My hair is falling out, will it ever stop?

missspacecadet
missspacecadet Posts: 13
edited September 22 in Motivation and Support
I've been dieting for about 4 months now and my hair is falling out by the handful. I've read that people who make drastic changes in diet puts your body into a shock and this happens, then it goes away after about 3 months.

I found out over the summer that I suffer from Acid Reflux disease and I am forced to restrict my diet tremendously. My stomach is extremely sensitive and I think it's impossible to get full nutrition.

I can't eat these things:

Any kind of nuts (peanuts walnuts pecans etc.)
Peanut butter
Bananas
Grapes
Vinegar
Doughnuts
Chocolate
Oranges
Lemons
Tomatoes
Anything spicy
Pizza
Pickles
Onions (raw)
Cabbage (raw)

If I eat any of these things I get indigestion. Anything fried or too oily/fatty I can't eat either. It's really annoying how sensitive it is. I do not have a eating disorder, I have no trouble eating. I just hate indegestion. Tums don't help, I take Prevacid everyday because that's what the doctor prescribed me.

If I overeat, I get indegestion. And if I'm not sure about eating something, I won't eat it. It's not worth the pain.

I just don't want to go bald. I'm young. This shouldn't be happening.

I'm starting to take emergen-C 3 or 4 times a day now. I take Vitamin-D, a multivitamin, Biotin and Calcium supplement everyday (I have been for awhile).

I'm just curious if anyone else has "shocked" thier body and if this will ever stop?

Replies

  • Are you eating enough calories? Your BMR refers to the minimum amount of calories your body needs to rebuild broken skin, blink, sleep, grow nails, and even grow hair. BMR is the amount of calories you burn doing nothing all day, and eating too far under this number can mess your body up if you're not careful.
  • I'm in the same boat as you love. Over the summer I drastically cut my calories down and lost weight fast. I only ate 2 small bowls of cereal and half my main meal.
    Now I'm suffering from hair loss. :(
  • I don't think that I am. It's hard too, I don't feel like I have enough time. Sitting down and eating for me feels lazy, I have to do chores and babysit, do schoolwork, that's more important to me.
  • I'm in the same boat as you love. Over the summer I drastically cut my calories down and lost weight fast. I only ate 2 small bowls of cereal and half my main meal.
    Now I'm suffering from hair loss. :(

    Is it still happening? I'm so sorry. It's heartbreaking. My hair is something I love, and it's what defines me..
  • Suisho25
    Suisho25 Posts: 16 Member
    You should try Reliv. I used to suffer terribly from acid reflux / indigestion and back pain but Reliv fixed both of these problems in a few weeks, where years of physiotherapy and painkillers had failed. I'd had these problems for years and was virtually house bound. I've been taking Reliv for over two years now and have never been healthier. When I started I was 11st 3 and had just had my second daughter, now I'm 9st 7 and working my way down to 8st.

    Hope you find an answer,
  • I would go to your doctor.
    There are hair disorders that cause permanent hair loss, most are inherited, but given your recent changes in diet it is likely that your hair growth has been pushed into a long resting state, and no new hair is forming. This means you are going to lose more hair than usual (not all of it though) because there is no new hair forming to replace the hair that is falling out. Causes of this can be stress, pregnancy, changes in diet, changes in hormone levels, and certain autoimmune disorders. Your doctor will need to check iron, thyroid, glucose levels, and an ANA level. Most of these can be corrected with meds and or vitamin supplementation.
    WebMD has a great article on hairloss you may want to read.
    I personally have began to lose my hair as well. Knowing what may be wrong with me, I went to my doctor. Everything checked out, and reassurances were given as my body adjusted to my diet, the hair would start growing again, though she did warn me not to make anymore changes in my diet and wants to see me back in 3 mos to make sure hormone, iron levels haven't changed.
  • iishnova
    iishnova Posts: 259 Member
    I suggest going and getting your thyroid checked. Its a simple blood test but it is one more thing you can cross of your list.
  • alantin
    alantin Posts: 621 Member
    Your daily goal in your food diary is 500 Kcal a day! No wonder your hair is falling out if you have been eating that little for an extended period!

    The lowest recommended is 1200 Kcal a day and I would say that you NEVER should eat less than that! You are bound to get health issues!

    You need to see a doctor about this and get your nutrition in order! Take supplements if you can't get enough something!

    To find out how much food you need, go to this page to calculate your daily calories, and then eat that for at least a month to get your metabolism back on track. After that you could think about lowering your Calories by 300-500 Kcal if you have weight to lose!
    http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/calories-burned.php

    You can't do any of those things, that you hold more important than eating, if you're DEAD, so eat up!
  • fthoodbaby
    fthoodbaby Posts: 52 Member
    Make sure you are eating enough protein and two healthy oils a day. If y ou are cutting those too drastically, it will cause hairloss.
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