Hair Loss

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?
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Replies

  • traceylynns
    traceylynns Posts: 155 Member
    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
    Duckz1 Posts: 145 Member
    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
    xxnellie146xx Posts: 996 Member
    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
    stillthesamegirl Posts: 112 Member
    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
    mamasmaltz3 Posts: 1,111 Member
    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
    fastforlife1 Posts: 459 Member
    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
    fat214 Posts: 109
    I want to know too. Bump
  • 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
    Sp1nGoddess Posts: 1,138 Member
    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
    majones_orl Posts: 195 Member
    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
    mamasmaltz3 Posts: 1,111 Member
    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
    dkelley81 Posts: 22 Member
    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
    wholenewme03 Posts: 95 Member
    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!
  • At the risk of stating the obvious, how about netting more than 5-600 calories a day you're currently netting?
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
    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.
  • 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
    AmyFett Posts: 1,607 Member
    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
    Need2bfit918 Posts: 133 Member
    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
    mommyhof3 Posts: 551 Member
    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
    ncthomas09 Posts: 322 Member
    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.