Hair Loss

xxnellie146xx

I know the average person losses about 100 hairs a day and with my hair being long, the "shedding" is going to be more noticeable, but I feel like I am losing too much hair. I have felt like this for 5+ months. My hair dresser says she doesn't notice any bald spots but I feel that my hair is thinner. :sad: A co-worker suggested it's from losing weight too fast. I don't use products in my hair and have tried switching shampoo & conditioner brands (now using organix). I thought that it could be due to vitamins I was taking, so I stopped taking everything except for biotin. I found out in May that I am anemic and the dr. gave my iron pills to take. My iron level was a 9.6 but is now 11.2 (as of last week).

Does anyone have any suggestions or have experienced something similar?

traceylynns

being a hairstylist you are doing what you should. It takes a couple months for the pills to take full effect I have noticed.

Good Luck!!

Duckz1

This happened to me after a couple months on Atkins. My hair shedded out at an alarming rate for about 6 months after I went back to eating "normal." Scared the crap out of me! I thought all my hair was going to fall out. Check with your doctor, but my mistake was not taking vitamins and losing too much weight too fast - over 10 lbs in a month and I didn't have a ton to lose. I don't know if Atkins had anything to do with it but I haven't had that problem before or since.

xxnellie146xx

I sure wish I saw immediate effects of the vitamins! I am going to schedule an appt with my dr and see what she says.

stillthesamegirl

This happened to me when I was on an extremely low calorie diet... The doctor prescribed me fish oil . It is suppose to prevent it from happening. You have to have quite a large amount of it though. It helped for me.

mamasmaltz3

I am going through the same thing right now. Very scary. Unfortunately mine is all in the front and is definitely noticeable to me. I had my thyroid checked and it is normal. I have been thinking about going to my GYN to have my hormones checked. I would definitely love any advice.

fastforlife1

I experienced hair loss the last time I dieted continuously for 6 months. It is caused by not enough protein. On your goals, lower your carbohydrate percents and raise your fat and protein percents. You might also have low iron. I sometimes have whey protein shakes for a meal, so I have enough protein for the day.
Protein is the most important nutrient!

fat214

I want to know too. Bump

FlyRobynFly

I am having the same thing happen! I started taking a multivitamin for women and fish oil. I am making sure to get enough protein, even though calories may not always be up to goal. I think that large amounts of life stress contribute to this as well.

Sp1nGoddess

Lack of iron can cause hair loss.. . for me it was stress. You are too young .. I bet once your iron levels normalize you will be fine. my sister lost hair when her iron was too low.. now she is fine!

majones_orl

I swear bu biotin. My hair was thinning, and I started taking the biotin. I also started using WEN hair care. This is not a commerical for them, but WEN does not strip the hair of natural oils. Using the 2 my hair is much ticker, and really healthy. I get comments on how thing and shiny my hair is now.

mamasmaltz3

I am not stressed so I know it is not that. I eat 1600 calories a day sometimes more with exercise. I am at 30% protein on my macros. Is that too low?

dkelley81

I agree with using Biotin! It is great for you hair and nails. The doctor also put me on prenatal vitamins and it seemed to really help! Then insurance stop covering it and someone told me a little tip. Take 2 Flintstone vitamins and it is the same as a prenatal and it doesn't make you feel sick. So far....so good!!!! That is just my experience!

wholenewme03

Keep in mind, too, that the growth of your hair reflects the past few months of nutritional intake. Don't be alarmed if you try some of these suggestions and it doesn't work in a few weeks, it takes some time!

Captain_Spatchcock

At the risk of stating the obvious, how about netting more than 5-600 calories a day you're currently netting?

meshashesha2012

you arent eating enough. shampoos and conditioners dont work because this type of hair loss is an internal process. your body feeds nutrients to your follicles. when those follicles arent being fed the hair falls out. the fact that you arent eating enough means your body isn't going to waste energy feeding your follicles when it can use that to, oh i dunno, keep your organs working.


you've probably also lost tons of lean body mass, so YAY VLCD for the win!

your choice is either to stop trying to lose weight so fast or keep going the way you're going and wear a wig. oh yeah, eating VLCD for your body also affects your skin and will also make you older.

iamnoangel

I lost about 50 lbs prior to joining my fitness pal, and yes I experienced abnormal hair loss as well! It did stop and my hair is now what it was prior to my weight loss. I didn't do or use anything, it just stopped on its own. Sometimes stress can cause abnormal hair loss amounts as well. It will grow back I promise!

AmyFett

Could be the stress or change in diet. Try not to worry about it. My hair was falling out badddd when I went on my thyroid medication, for a few months after. I stopped stressing about it and it slowed down. I still lose a lot of hair, but my hair's super thick anyway, I actually just cut it really short so I don't notice it anymore. By the time it grows out, it'll stop falling out so bad ( I hope ).

Need2bfit918

At the risk of stating the obvious, how about netting more than 5-600 calories a day you're currently netting?

This is what I noticed also. If your going to put your body through the stress of excersice, consume the food needed to repair it.

mommyhof3

you arent eating enough. shampoos and conditioners dont work because this type of hair loss is an internal process. your body feeds nutrients to your follicles. when those follicles arent being fed the hair falls out. the fact that you arent eating enough means your body isn't going to waste energy feeding your follicles when it can use that to, oh i dunno, keep your organs working.


you've probably also lost tons of lean body mass, so YAY VLCD for the win!

your choice is either to stop trying to lose weight so fast or keep going the way you're going and wear a wig. oh yeah, eating VLCD for your body also affects your skin and will also make you older.

^^^ This is what I was going to say after looking at your diary

ncthomas09

Keep taking the biotin and garnier fructis (however it is spelled) has a shampoo and conditioner infused with biotin that is supposed to help. I would love to try it but when I used garnier in the past by the end of the day it looked like I hadn't showered in a couple days so I don't use it but I know alot of people who love it.

trkinsley

You probably have telogen effluvium. Things like significant weight loss, surgery, pregnancy, severe life stress, etc etc can cause the hair to get essentially synchronized in the growth cycle and lead to a massive shed rather than the average of 100 per day or less. It generally comes within 3-6 months of the stressor, and resolves on its own within the same period of time Rarely it can become chronic.

Biotin won't hurt, but it's still going to take your hair 3-6 months to recover. Don't worry, it's unlikely that you'd lose enough hair to have visible balding.

Mustangsally1000

I saw this a lot with several friends who had by pass surgery. It's a combination of rapid weight loss and not getting enough protein. At least that is according to their doctors. They really had to work hard to get enough protein in..but with the surgery..they don't always absorb it all.

So..bump up the protein..try to stick to 1 to 2 pound per week.

Just sayin'...it's what I understand from them. :ohwell:

beaversprings

I just took a look at your food diary. You are not eating enough! The same thing happened to me. I didn't think I had to eat back my exercise calories because I was sooooo overweight and I would net between 5-800 calories per day. I put myself into starvation mode. I had to completely stop trying to lose weight for a couple of months to come out of it. Are you also ALWAYS cold? The good news is my hair has started to come back in and I am no longer cold all of the time. You will know you are coming out of starvation mode when you start having the sweats (which lasted for a couple of weeks for me - especially at night). Eat at least your BMR calories net.

delilah47

I went through this in my late 20s. I had no need to diet at that time and regular exercise was something not too many people felt was necessary, so there was no apparent reason for my hair loss. I visited a dermatologist several times, but he was just keeping me coming back for the money. He had me do all sorts of silly stuff like counting the hairs in my brush every day. Yeah, I was losing my hair, duh. He also had me put some very strong chemical preparation (physician's formula) on my scalp every day, but I think that just made it worse. After about 6 months of being his guinea pig, I just accepted the fact that my hair was falling out. Unfortunately, women now get male pattern baldness quite often. Unless you are eating a mal-nourished diet, taking meds that cause hair loss, or you are sick, there's not a lot you can do about it. Most of the hair loss happens within a year or two, then slows down, just like with men. Some go all the way bald and some keep a thin covering. You should probably see a doctor to rule out any latent causes. I still have coverage, but unless my hair is combed just exactly right, you can see my scalp through my hair. I usually wear a cap for everyday and a wig for anything else.

Cappicorn

I am going through the same thing, losing alarming amounts of hair in the shower. I was wondering if it was due to my changes in diet. I've been very anemic during certain times in my life and I've never experienced hair loss, and I don't currently have any of my usual symptoms. Still, sounds like I should look into some vitamins and perhaps up my calories a little.

Thank you for the tips everyone.

Crystal_Pistol

Your hair is HUNGRY! Feed it. It is running away from you trying to find food. Bad diet (SERIOUSLY low calorie intake) eventually means problems. I'm no expert, but I'll bet a couple of burgers would help tons.

healthymission92

I use morrocan oil on mine.
Also eat good fats as they seem to have thickened mine back up (nuts, coconut oil etc)
I also take a multivitamin a day.

mogletdeluxe

Bump. PCOS caused me to lose my hair initially, but now I suspect I'm not eating enough.

beachlover317

Just a thought, you would know if you have stress or not. But consider this. Dieting is a stress to the body. Exercise is a stress to the body. I think you've done the right thing to see you doctor. Following his advice will be critical. Good for you! Now that you've lost a big chuck of weight, you may want to consider eating you exercise calories back. This is the way MFP is set up. Look at your net calories at the end of each day and if you're eating less than 1200, you are putting even more stress on your body. I know where you're coming from. I want to lose all this weight fast. But I'm 54 and I've tried it the fast way for the last 25 years and it works for about 40 - 50 pounds and then stops. This time it's working well. I'm losing about 1.5 pounds a week and eating about 1500 calories a day. I am strength training with a little cardio and my results are slow but noticable. I hope you get this sorted out. You've gotten a lot of advice here. Best of luck and stay strong!! :flowerforyou:

2hobbit1

To be blunt you are NOT EATING ENOUGH!!!!!! You are too calorie restricted to get enough nutrition to maintain you body in a healthy manner and loose weight. Loosing you hair is a warning sign that worse may be coming if you do not increase your calorie and nutrition intake. At your weight you are eating at less than you BMR - that is the number of calories that you body need to hold itself together. You need to be eating more than this number but less than you TDEE -your total daily energy expenditure. Take a look at the thread below - Dan has explained this well and shows you how to figure you daily numbers for you calorie intake. This will factor in your calories deficit for safe weight loss as well as you exercise burn so you get a single daily target.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Supplements and shampoos will not fix the problem that inadequate nutrition has caused. You will see improvement when you correct your calorie and nutrition targets and begin to eat at the safer levels.