Hairloss... Sigh

[MimiKeki]

Hey everyone!

It's been so long since I've been around LHC. I don't have a computer at the moment, so I'm trying to post from my phone. For the last year I was taking the benign neglect approach with my hair.

I really would like some help if possible..
I'm really annoyed at myself because I've only realised a couple of days ago what a massive shed I've experienced over the last few weeks. It seems to have slowed down now, but my hair has gone so much thinner :/

I'm mostly annoyed because I remember showering and lots of hair coming out, but for whatever reason I didn't seem to notice, and must have idly assumed it was a regular summer shed! I keep wondering - if only I'd paid attention, could I have salvaged a lot more of my lost hair? But I can only look forward from now.

I can only imagine this drastic change is due to my change in diet - I've been vegetarian for 1 year, and switched to veganism 6 months ago - I made sure to eat plenty of variety - and I experienced no weightloss. Infact, I put weight on. I also made sure to take omega 3,6, and 9, as well as my hair, skin, and nails multivitamin. When my hair falls a certain way, I can see my scalp more than I used to, which is what finally alerted me to the hairloss. And when my hair falls down my back (which I don't allow it to do now because it looks unappealing, I toss it over a shoulder to the front) it's bitty and doesn't hold together like it did.

has anybody else experienced this? Not to be negative, but I do feel really bad about it.. I'll try and take a pic at some point so you can see. I really don't wish to cut to even things up, that's the problem. I've had a few setbacks with cutting which made it longer to reach my length goals. Are fairytale ends an option?
Any help or advice is so appreciated, thanks xx

[Fairlight63]

I am sorry to hear of your hair loss. I am afraid that I won't be of much help, because I am going through the same thing. I lost so much hair the last time that I washed my hair that I got so really scared-or upset with my hair that I grabed the scissors & cut off 9". I went from TBL to BSL, so now it is 28". It is so hard to cut your hair - it is almost like cutting off a piece of your body or something, I know that is silly, but it is like it is part of you or something.

I am in the process of losing weight. Since Mar. I have went from 233pds. to 164 as of this morning, so I have lost 69 pds. I want to get to 150, so I have 15 or so more to go. So that might have something to do with the hair loss that I am having. But I have not eliminated any foods - except the junk foods and desserts - but my calories are between 1,000-1,200 a day. But I try to eat some kind of protein at every meal. And I make sure to take my vitamins. So I don't know. I wonder how all the thin girls have such thick hair. Then my Grand child she eats horrible (she is 7 yrs. old) she is really thin & a really picky eater she only eats mac. & cheese and she has really thick hair - it just is not fair, haha.

Maybe it is just part of the season that we are going through or something, seems like there are a lot of people with the same problem posting on other hair sites. On one forum it said to do a tea rinse or coffee rinse that the caffeine in it is supposed to help with the hair loss. So - I brewed up a pot of strong coffee yesterday & tried it. It seemed to help some. But we will see. You can go to UTube & put in Stop Shedding Black Tea rinses & it will come up with a lot of video's to watch. Hope that you find something that works for you!

[MimiKeki]

Thankyou so much for taking the time to post Fairlight. It is so helpful to know I am not the only one experiencing this. It doesn't sound silly, because our hair is a part of us. I'm sorry you've been having a hard time with it too. I'll definitely check out those rinses. I think I'll also start using a thickening shampoo and conditioner.

I've just been looking at pics from only a few months back.. I think I'm going to try to appreciate what I've already got. That's the key to feeling better, I think. We can only try our best, and allow time to take it's course I guess.
Im really glad I posted. I will post a pic when I can xx

[Ingrid]

Sorry to hear that you've been experiencing hair loss :flower: It's probably worth checking if your iron levels are ok. Iron deficiency is a major culprit in hair loss, and it's quite common for vegetarians/vegans.

[dulce]

I recently tried going vegan again with the help of a nutritionist and I also lost hair near my part .This had happened with my previous vegan attempt also but the thin areas regrew after I stopped the vegan diet . Now am using a brush on eyebrow pressed powder to fill the thin areas in.Guess I'll have to reconsider veganism.

[anticlimatic]

I'm going through almost the exact same thing too... :( When I was younger I had quite thick hair, but never really bothered with proper nutritional diets or hair care. Now, there's a lot of fallout at my front hairline and it's really, really bad. It's at the point where, if I had the patience and 3 hours, I could count the amount of hair 1 inch from my hairline. It's really scary and I don't know what I'm doing wrong. It seems like it's getting worse... Definitely not balding or anything, because I'm still in high school.

I think I've found out one of the major reason for hair loss, however. Lack of sleep! When you don't get enough sleep, you put your body under stress - and since your body thinks of hair as a non-essential component of your body, it supplies less blood or nutrients to your hairs and therefore they're more succeptible to fallout. And, not getting enough sleep can also cause you to get other hair disorders. Sleep is essential to a healthy lifestyle, preventing cardiac disease and living longer and all that, but I never knew how big of a role it played in our lives 'till now. (http://www.belgraviacentre.com/blog/lack-of-sleep-can-cause-hair-loss-082/)

Also, I think Vitamin E oil helps a ton w/helping to regrow hair. I put the oil on the back of my hand so I didn't contaminate the bottle of oil, then apply it to my under-eyes. What I later noticed was hair was growing on the back of my hand. Not a lot, just a couple that were kind of noticeable. And I saw my lower lashline was thicker and had some baby hairs. So definitely look to Vit. E as an option! It's also known as the "beauty oil" - it's good for your skin, hair, and nails, plus it's about $13 at the drugstore. (If you do use Vit. E, make sure to get a 100% one with no additives - Jamieson is a brand to look out for)

[MimiKeki]

Thanks so much for all the great advice guys, it really is so much help.

I feel a little better about things today.
According to my vitamin supplements, I'm getting 100% of my RDA of iron Ingrid, as well as through my food so I don't see how it could have been that, but yes it is common with vegans etc.

It must also have been very frustrating for you dulce, while pursuing a vegan lifestyle. It sounds like you've tried really hard to cover all bases. I also feel, what more can I do? I've tried to be as responsible and healthy as I can as far as I know.

Excellent point about sleep, anticlimatic. I think it must be such an important factor. I'm sorry you're having a hard time hun. If you feel truly concerned, you could always make a little trip to the doctors, just to see what they say. If my hair starts shedding again, I shall do the same.

As I say, I do feel a little better today, and realise it could be much worse. Here are pics I took in work today..
I wonder if my terminal length is close? I've never been longer than this.

http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/oo292/MimiKeki/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-09/3E5FD33F-BC03-4B5B-AB1A-CD74A152F65F.jpg (http://s385.photobucket.com/user/MimiKeki/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-09/3E5FD33F-BC03-4B5B-AB1A-CD74A152F65F.jpg.html)

http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/oo292/MimiKeki/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-09/3CBFDDB7-46D3-43C1-92DF-71542597EB55.jpg (http://s385.photobucket.com/user/MimiKeki/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-09/3CBFDDB7-46D3-43C1-92DF-71542597EB55.jpg.html)

http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/oo292/MimiKeki/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-09/ECB432AD-BD58-4CD0-9894-AEDC72687775.jpg (http://s385.photobucket.com/user/MimiKeki/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-09/ECB432AD-BD58-4CD0-9894-AEDC72687775.jpg.html)

I'm really bad with computers, so I hope I w posted the pics right! I know it's unfortunate that I'm wearing a dark colour, so it's not so clear. The bottom of my hair is really bitty and stringy.. Would you suggest I continue to grow or cut? I really would rather not cut, but y'know.. One thing is for sure, I am going to start babying my hair xx

[Panth]

A major culprit for vegans is B12 vitamin. This does not naturally occur in any vegan foodstuff, so it is very, very easy to become deficient when on a vegan diet. Additionally, once you are deficient you can become less able to absorb it, trapping yourself in a vicious cycle of deficiency. So, I definitely suggest having your blood vitamin and mineral levels checked by your doctor (and, while you're there you could also get hormones checked - sex hormone and/or thyroid hormone problems are other common causes of hair loss).

Another culprit could be a scalp condition, particularly seborrheic dermatitis.

Weight loss and/or cutting out / majorly cutting down any macronutrient is likely to cause hair loss. As to how thinner people have thick hair - it's not a question of food intake per se, but of having a negative energy balance and/or a macronutrient deficiency. Dieting works around the concept of negative energy balance (cutting your calorie intake until it's less than what is required to sustain your body) and many diets (particularly fad diets) are based on the concept of macronutrient deficiency (e.g. Aktins diet).

P.S. I personally think your hair looks absolutely fine. I'm not saying that you haven't lost hair, but you certainly don't look like you've been suffering from hair loss. A good idea is to measure your ponytail circumference, e.g. monthly, to monitor the problem. Try to measure at the same part of your wash cycle each time as some people get varying compressibility with how clean their hair is.

[diddiedaisy]

Sorry to hear about your hair loss. I'm recovering from hair loss, last year I lost about 30-40 per cent of my hair. I do have a lot of new growth which is growing nicely but my ends are see through. I personally decided not to cut back too much and have done two cuts this year totalling 3 or 4 inches and a small trim in between. I just wear my hair up all the time, otherwise I get depressed about the state of the back of my hair, and out come the scissors.

Just eat as well as you can, getting a good selection of vitimins and try not to stress as this will make it worse.