Success story but with one big fat downside

Lunaboots · October 2016

Hi. This is my first post on here after lurking for months, and I'm really hoping I can get some advice. After many years with a chronic pain issue, during which I piled on the weight, I have finally managed to get some control back into my life. Since April this year, I have lost 46 pounds, going from 235 to 189 as of today. I look better and feel better and have had to buy a ton of new clothes – from normal shops no less

I started at a UK size 22 and am now a 16. I still need to lose about the same amount of weight again to get to my goal, but getting to the halfway point feels like a major achievement. So far, so good.

But here's the thing. I am experiencing rapid and stressful hair loss, and it is really getting me down. Every morning when I wake up, my parting seems a little bit wider, the bald patches on my temples seem to have advanced a bit further back, and my crown seems to be showing through a bit more. Handfuls come out when I wash or brush my hair. I first noticed this in early August – so three months after I began dieting – and we're now in late October. I'm assuming this is down to the weight loss, but I have a doctor's appointment coming up as I'd like to make sure it isn't a thyroid issue. I also have PCOS, but in the 25 years since I was diagnosed, I've been lucky enough not to experience the hair loss side of that. I'm 45 now.

From what I understand, if this is down to weight loss then it *will* grow back eventually. But I'm just not sure what to do. Should I continue to diet, and if so, will the hair just keep coming out? Or should I stop altogether and just try and maintain for a while, in the hope it will grow back sooner? (But then, will it just happen all over again, when I do eventually lose the next 45 pounds?)

I should also mention that the first 8 weeks of my diet were quite drastic, and knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have gone down this route. I followed the (very popular in the UK) Michael Mosley Blood Sugar Diet, an 8-week programme at 800 calories per day. This is mainly aimed at diabetics and pre-diabetics, and due to my PCOS and being so overweight (especially around the abdomen) I thought this was the best thing I could do for my health, as I'm desperate not to get diabetes. But this was obviously such a massive shock to my system, I'm pretty sure this is what has caused the hair loss.

I lost 26 pounds during that 8 week period. Since going back to 1410 calories per day (which is what MFP says I need to eat to lose 1.5lbs per week) I have only lost 20 pounds during the whole of the following 20 weeks.

So please help me fellow MFP-ers! I would love to hear from anyone who has experienced this and what you did if you were still in the middle of your weight loss journey when it happened. I just don't know whether to carry on (which is what I want) or to just give up for a while. (For info, I'm also taking daily zinc, biotin, saw palmetto and a multivitamin, and I use Waterman's Hair 'Grow Me' shampoo, which feels and smells amazing even though it doesn't seem to be having any effect yet!)

Thanks in advance to anyone who answers!

mangrothian · October 2016

I can't say that it's happened to me, but have you been to the docs to have some bloods done for your vitamin/mineral levels? It can be a sign of iron deficiency / anaemia, as well as vitamin D deficiency, and this could be caused from drastic dieting as you put it, as it's very hard to get the nutrients your body needs whilst having a severely reduced caloric intake.

Also, never say only 20 pounds in 20 weeks. Weight loss is a race for the tortoise, not the hare, and any time the scale goes down is a good thing. The speed at which it happens should be right down the list.

TavistockToad · October 2016

I wouldn't have waited until now to see a doctor about it personally.

I would eat at maintenance till you see your doc

titotito48 · October 2016

I had the same issue a few years ago, and for me it was because I had cut my fat too low. I started adding a tablespoon of peanut butter every morning. I just counted the calories into my plan, and my hair grew back. This is what worked for me. Your body does need at least 1200 calories just to function I heard also so on that 800 calorie plan u were on, maybe your body taking care of your hair was not as important as your heart, lungs, etc. I would still see your doctor cause many things can cause hair loss but this has worked for me.

Miles_to_Go · October 2016

1. Don't assume anything, wait until you talk to your doctor and get results of blood tests. Could be PCOS, could be vitamin deficiency, could be reaction to something you are using cosmetically. For example I had significant hair loss after perms ("back in the day") and hair coloring.
2. Hair loss is not normally part of healthy weight loss, from what I've seen. But it can be caused by vitamin deficiencies.
3. The amount of weight you lose per week will change as you drop in weight. 1 lb. per week is not abnormal. As you continue to lose it will continue to slow down, for example to 0.5 or 0.2 lb. per week. Don't get discouraged.

Clawsal · October 2016

Hi. Go and see a doctor ASAP! In the meantime eat at maintenance. Your hair may never be the same after this.

My hair started falling when I was 9+ years into being a vegetarian. I wasn't even dieting but I had severe iron deficiency. Also biotin, zinc and I don't remember the others. You should do a blood test.

Since you have PCOS you may have an hormone imbalance (made worse by the stress weight loss has put on your body) that is causing your hair to fall. Again, see a doctor!

Also, check your thyroid. Again - doctor!

workinonit1956 · October 2016

Checking with your doctor is a good idea. Having said that, a few months after a trauma (like a drastic diet change/extreme low calories) it's not unusual for hair loss to occur. I had a similar issue-- a couple years ago I went very low carb, was stupid about it and did it all wrong. I was eating at Keto levels *and* skipping meals. It was a difficult time for me, still recovering from a personal tragedy, and I just jumped headlong into it.

About 4 months after I started that, my hair began to fall out. I would get lots of it between my fingers when I washed my hair, and always had a wad of hair on the shower floor. My doctor agreed that it was most likely the severe diet, since all but my vitamin D levels were normal. In my case, stress may have also played a role. At any rate, when I began eating normally again (and gained all that lost weight back), the hair loss did stop. I don't think much of it grew back, though I'm older so that may be possible for you.

That's just my experience, I hope you figure out what's causing your hair loss

Lunaboots · October 2016

Thanks everyone, for your replies and advice. I will definitely try the peanut butter thing

Just a note on the 20lbs thing – and I definitely worded this badly in my first post – but I'm totally cool with losing 20lbs in 20 weeks – and continuing to lose at a rate of a 1lb per week, or half a pound per week or whatever. I was really just trying to illustrate the contrast between losing so much weight in the first 8 weeks, followed by 20 pounds over the next 20 weeks, which I know is a much more realistic rate of loss – so therefore I think the problem stems from that first period. That also ties in timewise, with the hair loss happening a few months after the actual "shock". I hope it is that anyway, and nothing more sinister.

I think I will up my calorie intake by a few hundred per day until I see the doctor - to around 1700-1800, which is just slightly below maintenance for me.

(I actually got my hair cut today. Got some tips from my hairdresser about how to disguise it, and he's made it look marginally better - so feeling a little bit more positive. It was still coming out in handfuls while he was drying it though - arrrrggghhh!!)

trigden1991 · October 2016

Rapid, unhealthy weight loss can be a cause of hair loss. As above, eat at maintenance and go and see your doctor.

jadefitnow · October 2016

Radical changes in our habits can wreak havoc on our systems temporarily- and it sounds like you're learning how to navigate what's good for you and what's not- best of luck, you're doing fantastic!

Success story but with one big fat downside

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