Thought I was doing well, but then my hair started falling out....

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Replies

  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    DX2JX2 wrote: »
    If your energy feels good I'm not sure you have a problem with the diet, especially since you got your doctor's confirmation (who is probably more credible than me and the others on this board).

    Stress can absolutely lead to hair loss - it's possible that you're going through a period of stress and that your efforts to limit calories is magnifying that stress for your body.

    If anything, maybe boost your calories and see if it stops. Eat at maintenance or at a much smaller deficit for a week or so and see what happens. If you're still losing hair, then it's something else that needs addressing. As an added bonus, the diet break will give you a bit of a mental rest which could actually reduce some of the stress you've been feeling.

    Lots of good advice in this thread. Just wanted to comment that I also support the idea of a diet break while you work on figuring this out. But I think eating at maintenance for a few weeks would probably be necessary, not sure just one week would do a whole lot.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
    Just want to chime in with the support. You've gotten good advice, and looks like it's just a matter of figuring out which supplements you'll need.

    Although it could just be the stress.
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    candjmunoz wrote: »
    I also encourage you to keep logging your food. It can be helpful for your doctor as you look into timid. Plus (for me) it's hard to start up again once I stop.

    Also, once you get a good streak going it's great motivation to keep at it (at least for me). When I first started I was crushed to break a streak of just over 100 days - now I'm over 200 and going strong!
  • charlenekapf
    charlenekapf Posts: 309 Member
    THYROID. I always have lost hair when losing weight. Every single time (yo-yo over the years). My calories were never below 1500, ate back exercise as well. However the overall deficit, along with undiagnosed hypothyroidism the first time, and I lost SO much hair. The second time I lost >20 lbs years later, I still was losing a good amount of hair but got my thyroid in check and lost less than before. However, I still always deal with that when I lose weight. Try biotin, make sure to take a multi.
  • stashia23
    stashia23 Posts: 10 Member
    The first thing that happens to me when I am stressed is hair loss. You have some great advice here to go with, good luck!
  • custommade4udesign
    custommade4udesign Posts: 27 Member
    I had this happen to me. It took 6 months of extreme dieting for it to start happening to me, but when it did it was bad. I would literally take a shower and I would have to clean the drain 3-4 times to unclog it each time. Handfuls of hair were coming out.

    I was severely protein deficient as well as other vitamins. I started taking multivitamins (high dosage) and upped my protein intake to about 250 grams per day! Within 2 weeks my hair stopped falling out, I had a ton of energy and my hair started to regrow even thicker! :)
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    edited August 2017
    How much fat and protien are you consuming daily?
  • cmtigger
    cmtigger Posts: 1,450 Member
    nevadavis1 wrote: »
    Fitnessgirl0913 wrote: »
    Did your doctor test your thyroid? I struggle with hypothyroidism and when it is acting up it is very hard for me to lose weight (I don't gain but cannot lose) and I lose chunks of hair, might be something to look into. Good luck :)

    Thanks, I'll ask her. I'm not sure if she did or not.

    A less known, but very common hormone problem is the parathyroids too.
  • kimkimcoleman
    kimkimcoleman Posts: 105 Member
    I don't know if this applies to you or not. But I've been a vegetarian for 10 years. I tried to go vegan for a year of that and lost about half my hair, luckily I have a lot of hair! I went to the doctor and they did blood tests and said everything was perfect. I discovered on my own that I wasn't getting enough dietary fat, it was the only explanation. I was healthy and I felt great but I guess I wasn't eating enough nuts/seeds and oils. I went back to just a lacto/ovo vegetarian diet and my hair issues resolved. So, check that you are eating enough fat! Lots of people are successful on a vegan diet, but some of us may have a harder time getting it right.
  • nevadavis1
    nevadavis1 Posts: 331 Member
    Thanks everyone! I've been vegan a long time now, but in order to meet my calorie goals I've cut down a lot on the volume of food I'm eating and trying to cut out most of the non-nutrient-dense calories, like desserts or chips, so I can use those calories on proteins, etc. But I did think I was getting a decent amount of fat in as most days I eat about 70 to 75 g of a Haas Avocado (around 1/2 of the fruit) and that has a lot of fat. Other things have some fat in them but not as much, like my pumpkin seeds and the tofu. I looked back at the logs from when I was logging really well and most days I was under the fat (which was set by mfp) by just 3 or 4 g, but some days over.
  • Duchy82
    Duchy82 Posts: 560 Member
    Stress always makes me shed hair like no tomorrow, make sure to schedule some relaxation time.

    I didn't lose any hair when my thyroid decided to stop working, well off my head anyways, it was great not to have to shave my legs very often. But it is a symptom for many.

    Great advice from everyone so far.
  • lalepepper
    lalepepper Posts: 447 Member
    Keep an eye out for those blood test results. I was having hair loss when my iron and b vitamin levels were too low, and it has stopped since getting them up again. I also have shedding "seasons" in spring and fall when I will have more hair fall, which I notice only because I have very long hair and it adds up quickly in the drain or brush when it's shedding.

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