Losing my hair?????

Lalouse

I would suggest talking to a doctor about it. I had been having the same exact problem, for a couple years.. first I thought it was normal, then my mom commented that my hair looks a bit thinner than it used to be, and I reached a point where my hair was everywhere in my apartment. I live alone, but I couldn't take all the hair being everywhere anymore.

People, and different hairdressers, gave me lots of suggestions: stress, hormones, birth control pills, bad shampoo, everything, etc..


I finally talked to my doctor about it, and she ran some hormone tests, but also other blood tests including iron and ferritin tests. Even though I took in enough Iron and had normal blood iron levels, she realized that I had very low, chronically low, ferritin. Ferritin is related to iron storage.

That was about a month ago. She didn't give me any prescription medications, but suggested the following:
1) go back to taking my multivitamin, since it should give me 100% of my iron. I stopped because it makes me nauseous but now I take it with food.
2) Get on an iron supplement, slow release (to avoid constipation), because even with getting 100% my body is not storing as much as it should.
3) Take biotin, which has a ton of stuff that improves your hair and nails.

I've been doing this for 3 weeks now and I can promise you that I have already seen a difference in my hair loss when I brush and shower. She wants me to do it for 6 months and then run another test and see how I'm doing. She said that some people just have to be on iron supplements forever,... but I'm willing to do it if it will help return my hair to its former awesomeness.

I would really suggest going to see a doctor -- you might not have an iron or ferritin problem; it might be hormones or some other test that we don't even know of (I didn't know what ferritin was before this).

If you can't afford a doctor or don't have the time to see one, I would suggest to make sure that you are taking a multi-vitamin AND biotin. Skip the iron supplements because it's alot of iron and they can cause constipation and other problems if you don't pick the right one (which your doctor can tell you).

Good luck I know exactly how you feel and wish you the best.

kyoske

So I used to always wonder if my current hair situation is somewhat a result of my poor mental/physical health during college. I lost a lot of weight in an anorexic way, and I also lost a lot of hair. Fortunately, my madness was short lived. I will say this:

Nutritional deficiencies can contribute to increased hair shedding by weakening hair shafts that cause breakage to the hair and slow regrowth.

Hair problems that are caused by nutritional deficiencies can be corrected by a proper diet. Principal nutrients that are involved include vitamin A, certain B vitamins, the vitamin biotin, vitamin C, copper, iron, zinc, protein, and water.

capricornican

I just went to Hopkins three times in the last month, and had two rounds of blood work done for the same reason. Trying to weed everything out yourself could take a LONG time (equating to more hair loss). And on your own, there's no way for you to test whether it's hormones, thyroid, etc.

If I were you, I'd see a dermatologist so they can run some blood work since there are SO many potential reasons it could be happening. For me, it was a combo of an extreme vit. D deficiency (since I don't eat meat) paired with the stress of the loss of my closest loved one.

Good luck!

That's the other thing, my vitamin D was low too! I'm noticing that consistently here.

Lyric82

I have had this problem for about 6 years..there are many things that can cause hair loss to name a few:

- drastic change in weight and/or diet
- stress (huge!!! i never realized how much stress affects your physical body)
- low iron (i'd get it checked)
-thyroid (hyper and hydro)
-vitamin D deficiency
- check your FERRITIN in the iron (seperate test)
- going under anethesia
- high testosterone / Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
- high coritsol levels
- low progesterone
- birth control pills


unforunatley i know A TON about this topic because I've been dealing with it for so long and I do have PCOS,Anemia, Vit D deficiency, high cortisol, and lots of stress in my life right now. Feel free to add me for support/questions..

BEST OF LUCK and Ask your doctor for blood work!! SO important

teamlangston

Just curious as to why you're taking a prenatal vitamin everyday? Those have extra iron and folic acid in them. Where it is true that low iron causes hair loss....having too much iron can do it too. I was still taking prenatals after the birth of my son, because I was nursing him, but when they did a blood test my levels were too high, so I got moved down to a regular multi-vitamin.

MummyOfSeven

My hair starting coming out in chunks. I t was due to hypothyroidism which in turn is caused by being on Lithium for my bipolar. I've had to have my lovely long locks cut short.

Elle408

I lose quite a lot of hair, but have anaemia and that's normal for me and it's still relatively thick. But probably around June last year at the height of my weight loss obsession I lost a large amount. Again not so you'd really notice but now that I've started to eat more and put weight on and my hair has started to grow back, I have this halo of shorter hair! Literally a 3 inch length of hair around my whole head, made worse by the fact that my hair is curly when short! I would definitely put it down to the weight loss in my case, and hadn't really expected it to happen!

I guess just make sure that you're calories are good, dense, nutrient rich calories and that you're not eating too little/eating back exercise calories!

mwright24skinny

I have noticed that I do this every winter for some reason. It started about 3 years ago but it stops. Thats the good news! I got really worried for a while too.

hausofnichele

I should also note that a few years ago during the most difficult time of my life I was losing my hair badly ... but not like what I have been experiencing lately. Mine was due to malnutrition back then.

Today I am actually balding and along with high testosterone I also am borderline hypothyroid. So yes, like others have pointed out, you might want to get your thyroid checked just to be sure too.

Protein and B vitamins :drinker:

Hair dye isn't usually a problem for most people unless you are bleaching your hair often :noway:

And also it might help to switch to a shampoo and conditioner that doesn't have harsh sulfates in them. You might already know this but just in case I thought I'd mention it Good luck girlie!

CallMeCupcakeDammit

My hairdresser was kind enough to point out I was not only thinning below my head, but above it, too. :huh: Even after she cut it shorter I was still losing the same amount. Some MFP friends suggested biotin, which I started taking a week and a half ago, but I did call my doctor about it, and he also suggested biotin or lecithin. I'm starting to see less hair in the shower drain. It was really freaking me out, man!

Beezer322

Same problem here. I take multivitamins and calcium and Barlean's Organic Oils lignan oils and primrose oil and everything. My doctor said it could be that I'm not eating enough fat in my diet...

Beezer322

I'd recommend taking some omega 3 supplements though! my hair has been shinnier at least haha

cacweaver

Have your doctor check your thyroid level. If it's elevated, this can cause your hair to fall out. Elevated levels can also make it harder for you to lose weight.