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nerdybrunette
September 8th, 2014, 01:54 AM
Hi, everyone. I have wavy hair (couldn't quite determine the hair type because it goes from super wavy (S-waves and a few ringlets) to mostly straight throughout the week. I wash my hair once a week, but lately due to medication I am on for intestinal candidiasis my body is changing quickly and oddly and my hair is no exception.

My hair seems to be breaking off very easily now, and I only use a shower wide-tooth comb and a shower extra-wide tooth comb. I have what seems like medium thickness strands but have a lot of very course and very thin as well. The hair at the nape of my neck is very curly and frizzy and I have noticed it's not growing. It's much shorter than the rest of my hair and seems very dry.

I do wear my hair up a lot because I get hot a lot. I only use Goody Ouchless no-metal hair elastics covered in fabric, and hair sticks (cheapy plastic ones but the seams are not able to be felt. I occasionally wear my Flexi-8.

I am allergic to jojoba oil but back when I used it without problems it did great things for my hair. I do have coconut oil but it seems my hair doesn't like it much. I have been using a water+ACV mixture as a final rinse on my hair after shampooing with pure liquid castile soap due to many allergies I have developed (including fragrances, additives, SLS, SLES, etc) so my only option is castile soap other than trying other detergent/soap-free methods.

I may start using coconut oil again but I could never get the method down right for my hair. Too much was mainly my issue which caused oily strands. Please, if anyone has any ideas on how to remedy this problem, let me know. Thank you.

hennalonghair
September 8th, 2014, 03:43 AM
Having candida will certainly cause hair issues including excessive hair loss.
Sticking to a candida diet is very helpful along with anti fungals like oil of oregano, olive leaf extract, neem leaf etc.,
Liquid Castile soap can be a bit harsh on dry wavy hair.
You might want to try washing with an unscented all natural light conditioner for a while. Before washing massage scalp for 5 minutes with a few drops of tea tree oil and peppermint oil before cleansing hair. While hair is still wet add pea sized dollop of coconut oil and scrunch into hair. I add coconut oil or shea butter at least once a day to dry hair. For me I find it best to condition often with oils and / or leave ins rather than trying to condition all at once after washing. A little pea sized amount once or twice a day is better than a lot all at once. I also used to add far too much before. : (
Most wavy hair does tend to be dry but with candida issues even more so.
I also have dry wavy hair and have also had candida issues so understand what you are dealing with.
Drink as much water as you can and stick with a sugar free gluten free anti candida diet. There are some good supplements you can take that will help that deal with candida issues that you can find at the health food store. Ask someone from the store who understands about candida to help you. It's a very difficult and complex health issue to deal with but it can be controlled.
Unfortunately it can affect your hair and skin since it is a fungus. Epsom salts baths help detox the body and will ease the painful muscles etc. or sauna if possible.
Light exercise daily helps; walking, yoga, Pilates.
Drink lots of water and eat as many vegetables as you can. This will really help keep your body well hydrated and nourished which will greatly help your hair issues.
Get plenty of R and R too.
It truly takes a lifestyle change to combat this illness but its so worth it.
Good luck! I sincerely feel for you.

hennalonghair
September 8th, 2014, 03:49 AM
Sorry for double post. Was having Internet problems at the time.

allycat
September 8th, 2014, 06:44 AM
I had a memorably awful experience with Castile soap long ago. I think the ph is much too alkaline for hair/scalp. It left me a dry straw-like mess.

Are you conditioning?

spidermom
September 8th, 2014, 08:24 AM
Castile soap is alkaline and not compatible with scalp and skin. It disrupts the natural acid mantle and can leave you vulnerable to fungus infections. Since you're already struggling with that, I advise that you ditch the soap.

hennalonghair
September 8th, 2014, 01:40 PM
Sodium borate or Borax ( laundry soap booster ) is a great no-poo alternative.
It's anti fungal anti bacterial and very very gentle on hair.
1 tbsp. per 2 cups hot water. Stir until granules disolve and let cool until warm.
Gradually pour over hair.
Here are some other no-poo choices that will clear up all scalp infections.
http://raising6kids.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/borax-no-poo-skin-care/

Using the ACV rinse is a good idea. It helps keep proper acid mantle which is extremely important and is why using Castile soap is too harsh for hair.

Proper nutrition will heal your scalp from the inside out.
Healthy body- healthy hair.

Panth
September 8th, 2014, 02:21 PM
Sodium borate or Borax ( laundry soap booster ) is a great no-poo alternative.

The pH of borax is about 9.5 (http://chemistry.about.com/od/howthingsworkfaqs/a/howboraxworks.htm). That sounds like a terrible thing to put on your scalp/hair, particularly if you are already vulnerable to a compromised acid mantle due to yeast infections (never mind the issue of washing hair in a basic solution, which will cause major damage over time).

Clue: single ingredient =/= better. Nor does "something your grandmother would recognise" automatically = better.

hennalonghair
September 8th, 2014, 05:39 PM
http://www.earthclinic.com/mobile/remedies/borax.html

I've personally used it with fantastic results and so have all these other people.
If YOU don't personally like the "sound" of it then don't use it.

tokugawa.miyako
September 8th, 2014, 06:27 PM
Did you try the coconut oil before or after your hair started changing? If it was before, trying it again might be worth a shot; your hair might react differently this time. It might also just be a matter of experimenting with different amounts/giving your hair time to get used to the new product. You might also try a conditioner with coconut oil in it, if you can find a good conditioner that you're not allergic to. I know that regular deep conditioning and use of leave-in conditioner really helped me when my hair got very dry last winter.

nerdybrunette
September 10th, 2014, 11:21 AM
...
You might want to try washing with an unscented all natural light conditioner for a while. Before washing massage scalp for 5 minutes with a few drops of tea tree oil and peppermint oil before cleansing hair. While hair is still wet add pea sized dollop of coconut oil and scrunch into hair. I add coconut oil or shea butter at least once a day to dry hair. For me I find it best to condition often with oils and / or leave ins rather than trying to condition all at once after washing. A little pea sized amount once or twice a day is better than a lot all at once. I also used to add far too much before. : (
Most wavy hair does tend to be dry but with candida issues even more so.
I also have dry wavy hair and have also had candida issues so understand what you are dealing with.
I can't use commercial products of any kind since I am allergic to so many chemicals it's crazy. I am also allergic to tea tree oil and other essential oils tend to cause me irritation as well, just not an allergic response. So I went back to "the basics" and am only using castile soap (pure, no additives, no fragrances) for everything shower-related including face and hair. And using ACV is working for my hair to smooth it and keep it from being straw-like. Though i am still working on how much ACV to how much water to use.



Drink as much water as you can and stick with a sugar free gluten free anti candida diet. There are some good supplements you can take that will help that deal with candida issues that you can find at the health food store. Ask someone from the store who understands about candida to help you. It's a very difficult and complex health issue to deal with but it can be controlled.
Unfortunately it can affect your hair and skin since it is a fungus. Epsom salts baths help detox the body and will ease the painful muscles etc. or sauna if possible.
Light exercise daily helps; walking, yoga, Pilates.
Drink lots of water and eat as many vegetables as you can. This will really help keep your body well hydrated and nourished which will greatly help your hair issues.
Get plenty of R and R too.
It truly takes a lifestyle change to combat this illness but its so worth it.
Good luck! I sincerely feel for you.

I can buy epsom salt and try soaking in that. That may help my other issues related to candidiasis on my skin other than scalp. I am working on being more mobile but since the beginning of switching my diet to rid myself of foods that caused me issues I am losing weight dramatically (GOOD thing!) and much more mobile than I ever have been before in my adult years.

I am definitely resting a lot and sleeping when my body tells me it needs to, as I have found I definitely feel better when I do.


I had a memorably awful experience with Castile soap long ago. I think the ph is much too alkaline for hair/scalp. It left me a dry straw-like mess.

Are you conditioning?
I am only using ACV+water to do a final rinse which typically does help my hair from becoming a frizzy mess. But no, not actually moisturizing as I used coconut oil for a few months between January and March with limited success. 90% of the time my hair was either too oily or too dry due to applying too much or too little oil to my hair. So I read more about ACV for a final rinse and tried that.


Castile soap is alkaline and not compatible with scalp and skin. It disrupts the natural acid mantle and can leave you vulnerable to fungus infections. Since you're already struggling with that, I advise that you ditch the soap.

I can't ditch the soap unless I use only Baking Soda but I am brushing my teeth with it and my gums hate it. I had burning gums for a few hours after using it the first time. But due to more abscessed tooth roots (yay me) I am not brushing my teeth much anymore (eww, sorry) because it opens up the (sorry TMI) tunnels the abscesses have made through my gums and causes much more pain. I will be seeing a dentist soon about getting those teeth extracted (upper and lower right molars) but I can't take a systemic antibiotic so I have no idea how this will pan out.


Did you try the coconut oil before or after your hair started changing? If it was before, trying it again might be worth a shot; your hair might react differently this time. It might also just be a matter of experimenting with different amounts/giving your hair time to get used to the new product. You might also try a conditioner with coconut oil in it, if you can find a good conditioner that you're not allergic to. I know that regular deep conditioning and use of leave-in conditioner really helped me when my hair got very dry last winter.

Well my hair dramatically started changing (aka falling out, no luster, dry, brittle) about May last year. I tried coconut oil after that happened.

I can't use commercial conditioners as I am allergic to many things in them, same for shampoos, body washes, "soaps" which are actually chemical detergents, etc. I may have to try deep conditioning, but with my current fungal infection on my scalp I don't think that would be wise.

Thank you all for your advice. I do hope to find something that will work for me. Being allergic to Jojoba oil is annoying me because jojoba worked GREAT on my hair until I developed an allergy to it.

I thought I finally found a snack food I could eat without problems but NOPE! I can't have potato chips (or potatoes at all) right now as my body can't handle them so we picked up a bag of sweet potato chips that are kettle cooked. They are great, except they cause nerve pain in my legs. Yes, nerve pain. I had what I was sure was neuropathy and on nerve pain meds (gabapentin) for over a year due to the chronic pain, but once I whittled down my diet the leg pain disappeared. Now it's back and I finally know what was causing it. Food allergies + intolerances. So I have to avoid sweet potatoes now, too. *rolls eyes*

lapushka
September 10th, 2014, 03:01 PM
My hair seems to be breaking off very easily now, and I only use a shower wide-tooth comb and a shower extra-wide tooth comb. I have what seems like medium thickness strands but have a lot of very course and very thin as well. The hair at the nape of my neck is very curly and frizzy and I have noticed it's not growing. It's much shorter than the rest of my hair and seems very dry.

Keep wearing it up; best thing you can do. It's only normal for nape hairs to be shorter than the rest of your hair.