Hair falling out...

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  • mirelaavdich
    mirelaavdich Posts: 41 Member
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    fitoverfortymom wrote: »
    For me it was a vitamin D deficiency, a pretty severe one. Had to up the fat in my diet a hair and started a heavy duty RX supplement for 12 weeks. Hair was clumping out in an alarming way.
    fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »
    I agree that Vitamin D is often the culprit in hair loss.

    I am already taking 10,000IU daily, along with B12, B Complex, Iron and probiotic. Should I up the dosage?
  • mirelaavdich
    mirelaavdich Posts: 41 Member
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    RedSquadronLeader wrote: »
    How's your fat intake? Lots of those micronutrients are fat soluble; if you've been doing very low-fat in order to hit your calorie goal try bumping it up to 30-40% intake. This doesn't take a lot ... coconut oil, avocado, butter, nuts, etc.

    Usually hair loss follows an aggressive deficit because people don't get adequate protein or fat intake.
    Also a higher fat diet proves to be beneficial to many people with Hashimotos and PCOS; you might want to do some reading on this.

    I use nut oils (macadamia, walnut) and coconut oil for cooking. I eat avocados, nut butters (almond, cashew, hazelnut) and the bread I make at home is full of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, and amaranth. I also use lots of tahini paste as a sauce/dressing. I will up my calorie intake by adding more fat and proteins as carbs are never an issue with all the fruit I consume.
  • mirelaavdich
    mirelaavdich Posts: 41 Member
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    kali31337 wrote: »
    For me, it's all about hormones and if I have a major hormonal shift, I lose my hair in horrific clumps. Trying to keep my hormones and stress in check along with bosley shampoo has really helped. I'm actually in one of those cycles now and it's not a whole lot of fun....

    I will have my endocrinologist order more detailed labs. At the last one they only checked thyroid function and A1C. My testosterone is usually elevated due to PCOS... In the past, I would massage coconut oil into my hair 1-2 hours prior to washing it and that always seemed to help alleviate that 'sesonal' hair loss. Not this time.
  • Luna3386
    Luna3386 Posts: 888 Member
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    Reverse diet slowly to maintain your loss- and hopefully you can get full health back.

    We aren't the best at judging hunger because we get overweight from eating too much, too much sugar, too much fat, too much carbs, too much salt. Eating too little is the same thing just on a different swing of the pendulum.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,874 Member
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    mirelaavdich wrote: »
    Thank you all for your suggestions! My husband is reading your replies and saying: "I told you so!" Okay I'll let him have this one :smile:

    Although, I do believe you all are right to recommend slowing down and increasing calorie intake I do want to say that, aside from the first 5-6 weeks, I did not feel hungry, tired, or deprived. I feel happy, I am full of energy, I want to be up and doing things all the time. Last August I could not walk a mile without breaking out in sweat, cramps in my legs and absolute exhaustion. I came a long way, but it seems to be a bit too quick.

    I did change up my diet a lot. I have not eaten anything that was not cooked by me since day one and everything was cooked from scratch. I do not consume any processed sugar and I do not eat dairy products (my #1 nemesis). But at the same time I am not a 'salad' eater either.

    I will gradually up my minimum calorie intake to 1500-1700 calories a day and report back in few weeks.

    Sounds like a solid plan! No doubt your are in much better health than you were 8 months ago :smile: Now it's a matter of managing the details. A blood panel to check for deficiencies like Vit D, as mentioned above, might not be amiss as well.
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
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    mirelaavdich wrote: »
    fitoverfortymom wrote: »
    For me it was a vitamin D deficiency, a pretty severe one. Had to up the fat in my diet a hair and started a heavy duty RX supplement for 12 weeks. Hair was clumping out in an alarming way.
    fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »
    I agree that Vitamin D is often the culprit in hair loss.

    I am already taking 10,000IU daily, along with B12, B Complex, Iron and probiotic. Should I up the dosage?

    I upped my calories also once I figured it out from 1250 to closer to 1500. I was in a place where I shouldn't have been losing 2lbs a week anyway, and went to the 1lb per week formula. Not only did I feel better, I've continued to lose. I was really scared at first that all my progress would be wasted or it wouldn't be fast enough, but that's just self-sabotage talk.

    I wouldn't increase supplements like that without talking to a doctor, but yes to eating more. Your body and brain function will thank you!
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    edited April 2017
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    Just an FYI, my hair thinned significantly when I was on a steep deficit and that was eating pretty high protein. It stopped falling out as badly when I upped may calories, but has not thickened back up.
  • Ocean_Breezy
    Ocean_Breezy Posts: 55 Member
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    I thought being a "vegetarian" was a good idea and burning more calories than I was taking in was a good idea. You can say that I starved myself. Bad, bad idea. I was 186 in May of 2007 and dropped to 120 by October 2007. My hair fell out in glops, I had bald spots, I looked anorexic so I started to eat meat/protein again. My hair grew back after two years of repairing the damage.
  • Theo166
    Theo166 Posts: 2,564 Member
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    averaging 11lbs a month for 7 months is some serious weight loss.

    Maybe try eating at maintenance for 1-2 weeks and see how you feel, some call it a 'diet break'
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
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    eat more fat in your diet its necessary and good for you.
  • jdog022
    jdog022 Posts: 693 Member
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    I would go straight to maintenance calories . like right now. if malnutrition is the cause of hairloss then you cannot afford to slowly reverse diet. This is serious and why take a risk its something else. diet break aka eating at maintenance has great benefits after long periods. resets hormones,adapted metabolism etc.

    You will gain a few pounds. it's not fat. dont freak
  • PHXLoser
    PHXLoser Posts: 6 Member
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    Hair loss is very common when you lose a lot of weight. If you look at any of the weight loss surgery blogs, it's one of the biggest side effects. It grows back once your body adjusts. That's assuming that you're otherwise healthy. Check with your doctor if you're concerned.
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
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    PHXLoser wrote: »
    Hair loss is very common when you lose a lot of weight. If you look at any of the weight loss surgery blogs, it's one of the biggest side effects. It grows back once your body adjusts. That's assuming that you're otherwise healthy. Check with your doctor if you're concerned.

    no. its not common. nor is it okay. Its a malnourished body telling you theres trouble.
  • rhps84
    rhps84 Posts: 26 Member
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    Mine is also falling out. Figured maybe it's because I'm getting older.
  • NEOHgirl
    NEOHgirl Posts: 237 Member
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    My endo told me that even though I was losing at a healthy rate (about 6-7# per month at that time), it puts stress on the body, so while you might not be feeling emotional stress, your body is under physical stress from adjusting to the changes. Definitely increase your protein & fats and calories. The doc told me that hair is mostly made of protein so that should help. I wouldn't increase your supplements, you are also on a very high dose. My doc told me that the thinning hair should resolve once I went to maintenance. I've increase my protein and it has at least slowed, although it hasn't thickened back and I suspect it never will.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
    edited April 2017
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    mirelaavdich wrote: »
    I have been eating 1200-1400 calories per day since September. On days that I am active a lot I eat about 1500 calories.

    I started exercising slowly (walking, Pilates, 7 minute workout) but for the last 4 months I have exercised 6 days a week (alternate running and strength training).

    I do have Hashimoto's, and PCOS (insulin resistant). I was pre-diabetic at my August 2016 check up. Just had the labs done in March. My thyroid levels are great and no longer pre-diabetic (A1C is 5.6). Doctor said I am doing great.

    I could be protein deficient as I eat mostly plant based and looking at my food diary protein intake is usually around 20%-30%. I am not vegan and do eat eggs daily. I am not a fan of meat (texture issue) but do eat a lot of beans and legumes.

    Go back to your dr. It could be that you now have a thyroid problem again (it can change suddenly, it has happened to me) or it could anemia if you are not getting enough iron. Also your dr might want to check for pernicious anemia, it is more common for people with Hashimoto
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,154 Member
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    One side comment that I think is relevant:

    What's happening when you lose hair? When it's weight-loss-related, one major reason can be that on a too-low calorie level, your body has less fuel, and starts to prioritize where to use its energy (speaking metaphorically). Growing hair is usually somewhat low on the body's priority scale.

    Think of your hair (again, metaphorically) as a tiny tube made out of protein that's being sort of extruded from the follicle on your head, i.e., it grows from the base. When you have a period of low growth, that can result in a thinned strand at the base. If it's too thin, it is fragile enough to break off when you wash, comb, move against the pillow while sleeping, etc.

    One implication is that a severe calorie restriction, even if it's fairly short, can cause hair loss by creating that thin area in the strand. (For a timeline perspective, some kinds of chemotherapy that cause hair loss take effect so fast that the hair loss happens in around 3 weeks. Of course, that's a more severe stressor - but it gives you an idea of how fast a stressor can cause this problem.)

    Everyone's body is a little different. Some people will experience hair loss faster at a less-extreme calorie restriction, compared to others.

    But, as someone above said, the hair loss is a warning that you're underfueling your body more than it can make up simply by burning body fat - a "canary in the coal mine" moment. It's possible that the hair loss is the only problem, but it's far more likely that other bodily functions are suffering as well.

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