Losing hair by the handfuls!

Options
Mollie007
Mollie007 Posts: 73
in Food and Nutrition
I am losing hair like it's my job. What the hell?? I feel like I am eating plenty. I typically always net at least 1200. I feel like I eat decent. If anything, I feel like changing my diet and adding in exercise would HELP my hair! I have even been drinking a Shakeology shake every day or so and they are suppose to be chock full of vitamins. Has this happened to anyone else? Can you please look at my diary and give me any thoughts you may have? It's seriously like post partum hair loss. :(
«1

Replies

  • alaskaang
    alaskaang Posts: 493 Member
    Options
    You might want to get your thyroid checked. Hair loss is a common symptom of hypo thyroid.
  • MinMin97
    MinMin97 Posts: 2,676 Member
    Options
    I am losing hair like it's my job. What the hell?? I feel like I am eating plenty. I typically always net at least 1200. I feel like I eat decent. If anything, I feel like changing my diet and adding in exercise would HELP my hair! I have even been drinking a Shakeology shake every day or so and they are suppose to be chock full of vitamins. Has this happened to anyone else? Can you please look at my diary and give me any thoughts you may have? It's seriously like post partum hair loss. :(
    Besides post-partum hair loss, the only other time I've had that happen is when I used cheap shampoo.
    My hair fell out like crazy!
    Could that be the problem?
    As soon as I switched to something gentle...like, no SLS, the problem ceased.
  • restoreleanne
    restoreleanne Posts: 217 Member
    Options
    Your burning a lot of cals for what your taking in. I have to up my cal to net 1400 a day, and had no issues for 6m. You still should go to the Dr.
  • livehappy2
    livehappy2 Posts: 2 Member
    Options
    It could be a result of changing hormones - the pill can cause this especially if you just went off of it.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
    Options
    get yourself checked out by your doctor to rule out any hormonal or thyroid issues.
    hows your stress? that can also affect hair loss

    also what type of hair loss is it? is it breakage or is it falling out from the follicle? you can tell by if there's a little bulb at the end.

    it's possible that 1200 calories is too low for you. not everyone fits on the formulas so if your eating way less than what you need then your body will stop feeding your hair because why would it waste energy to keep your hair in place when it could be using those calories for keeping your vital organs operating.

    i know for me, MFP was WAY off my maintenance calories. in fact when i first started it was like 1000 calories off. add to that the 1000 calorie difference i was taking off and i was eating far far far below my TDEE. that last about 2 weeks because i was always cold, in a bad mood, my skin looked like crap and my hair started falling off
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    Options
    I got that with stress.
  • mrsgoodwine
    mrsgoodwine Posts: 468 Member
    Options
    It could be a result of changing hormones - the pill can cause this especially if you just went off of it.

    My hair started falling out about 3 months after stopping the pill. It seems to have stopped for the most part - no bald patches thank goodness, but t's definitely thinner. I use to have so much hair!!
  • AussieMisfit
    AussieMisfit Posts: 78 Member
    Options
    Low iron's a common cause. Aside from a blood test to check your stores you can check your intake by pulling up a 90 day iron intake report on MFP. I was pretty shocked how little I've been getting.
  • Ibelievenme2
    Ibelievenme2 Posts: 96 Member
    Options
    Like the other post replied- get checked by a doctor first. If all is good the top 10 foods good for hair are salmon, walnuts, oysters, sweet potatoes, eggs, spinach, lentils, Greek yogurt, blueberries, and poultry. If you would like to read more

    http://www.webmd.com/healthy-beauty/features/top-10-foods-for-healthy-hair
  • nickyfm
    nickyfm Posts: 1,214 Member
    Options
    I tend to lose my hair when I'm anemic or B12 deficient.

    Maybe get a blood test to check? Otherwise up your intake of Red meat, other meats, spinach, dried apricots
  • jlohcook
    jlohcook Posts: 228 Member
    Options
    Watch your sodium intake esp those fast foods. I would add more varied vegetables into diet.
  • Mollie007
    Mollie007 Posts: 73
    Options
    Thanks so much for the replies. I think I will go to the doctor just to see if she has anything else to say. I have low iron and have a script for iron pills. I am on the Mirena (year 3) so going off the pill isn't a factor. It sounds like maybe I do need to up my calories. How do I know for sure? I am eating back most of my exercise calories. How do I know how much to eat? Gah! I hate this! It's taking me forever to lose weight and I'm scared to eat more. How would I get my TDEE checked? Is that something I would go to my PCP for? Or would I need to go to a nutritionist??
  • Mollie007
    Mollie007 Posts: 73
    Options
    Re - sodium -OMG YES! I almost died when I saw how much sodium was in my subway yesterday. What the heck!!! It was a freaking sandwich!!
  • AmberJo1984
    AmberJo1984 Posts: 1,067 Member
    Options
    You may want to have thyroid tested. I have always lost handfulls of hair... for as long as I can remember. Even before I started eating healthy and exercising. They still can't figure out what the problem is... but, one thing could be thyroid issues.
  • Lesa_Sass
    Lesa_Sass Posts: 2,213 Member
    Options
    Eat more calories and protein. Eat real food.
  • SageGoddess320
    SageGoddess320 Posts: 2,589 Member
    Options
    I got that with stress.

    Same here. Every time I'm super stressed out, my hair starts falling out like crazy.
  • Erienneb
    Erienneb Posts: 592 Member
    Options
    I generally lose a good amount of hair daily because I have such thick hair. But it's worse when I'm stressed, low on protein, or use shampoo too often.
    When I first started working out since I sweat and would shower every day I washed it every single day. It got really brittle even though I use good shampoo and I lost a ton. When I switched to shampoo every other day but conditioner every day, the problems seemed to stop. Make sure you're getting good amounts of protein, too, as that is the major factor in hair and nail growth.
  • WinnerVictorious
    WinnerVictorious Posts: 4,735 Member
    Options
    I am losing hair like it's my job. What the hell?? I feel like I am eating plenty. I typically always net at least 1200. I feel like I eat decent. If anything, I feel like changing my diet and adding in exercise would HELP my hair! I have even been drinking a Shakeology shake every day or so and they are suppose to be chock full of vitamins. Has this happened to anyone else? Can you please look at my diary and give me any thoughts you may have? It's seriously like post partum hair loss. :(

    hair loss is not uncommon when you start losing weight by eating at a large calorie deficit. it's one of the least important parts of your body and your body considers it expendable when you make a big change to your diet by cutting back your calories. over time, it'll slow down. make sure you're eating the proper mix of macros and taking a multivitamin, and you should be ok. when you get near your goal weight and reduce your calorie deficit, your body will start to grow back the hair. it's not permanent.

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/40697-hair-lost-losing-weight/
  • staceyseeger
    staceyseeger Posts: 783 Member
    Options
    I lost a lot of hair during my Lifestyle Change. I was really worried about it, but since I have have been maintaining for 1-1/2 years now, the loss has stopped.
  • rmsrws
    rmsrws Posts: 639 Member
    Options
    I have had 4 bouts of hair loss! I was told it was due to lack of protein. So I upped my protein and with in a week or so, it eased up!!!

Categories