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Bad Skin

Posted , 5 users are following.

claire53416
claire53416

I have had an under active thyroid for a year now and was boarderline for a while before this. I have never suffered with spot prone skin even when i was a teenager but for the last year and a half i have had worse acne than a 16yr old. Has anyone else had a similar problem? Im guesssing it is a hormone thing related to the tyroid but along with the other side effects i get from levithyroxine it's getting me really down. If you have suffered with this how have you got you skin to settle down? I've tried everything.

0 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • shellyC19
    shellyC19 claire53416

    Posted

    Hello Claire

    My name is Shelly and I am a nurse in the USA.  I have Hashimoto's thyroid disease since 1987.

    I also have outbreaks of acne at times and it is related to our thyroid gland.  The skin can become very dry and in some more oily in spots.  I even have had spots of redness that act like eczema and I have prescription medication for it, which has a topical steriod in it.

    Some people use a combo of steriods and e-mycin an antibiotic to help calm it down. This would be in an extreme case.  A dermatologist can evaluate your skin and prescibe some topical ointments also which can calm it down. 

    I hope this helps,

    Shelly

  • mary59914
    mary59914 claire53416

    Posted

    I also hardly had a spot as a teen but now am covered. I'm on levo since February, stopped for a week because I was so fed up of it and my spots cleared. Went back on levo and spots are back. Endocrinologist can't help. I'm going to ask my dr for levo drops as perhaps it may be a filler reaction.....grasping at anything at this stage!
  • claire53416
    claire53416

    Posted

    Thanks Shelley i will try and find a lical dermatologist im using an oil free moisturiser which was always fine for my skin type and tried some aloe products but none of those help so prob best to see a professional. I also have a small patch of eczema on my throat but aloe does help with that.

    Mary i think i have the same problem with the fillers in the tablets as i get swollen and dry painful eyes and swollen toes im sure its the tablets causing bloating and the eczema as im the same when i miss tablets. Are you in the uk? As the thyroid society can give you info on tablets which are filler free i have sent them an email this morning for advice. It also says in the site foods we should avoid or eat in moderation.

    • barbara98940
      barbara98940 claire53416

      Posted

      Claire, I'm intolerant to corn (aka maize starch) and I get symptoms of itchy spots that develop into eczema and got so bad - raw and weeping - that i was referred to a dermatologist. I was given creams that helped, but it didn't clear up until I cut corn out of my diet, including my thyroid meds. I was prescribed liquid thyroxine but this caused massive swelling (fingers, hands, forearm doubled in size) within half a hour of taking it. I looked up the I gredients and apart from the thyroid ingredients, it bio nly had one other, which from memory is sucrose. I looked this up and it is often derived from corn. This was a year ago. I stopped taking thyroxine for a week and the symptoms went away. I tried NatureThroid and it made me swell up (endo said it was the NDT with the least fillers in - she was wrong! It has maize starch in it - WP Throid /Westhroid-P doesn't). So I switched to getting ThyroGold off the internet and have been fine ever since. By the way I also react to potato so I have to avoid sodium starch glycolate which is primarily derived from potato. I'm mentioning this to demonstrate that you might also be intolerant to other things in the meds.
    • claire53416
      claire53416 barbara98940

      Posted

      The doctor agreed to test me for gluten but that came back ok. She's basically said i can't have a food allergy test as she believes its not the tablets dispite numerous conversations. So i may just have to find a private clinic to have an allergy test its very frustrating the drs say to trust your body as you know when something is wrong but when it comes to it they ignore your opinion!
    • barbara98940
      barbara98940 claire53416

      Posted

      I too test negative for gluten allergy. Yet when I eat gluten I get stomach cramps, loose poo and bloating. I'm intolerant to gluten. There are no tests for intolerances. Following an exclusion diet is the only way to find out which foods you are intolerant to. You'll likely be wasting your money going for a private allergy test.
  • sweetmelissa
    sweetmelissa claire53416

    Posted

    I have actually had the oppisite effect.  I have always struggled with terrible acne BEFORE I got on levothyroxine, now that I'm on the medicine and my levels are normal, my skin is finally clear.  It's interesting to see how everyone's bodies react differently.  When I did have acne, I actually ordered that Proactive.  I worked pretty good, not perfect, but it lessened my acne by less than half.  But it's very expensive.   This may sound gross...  when I was younger (about 15) my doctor said to save up some of my own urine and pour it in the water, in the bathtub and soak in it.  Which I did, beacuse acne is an awful experience, and I would have done anything to get some relief...for real...lol.  That seemed to help.  Not sure why or whats in urine that would help, but it did.  I also heard that witch hazle is good, though I never tried it.  But it can really dry out your skin, especially if it's already dry.  NUMBER 1 thing....  NEVER PICK!!!  It took me years to learn that, even though everyone kept telling me.  It will truely make your acne worse and it will multiply very quickly.  It just spread the bacteria around to other palces.  Oh... a mint toothpaste also works.  Just put a dab on the pimple bafore you go to bed.  It will bring down the imflamation. (a little hard though if it is sever and all over)  you don't want toothpaste all over your face while you sleep, but maybe only the worst looking ones...  That's about all I got for now, if I can remember anything else that may give you relief, I'll let you know.   I hope this helps.  But then again.. what may work for one person, may not work for another because our bodies are all so different.  But, it's worth a try.  Best wishes..
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