Hair loss

[vickydink]

Hi everyone

Just wonderin if this is anything to do with my diet

My hair has got thinner, i used to have quite thick hair. I don't have bald patches may i add but it wont stop falling out so much i end up bald will it? i will be devatated, i have long blonde hair you see and losing it....well the thought is horrible...

Mum has commented in the last few months about it how it is now. Just wondering if this will be ok and wondering if anyone else has had it?

I am getting everything into my diet, loads of fruit, salad, veg, carbs, proteins...

 

[serafyn]

^ try uping your water too and take vits. My hair is much better when I do this. Go see your doc too

it can be stress related? I know you have suffered loss recently, best of luck ma lovely x

 

[vickydink]

Thankyou.
I know i need to try drink more and multi vits, i will get some.

It started getting thinner before i lsot both my friends but i suppose that could of made it worse really too..

 

[Iris]

I lost my hair after coming off the pill (Dianette). It came out in handfuls. I used to have a crazily thick blanket of hair that reached my butt, then suddenly it was gone and I had to have it all hacked off. Not to sound like too much of a superficial bimbo, but I think I had a mini nervous breakdown about it!

It's grown back a bit, just not the same thickness anymore so I can't keep it as long as I'd like to or it just looks straggly and awful - still miss it terribly, I used to use it to hide behind, and I feel like my armour's gone. So I know how you feel. It's bloody awful. The condition's known as telogen effluvium, I believe, and can happen after stress or a shock to the system, whether that's physical or mental. Usually the hair loss will start 2-3 months after the 'shock.' Your hair follicles are in varying states of growth or rest, and the shock can send a bunch of them into rest (telogen) and a few months later they fall out. Has this started around 2-3 months after any particular big stress in your life? Or would that timeline fit with when you started the diet or lowered calories significantly?

I really wouldn't try going under 1200 calories a day for any prolonged period of time. However varied your diet, it's still so restrictive in terms of sheer mass that your body can go into starvation mode and that's when the body decides it has bigger things to worry about than hair, because it's putting its main energies into just keeping you going. If you're under 1200 at the moment, I'd seriously think about eating more - especially good fats - oily fish, avocado, nuts, just to bring you up to 1200-1300.

The hair loss could be a hormonal problem, or it might be a mix of hormones and diet, or diet affecting hormones. You could be deficient in iron, could be thyroid-related. Would be worth having a chat with your GP if it continues. You don't suffer from pcos, do you?

I know it's horrible *hug*. One tip I have just for dealing with the thinness is to have a look on ebay for clip in extensions. There's some great human hair ones - you should be able to get an 8 piece pack for around 30 quid, and you really wouldn't have a clue it's not your own hair if you clip them in carefully. They add a load of body while your hair's growing back!

 

[NumberOne]

I have that problem. I used to have thick long hair just under my elbow. Then it started falling out real bad!

Now i had to get it chopped into a bob. Went to the doc and had a blood test but they could find anything. So now im stuck with it

 

[NIC68]

This is so weird......I've had my hair cut today and my hairdresser (who I've had for years) said my hair was thinner too! I have very short hair and it's quite fine too so it's not that noticeable luckily but the strange thing is - I never noticed the difference myself! I have to admit it has made me kind of paranoid now.......

 

[Dramatic_Star]

Its more than likely a change in diet causing your hair to thin. How long have you been on a diet for?

Mine has started growing a lot faster which is a little wierd. To begin with, my hair felt so shiny, but just recently its being feeling really dry and horrible.

 

[Stirky7]

Yes I've noticed my hair is coming out more at the moment too, when I comb it seems to be loads. Probably change in diet. I've had this before too, after I was pregnant (each time!) and before that too for some unknown reason. Each time I've had it, it seems to stop and thicken up again. Although my hair is nowhere near as thick as it used to be. It's not nice though, I'd love to have the long thick hair I used to have in my teens again!

 

[vickydink]

Mine is just thinner, not coming out in clumps and leavin bald patches.
Said to my hairdresser and she said it has but not loads.. i and my mum say it has though. I have had a fair few layers cut in though.

Will see how it goes. Been dietting since Jan, had a lot of stress but was thinner before that...

 

[vickydink]

Been to Holland and Barrat today and got some 'Horse Tail' tablets, apparently for hair thinning. Will see how these go. Taking my multi vitamins too. Hoping the tiredness will get better but most importantly my hair geta a little bit thicker

I do have psyriasis at the base of my hairline so i don't know if this could be adding to the problem?

 

[jumanji]

Well, I'd say even on a low calorie diet shoot for 100g+ of protein per day, take your fish oil supplements and a vitamin.

 

[vickydink]

I am having a multivitamina nd this horsetail tablet 2 or 3 times a day however i decided to see GP today as work have said to check because of stress both in work and what has gone on personally in the last few months. The Doctor said he wants to send me for blood tests to check for anaemia and i am really scared of needles, i hate them. I have come away and going to ring to book them in for whn BF can go with me

 

[acegirl]

Hi there Vicky . I know how very stressful it can be to lose your hair. It started happening to me last year, about 2 months after I had an IUD removed that emitted fake progesterone. Then exactly 12 months later I noticed again how my hair was just all over the floor and I would always feel a strand landing on my arm, etc., things I certainly never noticed before. I've always had an extremely extra thick crop of very long hair so it was worrying, but not noticeable to others since like you it didn't come off in clumps. But everytime I would grab at the bottom of my hair, a few strands would come off. Totally scary!! In the meantime, I have also had an IMPOSSIBLE time losing weight the last 2 years, despite being practically a diet and exercise expert (self-professed ). I tried EVERYTHING and my weight would only go up and down the same 5 lbs. I suspected my hormones were the cause of the weight gain (I was always a slimmish weight until I gave birth 3 years ago), but my thyroid was apparently normal etc. Anyway, I found this website on the net to explain the hair loss, being either a result of too little estrogen, too much testosterone, or both:

Center for Health Research, Inc.; Alopecia, female hair loss, hair loss help, cause of female hair loss, PCOS and hair loss, hair loss treatment, hair loss cause, hair loss woman, hair loss reason

I ended up going to this doctor since he happens to practice in my city. He was quite a prick in person, I might add, totally unlike he describes himself (as so compassionate about women losing their hair), in reality he was like a stick of wood. But he seems to have slowed down my hair loss (he said it can take months to stop, but its much less already) AND drum roll after 2 long years on a plateau despite constant frustrating dieting and exercise I've lost 8 pounds since starting on the hormones he prescribed!!!! I'm eating raw fruits and veggies as much as possible as part of my diet, but I really think its the hormones and not the raw food that's FINALLY causing the weight to fall off. The doctor prescribed estrogen and a testosterone blocker that is a diuretic. I was just full of water before, so bloated and stomach always distended. Now I'm more back to the good ole days before my hormones got all out of wack. Hoping now to lose the rest of the weight with you girls.

 

[Angy]

vickydink I can totally realate. My hair is coming out all the time. I am forever picking strands of my clothes. And there is always a golfball sized lump at the bottom of the shower after I have washed my hair. I have started taking Hair Skin and Nails formula, flaxseed oil and green tea from Holland and Barrat and am hoping to see some changes soon. My hair is dry and brittle and frizzy too. Maybe too long on a calorie restricted diet. It's heartbreaking.

Did anyone recommend horsetail to you? I might try that too.

 

[vickydink]

The young girl in the shop said that and it was with the hair skin and nails stuff
Forgotten to take it this past week, ooops!

 

[Angy]

Thanks Vicky I will pop down and get some of those on my lunch tomorrow.

 

[acegirl]

I was experiencing significant hair shedding and went to a specialist in this area named Dr. Redmond. His view is that all female hair loss is hormonal and can be fixed by either (a) increasing estrogen or (b) blocking testosterone, or both. He checks your hormone levels and for me, he prescribed the pill to get more estrogen (YAZ) and a diuretic to block testosterone as my levels were in the high range. My hair loss has slowed considerably since getting on these hormones about a month ago. Best part was that I actually became able to lose weight, when I have been on a plateau for 2 years. I would diet and exercise and never lose any weight. I believe I had a serious estrogen deficiency that caused this. I am now looking to get on bio-identical hormones rather than these chemicalized hormones that are in the pill. But the cheapest and easiest solution to try first is to just get on the pill to see if the extra estrogen stops the hair loss. The dr said it could take months to work, but it seemed to help me pretty much right away. Best of luck to all the girls experiencing this, I know how upsetting it can be.

 

[acegirl]

Eeek, I just gave a long winded response and it didn't post, said at the bottom it would be posted after mod approval? anyone know why? thanks

 

[vickydink]

No idea but its up now
I have been on the pill for years so unless ic an get a strnger pill i spose that may not work for me, im going to see how things go. I am going through stress at mo. Work is getting on my nerves and 2009 has not been the best year personally for me either. Will see how things pan out. Im not going bald in patches or anything, thats one good thing

 

[acegirl]

The hormones book I'm reading now says that BC pills have changed to such low dosages of estrogen to diminish the side-effects of chemicalized hormones (rather than our bio-identical hormones) that they can cause your hormones levels to drop too low. So your specific pill concoction may have caused a hormonal imbalance (as I believe the IUD with fake progestin I had in for 2 years caused me). One thing the dr who specializes in hair loss was clear on was that hair loss is generally not caused by stress (which I had hoped was the case for me) and that it usually doesn't stop until the hormonal imbalance is addressed. And also that the hair that is lost often wont grow back so if it continues it should be nipped in the bud. Luckily I started out with extremely thick hair so its only noticeable to myself and it seems to have almost stopped now from the hormones.