PCOS Hair Loss

tea822

Hello everyone,

I have PCOS,I was officially diagnosed when I was 18. I'm 21 now and only within the last year or so I have seen dramatic hair loss. I used to have such thick long hair,and now its just going at such a dramatic rate. Any home remedies or anything i can add to my diet that seems to have helped? I'm so depressed,I'm so young, I don't want to be bald.

I was obese at one point, now I'm 24 pounds lighter and now in the over weight category (bmi)instead of obese.

Thank you

shnoots

God I feel you. I straight up had a mouthy coworker ask me if I was going bald. The only things I've found were to make sure you're getting a healthy amount of nutrients (fat, protein, iron) and FertiliTea. The latter helped to clear up my cysts and seems to have balanced my hair loss some.

wamydia

Are you on some sort of birth control or progesterone? It can help balance your hormones and for some people it can help make your hair thicker again.

tea822

Sorry for the late response. I took birth control for two years along with metformin. However, I stopped those treatments about 2 years ago. It seems like in recent months to a year where my hair just fell. I live in TX and people have told me that the water quality here does havoc on the hair. But I don't know what to think.

ComingUntrue

Try using emu oil on your scalp. I have pcos and have been balding/thinning in the front. I am about to start using my emu oil because it's amazing and I've read it can help with hair regrowth. Drinking spearmint tea is supposed to lower testosterone. I drink that and am sticking to eating paleo.

heavenlyb14

I don't know what can help but it is something that I am currently researching so I will get back to you.

LadyRN76

I am 37 and was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 22. I have gone back and forth with treatments from homeopathic to metformin/birth control to nothing at all. The only two things that have helped my hair thinning/loss are after I have been on the metformin/birth control regimen, or consistently take prenatal vitamins (over the counter). Best of luck with your journey. PCOS can be very frustrating! Hang in there.

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runner359

Try hair skin and nails vitamins. Read the reviews on Amazon to find the best ones. I take them for hair loss and hair health. I believe they help but it takes a few months.

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ClementineGeorg

Well, nothing will work good as long as you don't eat right. I mean the right amount of protein and fat, because along with other nutrients, they are essential for hair to grow and look good. And I mean good fats, like salmon and almonds.
Don't try to lose much weight. At 2 lbs per week target, you are more prone to hair loss than at 1 lbs per week. The body not only loses weight, it also cuts nutrients for other parts of the body when we don't eat enough.

But if you wanna give hair a boost, I personally recomment supliments with Biotine. They work a lot for me. I take them 3 months, then 3 months I make a break. They don't work as good if I always take them.
Also, use natural oils before washing your hair. Massage your scalp with coconut or castor oil and leave it for at least 1-2 hours. It also helps your hair look good.

I had something similar to PCOS, but not as bad (I don't know to explain it in English... bassically suprarenal gland problems because of excess weight) and before starting the weight loss, my hair fell like hell (I was also under a lor of stress). Biotine and natural oils helped me a lot.

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Fuzzipeg

I have no idea if this will help but have you thought about your iodine levels. I have low iodine levels. Contrary to what many people think dairy, milk, cheese, butter, yoghurt, and eggs are good for you. Not the skimmed variety because they contain lower levels of iodine than the semi skimmed variety, the bonus is it comes with the other beneficial minerals as well like selenium because this is needed to help with your uptake. I am using goat milk to make up my short fall. We are said to need 150 mc which is only a very small amount.

Iodine serves several functions in the body. It is in your saliva and other similar mucus secretions and it works as an antiseptic. It also feeds the thyroid. The principal national Thyroid support sites consider even our more affluent societies are at risk of having low iodine levels, I have read a short fall of this mineral can underlie several major health problems. Please look into this for yourself.

My hair was bad at the start of the year but now it is on its way back to being something like normal.

All the very best
edited for exchange of k for g

tea822

My mom has researched on iodine deficiency . taking the liquid supplements she says she feels some relief in her body, but she does have thyroid. I was testes for thyroid in the past and nothing came up, is it possible for me to get it now? I'm going to have to check it out.

I'm really down, the end of my hair is really thin and frankly its like as flimsy as Eeyore the donkeys tail. I feel like i should just hack it off, but I fear cutting off what little I have.

tea822

I've actually wondered if my diet has been making this worse. it has only gotten so bad in the past couple of months to a year. I started my weight loss journey in December. I'm on a 1200 calorie diet and in recent months have been so stressed out that I haven't had time to exercise, I can eat more when i exercise. Plus I know that when you exercise it uses up some of the testosterone in the body in lowers DHT production. Anyone have a PCOS hair loss friendly diet plan that they can recommend or came up with?

DebTavares

this may be totally unrelated to your situation, but I have both PCOS and celiac disease....when I went off gluten, my hair grew back and my periods started coming more regularly

JackiLean

this may be totally unrelated to your situation, but I have both PCOS and celiac disease....when I went off gluten, my hair grew back and my periods started coming more regularly

I found out PCOS is really closely linked to mild celiac disease. I have a sensitivity to gluten, so I stopped completely. While my hair is still falling out, it's not NEARLY as bad as before. I stopped taking Metformin because it's not a drug for PCOS, but for diabetes. Instead of medicating to solve the problem, I just cut out the item that was one of the causes of the problem:

gluten.

Other tips, avoid the hair dryer, straightening iron, or any other hot items that damage hair. We don't need anything that will help break what we still have!

bellesouth18

I've noticed that mine was thinning a bit, too. An MFP friend suggested that I take Biotin 5000. It's in prenatal vitamins and is the ingredient that makes your fingernails grow so long. It also works on the hair. I've been taking it for about 8 months and have noticed a change for the better.

Last week, I ran across an article about women's hair loss. I recommend reading it and contacting your doctor about the advice given. Here's the site: http://www.americanhairloss.org/women_hair_loss/degree_of_hair_loss.asp

I'm calling mine about the Tagamet tomorrow.

Increase your dietary protein, too. It has helped me as well.

Edit: Try this site, too: http://www.womenshairlossproject.com/

tea822

Gluten free... i never thought of that. I'll definitely look into it!

I've known about biotin or a long time, but i was always skeptical about its effectiveness, but I'll try it now.

PurringMyrrh

I have read many a good thing about taking Saw Palmetto supplements for hair loss. It's a natural alternative to prescription meds that prevent testosterone from being converted to DHT.

Eunmie

When i was 16 i was diagnosed with pcos, I was put on progesterone for two weeks to jump start my cycle, but after the first attempt with success my health insurance was cut off. At the age of 25 now, a few years ago I stopped taking care of my hair and self. I developed really bad SD due to it, but now I keep researching on the hair loss hidden behind the condition, but knowing I have PCOS, which at the age of 16, i was told my Testosterone levels were slightly elevated. Over the past 2 or 3 years, I noticed my hair density had changed gradually, and associated it with the SD. But now my fears about this: Is my hair going to grow back? Is this hair loss associated with PCOS or just the SD? I never experienced heavy shedding over the years, only noticed that the hair that had fallen out had grown a little bit, but is the sd the reason behind it not growing right now? Or should I just be hell bent on getting medicaid to see a doctor about this problem? It really worries me, after reading all of these horror stories online, I'm beside myself with the whole thing.I've started taking a multi-vitamin about half a year ago, and it seemed to help with my symptoms of anemia. I started taking 10 mcg's of biotin almost two weeks ago, my eyebrows grew in thick and my nails are finally back to a normal status, other than the ridges. My eyelashes even grew longer too, it's still too soon to see what it will do for my hair, since it's only been about two weeks. I will soon be starting MSM and a fish, flax, and borage oil supplement to aid with the inflammation on my scalp as well, since I don't eat a balanced diet that consists of fish or nuts. For the most part the inflammation on my scalp is almost nearly gone, and my hair shed is still normal, it's so depressing seeing less density to my hair, the hair that had grown but stopped in some areas are thick as far as I can tell, some areas are thin because of the sd and them growing alongside with it, but the pcos hair loss still weighs on my mind. I don't want to experience anymore hair loss, losing about half my hair density is terrifying enough. At least my hair line is intact to where it's less noticeable

Miss_1999

I saw this post had recently been bumped, and wanted to post. I lost most of my hair due to PCOS. I had resorted to wearing "clip on" hair. I tried the prenatal vitamins, every hair growing product under the sun (as my parents owned a salon, and I was in/graduating from beauty school around this time). Nothing I did would make my hair grow. It wasn't until my hormone levels were balanced out, that it began to grow back. The first thing that I always recommend to any woman with PCOS is to know your numbers. Know if you're struggling with any hormonal imbalances, and what your best options are to try to combat these. Depending upon the severity, some may be able to be controlled with changes in diet and exercise, while others may require use of medication.

I've posted a guide about PCOS on another thread. This is helpful for those who have been newly diagnosed, and even for those who may have been struggling for awhile, but didn't realize some options:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/30028111