyled, do you take anything to supplement your adrenals? I've never had issues with my hair shedding. It's just hard to grow, breaks easily,etc. I don't consider that sheeding and I'd hate to have issues with it now. I also read lots of reviews where the people had alot more negative comments to say about generic Synthroid.
Of course I'd rather take something natural, but I dont know what.

My T3 and T4 all came back within normal range, but my thryoglubin (sp?) is way high and I'm showing positive for some autoimmune.

I don't think my doctor is all that knowledgable about this.
I want to a Naturopathic, but they're expensive and it takes awhile to get to the root/cause/healing.

yodie Are you my long lost hair twin? My hair grows at a snails pace, and is very dry, my skin is also very dry and I cannot lose any weight at all.

I don't take anything to support my adrenals, should I be? Are you? Could you recommend something?

All I take is Vitamin D and a multi, besides the Synthroid. I have excellent health insurance and will be making an app to see an ENDO, even though I am followed up by my pcp every year faithfully. I feel like my hair and body are at a standstill and I want to know if there is more I could/should be doing.

I also have Crohn's disease (auto immune disorder).

Thank you for starting this thread!

 

[yodie]

SelfStyled, maybe I am your hair twin. I'll take it. My hair and skin are the same and my weight is a struggle right now.

I asked about the adrenals because I don't believe Synthroid supports the adrenals, which is why alot of people like Armour because it supports T3 and T4. Don't quote me. You might have to Google it. I've also read that some people take another product with Synthroid (see laurend's post above).

I've taken Raw Adrenal before, but now I plan to look into Cytomel to take with my Synthroid.

 

[laurend]

laurend, you're just helping me out all over this board.
Can Cytomel be purchased over the counter or do you need a prescription for it?

Do you take Cytomel with Synthyroid or just Cytomel? Just figuring out what I need to suggest to my doc.

Thanks.

Talk to you doctor about your concerns. Cytomel is taken along with Synthroid and you need a prescription. Is your doctor a specialist? I had a tumor on my thyroid and they radiated it and of course I went from over active to under active. On the T4 alone, I didn't feel quite right and the armour did the trick but when the government shut down production, it was crazy. If you do the natural thyroid, you need to stock up on it because others told me that it happens every few years. My endo doctor said I might feel better being on Cytomel also and it's been working.

 

[SelfStyled]

yodie I am embarrassed about how uneducated I am about my hypothyroid. I have been knocked down a few times with Crohn's relapses, I am now in remission (praise God) and feel strengthened to educate myself about the hypothyroidism. I will definitely look into this adrenal support. Thanks.

 

[yodie]

SelfStyled, well, we're definitely twins then because I don't know much about hypothyroid except what I've learned on the intrernet, which is why I started this thread. Check out this site http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com

laurend, I went to one ENDO. She looked worse than I did and her hair looked like she's been hypothyroid for years. She never even suggested thyroid meds at all.

 

[F8THINHIM]

I take levothyroxine and have taken that and/or synthroid for the past 10+ years. My hair shed but not enough to make a big difference. But my hair changed recently to being very dry and brittle. My endo says that it seems to be due to menopause. My hair was looking anorexic.
Since then, I have been taking Nioxin and Phytophanere (interchangeably), and biotin along with plenty of water, exercise and rest. My hair is getting stronger. I am sure you can find ways to take extra care of your hair no matter the source of the problem.

 

[cincirobin]

I started out on Armor thyroid ten years ago, then for a brief time switched to Levothyroxine....there is a definite difference. Armor thyroid is the way to go. Hope this helps

 

[Lola28]

yodie are you gluten sensitive? The reason I ask is because apparently there is a correlation to people being gluten sensitive and that autoimmune response aggravating another which is Hoshimotos which will eventually lead to hypothyroidism. Your thyroid fuction test will come back normal but there is a special protein which they have to do. And that will usually be out of wack. A lot of physicians won't prescribe Synthroid until your thyroid fuction tests come back low.

Avoiding gluten will help allevaite your thyroid flare ups not cure but help a great deal. Diet is REALLY important. The hair lost and shedding is from the disease itself it's kind of your damned if you you're damned if you don't.

 

[yodie]

Talk to you doctor about your concerns. Cytomel is taken along with Synthroid and you need a prescription. Is your doctor a specialist? I had a tumor on my thyroid and they radiated it and of course I went from over active to under active. On the T4 alone, I didn't feel quite right and the armour did the trick but when the government shut down production, it was crazy. If you do the natural thyroid, you need to stock up on it because others told me that it happens every few years. My endo doctor said I might feel better being on Cytomel also and it's been working.

laurend, No my doc isn't a specialist at all.

 

[yodie]

Lola28,

My T3, T4 levels show normal on my labs, but I notice that when I eat certain foods, I bloat up immediately. My doc did a food allergy test and it came back showing that I'm not allergic to any foods. I still think something is weird about that. I've been eating salads for the last 2-3 weeks. My body feels better with salads, depending on what I put in the salad. I think the dressing sometimes makes me bloat.

I read about Hashimoto's and wondered if I might have this. (I hate claiming things)
Do you know the name of the protein that correlates to Hashimoto? My tests show that my thyroblobulin is out of whack. I don't know what that is and my doctor said NOTHING about it. My labs state that the normal range for thyroglobulin is 2.0-35.0. I tested at 63.2.

 

[Lola28]

yodie don't quote me but I think it's perioxidase. But I would look up gluten sensitivity and hypothyroidism and Hashimoto's. There's a wealth of info on this topic. You can do a little testing on yourself. Like eat some bread and pay attention to how you feel after.

Are your hands and feet always cold? Is your skin dry despite drinking moderate amounts of water? Do you have droopy eyelids? Feeling fatigued or even "depressed" but can't understand why like it's more of an organic depression.

 

[Lola28]

Just went and checked and it said you need to have your thyroid antibodies checked.

 

[yodie]

I'm going to a new Endo today that specializes in thyroid. Let yall know what I find out when I come back.

 

[yodie]

Saw an endo specialist today. She said my thyroid labs are all normal, except for my thyroglobulin and wonders if I'm having issues with Celiac disease/gluten. I'm testing for that today. I also have to get an ultrasound of my thyroid and uterus. Endo said thyroid felt okay, but wanted the ultrasound to see if there's something we can't see. I'm getting an ultrasound of my uterus because I always seem to be anemic, however, this was the first lab work that showed I had in range blood counts (thanks to Hemaplex, Yellowdock and some doses of red meat here and there).

So, she's not sure if I even need the Synthroid.
I have to do more research on Celiac and see what they come up with. UGH! I do know whatever type of bread I eat and some other foods make me so bloated and I feel awful with them in my system. It's like I haven't eaten much, so I shouldn't be bloated.

Felt terrible today on the Synthroid. That great feeling that I had must have been a placebo.

 

[deedoswell]

I take levothyroxine and have taken that and/or synthroid for the past 10+ years. My hair shed but not enough to make a big difference. But my hair changed recently to being very dry and brittle. My endo says that it seems to be due to menopause. My hair was looking anorexic.
Since then, I have been taking Nioxin and Phytophanere (interchangeably), and biotin along with plenty of water, exercise and rest. My hair is getting stronger. I am sure you can find ways to take extra care of your hair no matter the source of the problem.

Same here!!!! I am currently on levothyroxine and have taken synthroid for over 25 years! Yes, I have been on it for a long time. You cannot just stop taking it. As mentioned in this post the thyroid regulates your entire body so it must be on point. I take multivitamins, drink plenty of water and try to eat a healthy diet. Yes, my hair is thinner and yes it sheds, some of that has to do with my age, but in general I think that my hair is pretty healthy and I have gone from SL to APL so I know my hair grows on this med. Good luck - but please don't stop taking it unless you take an alternative.

 

[deedoswell]

Saw an endo specialist today. She said my thyroid labs are all normal, except for my thyroglobulin and wonders if I'm having issues with Celiac disease/gluten. I'm testing for that today. I also have to get an ultrasound of my thyroid and uterus. Endo said thyroid felt okay, but wanted the ultrasound to see if there's something we can't see. I'm getting an ultrasound of my uterus because I always seem to be anemic, however, this was the first lab work that showed I had in range blood counts (thanks to Hemaplex, Yellowdock and some doses of red meat here and there).

So, she's not sure if I even need the Synthroid.
I have to do more research on Celiac and see what they come up with. UGH! I do know whatever type of bread I eat and some other foods make me so bloated and I feel awful with them in my system. It's like I haven't eaten much, so I shouldn't be bloated.

Felt terrible today on the Synthroid. That great feeling that I had must have been a placebo.

Sorry just read your lastest post. I know it's difficult getting the correct diagnosis sometimes. Good idea for the other lab tests I'm sure you and your doctor will get to the root of the problem!

 

[Bun Mistress]

I keep reading that Armour is a better supplement because it's natural dessicated thyroid. Have either of you ladies taken Armour?

This is incorrect. Armour thyroid is weight based processed thyroid hormone IE you are not NOT getting a precise amount of T4/T3 however there is more T3 in this medication which a lot of women like because it helps them loose weight. Because it causes hyperthyroidism and all the other health deteriorating things that come with this state.

I'm not going to comment on your taking supplement as I am not your physician, if you want a second opinion, I recommend you continue with your Endocrinologist for that, I will say that there is no BLOOD TEST for celiac disease as a definitive diagnosis. The blood test that is done can be equivocal. The only way to diagnosis this disease without question is time with a modified diet and a small bowel biopsy, which I am in no way suggesting you get.

Supplementation its self doesn't directly cause hair loss, it is the dis-regulation of you body's thyroid hormone level that is usually the cause of this.

 

[deedoswell]

@ Bun Mistress

Off topic - cute doggies!!!