Considerable hair breakage going on for over a year

[Thumper]

Hi I hope it's ok to rant here and that I can get some feedback. My issues started after the birth of my daughter almost 6 years ago. That's also the time when my periods started getting very heavy and I became borderline anemic and had to start iron supplements. In the last year, it was also found out that I have issues with gluten and gave it up. My doctor thinks that the gluten may have also caused other absorption issues and there were rounds of other supplements I had to start taking. I started taking a supplement for hair, skin & nails. My hair up until about 4 years ago was past BSL and fairly strong. It slowly started breaking off and at home we came to some conclusions about issues with our well water and having had to increase the chlorine content etc. Then we got a new well a year ago - so no more treatments at all. My hair is now about mid way between the base of my neck, and BSL. I have less than half the hair I used to have. Already having thin hair, and now with most of it breaking off, I cannot even leave it down anymore. It is so thin and fine that if I wear it up in a pony tail and pull out the band, it will stay in that position. I just don't know what to do anymore to try and stop this? My hairdresser was a little concerned last time I went to see her as she said it looked worse than 3 months earlier. I use shampoo bars from CV, air dry my hair. It has also been determined at my last dr's appointment that she feels I am showing all the signs of early menopause - I'm 44. Is there anything at all I can do to stop this from happening? There are days I break down and cry because I just can't get over how bad it has gotten and I don't feel any hope that I will ever have nice hair again. By the way I am not taking any medications.

Thank you

[proo]

How's your diet, Thumper?
Are you ingesting adequate protein?
A few suggestions: add 2 T of peanut butter to your existing daily diet,
explore protective styles that you could leave in for a few days such as a perimeter crown braid,
spray scalp with diluted white vinegar before washing; baggie it up for 30 minutes prewash,
wash/rinse with distilled water.
I also suggest hand and foot accupressure as an allover gland/hormone balancer.

[Eiderduck]

Hi Thunper
Maybe you should ask your doctor to do blood tests to ascertain your hormone levels - and consider HRT?

[diddiedaisy]

You sound similar to me. Gluten sensitive and have problems digesting foods as well. My hair was coming out in handfuls. At its worst I had lost about 30 % of my hair. It reeks havoc on everything. I was referred to a dietician and nothing sorted my problems out. Until I started taking biotin. It does wonders for your digestive system. Within a month of taking it my weight started going up, my digestive system was working better and my bloods were coming back better. I also started getting tons of new growth. I was taking 10,000 mg a day, both the doctor and dietician knew this. I did reduce this amount eventually and now only take the biotin when my digestive system starts playing up.

A lot of people worry about these high doses but if you don't digest properly then you tend to have shortages of an awful lot of things.

The key here is to sort your health out first, the rest should then follow.

Good luck :)

[renia22]

So sorry to hear about the hair thinning frustrations, Thumper. I've been there & it's a terrible feeling. How long has it been since you've had blood work done? Perhaps you can get some follow up blood work done to see where your iron/ ferritin and other vitamin/ mineral and hormone levels are at since you made the dietary changes. If you don't see significant increases and improvements, perhaps you might need to change what supplements you are taking. I've had some good luck with a gluten free vitamin fortified pea protein powder called Vega One, as well as changing the type/ form of iron I was taking. Some forms of vitamins/ minerals just don't absorb that well. If anything you are taking is in tablet form, you can start by switching to capsules or liquid. Some LHC members really like this liquid iron supplement, but I can't remember what it's called. The one I really like is Pure Encapsulations optiferrin. My ferritin levels have gone up significantly on that one. Taking iron with vitamin c, on an empty stomach, separately from other vitamin supplements, is best. Also, do you have a cast iron skillet? Cooking on one helps. It also might not be a bad idea to get some probiotics in your system. There's a fermented foods thread floating around here somewhere, but things like non pasteurized sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, etc:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fermented_foods

Best wishes to you, hope you figure it all out & feel better soon.

[lapushka]

I agree with the blood panel as suggested as well.

My mom went through menopause at age 42, I think it was - yes, thereabouts. She has i/ii (more i) hair now and before menopause it was thicker, more like ii. She's always had ii hair, BTW. That's just how it went. Nothing has brought back her thickness. In fact she does a roller set every time she washes it (which good for her is once a month or so because she has dry scalp), to give it some bounce and texture. It helps. But the roller set is difficult to do as it's hard to draw lines in her hair for setting it on rollers, it is that thin.

[Nique1202]

You mention that you've made a lot of changes for your health (finding out you couldn't eat gluten, taking vitamins, etc.) in the last year or so, and it can take a while for those changes to grow out in your hair. The end of a strand of hair at apl may be 2 or 3 years old, depending on what part of the scalp it grew out of, so it may be a matter of waiting out the breakage with gentle handling and regular trims until the hopefully healthier hair catches up. It may not get back to where it was before with thickness and all, but it can and will improve once the rest of your health is doing better for a while.

[yogagirl]

Thumper, I am so sorry you are going through this. I am dealing with some hair loss as well and it is difficult to not let it rule my thoughts constantly.

You have gotten some good advice already. I don't have anything to add, but I wanted to recommend this blog post: http://haselnussblond.blogspot.de/p/haarausfall.html?m=1

She is a member here I believe. Either way, this post is a really good summary of her struggle with hair loss and how she is overcoming it. I don't think my hair loss is due to the same reasons as hers, so it's not really that applicable to me, but it is a good (and positive!) read anyhow. She is gluten sensitive too btw.

Best wishes to you and hugs, if you would like some :grouphug:

[Thumper]

Thank you yogagirl!!!


Thumper, I am so sorry you are going through this. I am dealing with some hair loss as well and it is difficult to not let it rule my thoughts constantly.

You have gotten some good advice already. I don't have anything to add, but I wanted to recommend this blog post: http://haselnussblond.blogspot.de/p/haarausfall.html?m=1

She is a member here I believe. Either way, this post is a really good summary of her struggle with hair loss and how she is overcoming it. I don't think my hair loss is due to the same reasons as hers, so it's not really that applicable to me, but it is a good (and positive!) read anyhow. She is gluten sensitive too btw.

Best wishes to you and hugs, if you would like some :grouphug:

[meteor]

Hugs to you, Thumper! :grouphug: I don't think I have any hair-specific advice, because I think this is purely in the medical realm, but I really agree with Nique: if you've just introduced some new changes, like avoiding gluten, adding iron supplements to address anemia and other supplements, medication, it will take a while to start reflecting on hair.

If you don't notice positive changes, then new blood tests will be needed and possibly reviewing supplementation and medication with your doctor.

I really hope it will get much, much better soon, Thumper! :flower:

[snowbear1005]

Hi. I'm 44 and I've lost a lot of hair over the past 5-6 years as well due to illness and medications. At its worst, I had a very visible part and was developing another part crossways so it looked like a cross on the top of my head. The hair loss wasn't noticeable at the hem - most of it came from the top and sides. I would lose big clumps when I washed it. I can't wear bangs anymore because they would just be too wispy. My meds were changed a year ago and it has started filling back in and the baby hairs aren't as noticeable, but I don't think I will ever recover the thickness I once had. But, it's actually more manageable now and drapes better. I just wish I could have my bangs back.

Give the change in supplements some time. I hope it gets better. Hugs to you.

[Thumper]

Hi. I'm 44 and I've lost a lot of hair over the past 5-6 years as well due to illness and medications. At its worst, I had a very visible part and was developing another part crossways so it looked like a cross on the top of my head. The hair loss wasn't noticeable at the hem - most of it came from the top and sides. I would lose big clumps when I washed it. I can't wear bangs anymore because they would just be too wispy. My meds were changed a year ago and it has started filling back in and the baby hairs aren't as noticeable, but I don't think I will ever recover the thickness I once had. But, it's actually more manageable now and drapes better. I just wish I could have my bangs back.

Give the change in supplements some time. I hope it gets better. Hugs to you.

Thank you :)

[Arctic]

I don't have any advice to give about the health issues, but you have my sympathy and :grouphug: Hair loss and quality changes can be devastating.

It sounds like you have a good jump start on this: having doctors to work with, a new diet plan and supplement regimen, better water quality, and so on.

Is your water hard, BTW? I have heared well water is often more mineral rich than city water. While it does sound like your hair problems may be mostly or all caused by internal reasons, I started to think if it's possible that some of the breakage and texture issues (hair staying molded in ponytail shape after removing elastic) might be cause or made worse by your well water and the products you are using.

If your water is mineral rich, and maybe hard, soap based shampoo bars might not be a best choise for hair washing, because soap reacts with minerals in water and form soap scum, which can coat the hair strands. If you haven't got a regular clarifying and possible chelatin regime going on, I think it would be needed (and i mean a proper clarifying/chelatin shampoo, not DIY stuff - although for mineral removal DIY rinses might be handy at least for upkeep). I trust you already do your post-shampoo bar acidic rinses (is it vinegar?), so I would jump straight to proper chelatin shampoos (I would look one that both chelates and clarifies).

In fact, if you have been using shampoo bars for a long while, and your hair's condition has detoriated, I would be tempted to experiment how your hair would like a non-soap based cleaners, like a good ol shampoos.

Secondly I was thinking, whether you use conditoners at all. Oils? Masks? Deep treatments? Leave ins? I know many people don't feel they need extra conditioning with shampoo bars, but if one's hair is breaking off, it might be sign that hair needs ingredients conditioners (and things like oiling) can provide. I mean things like moisture, possibly protein, and something that helps with detangling, and something that will balanse the pH those bar can knock off of the ideal (acidic rinses help a lot with the pH ofcourse). If you don't use anything on top of the bars (and acid rinses?) I would like to add at least some extra moisture and more slip forming ingredients into your regime.

After doing that for a while, I would see how your reacts, and then assess if it also needs protein.


Good luck with getting your health back and getting your body in balance again! Keep us updated how you're doing. :flower:

[mindwiped]

Everyone has given great thoughts on the thinning, I really can't add to anything on the hair loss, other than my sympathies.

If you've got any gluten related questions, feel free to IM me. Hubby is a celiac, so I've been managing that diet for over a decade. I know I had tons of questions in free early days.