How to grow back my hair after iron deficiency?

[me lene]

Hello! Iron deficiency made me loose extremelyyyy a lot hair ( you cannot even imagine the disaster) 3,5 years before. But still especially the hair in the side of my head did not grow thicker and the thickness i nothing like before. I really don't know what to do. My hair are long enough but so thinly that they look bad even they are healthy. What to do to grow back my hair?


Of course now i take iron and the hair loose is normal. The mistake that i did is that into this 3 years i was stopping for 1-2 months the iron supplement some times and the hair fall was big so i was loosing a lot of the hair that i had grown.


For now on i will never stop the iron supplements but is this enough?


I do that from September but i have not seen improvement in the thickess of my hair just that the hair fall is not significant. How long do i have to wait?


I am really sad cause it is like i have 1/5 or 1/4 of the hair i had before this disaster and its 3,5 years after.


Also i shampoo every 5 days and not use heat to my hair.

[akurah]

Talk to your doctor about this. There may be more than an iron deficiency causing this.

[me lene]

Talk to your doctor about this. There may be more than an iron deficiency causing this.

Hello thank you for your reply. No it is only iron deficiency cause i have checked it and with blood test.
And when i take iron supplements the hair fall is normal.
The problem is that my hair don't grow thick as before. At least 3,5 years after are still nothing like before.

[Reyesuela]

If your iron deficiency is corrected, your hair should grow back and return to normal right away. It's not just a deficiency causing it if you r hair hasn't grown back.

"Blood tests" do not capture pattern balding.

The iron deficiency could have revealed your pattern balding early.

[me lene]

If your iron deficiency is corrected, your hair should grow back and return to normal right away. It's not just a deficiency causing it if you r hair hasn't grown back.

"Blood tests" do not capture pattern balding.

The iron deficiency could have revealed your pattern balding early.
Hello!
So they should have grow back all together right away?

[me lene]

If your iron deficiency is corrected, your hair should grow back and return to normal right away. It's not just a deficiency causing it if you r hair hasn't grown back.

"Blood tests" do not capture pattern balding.

The iron deficiency could have revealed your pattern balding early.

What else could be? i have checked my B12 and was ok i checked and my zinc.
I also have checked twice my thyroid. Everything was ok!

[me lene]

If your iron deficiency is corrected, your hair should grow back and return to normal right away. It's not just a deficiency causing it if you r hair hasn't grown back.

"Blood tests" do not capture pattern balding.

The iron deficiency could have revealed your pattern balding early.

I don't have balding! they are just not thick like before! My hair is just less and i am young for balding.

[Cate36]

If you don't want to go down the route of investigating medications such as Minoxidil and laser therapy which does have evidence showing improvement in the thickness of new hair follicles.. (a trichologist would be able to give you more information) I'm going to suggest trying Bondi Boost products. I have been using them for a couple of weeks and they are excellent. Just take a look at the ingredients..

https://bondiboost.com.au

I use the intensive growth spray, growth shampoo and conditioner, and also take the supplements they sell. The conditioning mask is the best I have ever used.. I suggest googling the reviews.. looking at youtube videos of people that have used the products.. check their facebook page and instagram if you need some confidence as to the success of their products..Women who have lost hair, damaged hair etc have had very good results with them.. and it's all natural... the reviews across the board are amazing..Importantly, many people say they have thickened new hair..

Other than that, I would ask the doctor for a thyroid check and also hormone check.. have you done that at all?

Then I would look at diet.. is the rest of your diet good? Good quality Protein, biotin, plenty of water (at least 2 litres a day) and fruit and veg?

I did read a study yesterday that in women that had lost hair through iron deficiency, a doctor found that the iron supplements were not successful without lysine - https://blog.viviscal.com/4-benefits-of-l-lysine-for-hair-growth/ Here's some info on it...

[me lene]

If you don't want to go down the route of investigating medications such as Minoxidil and laser therapy which does have evidence showing improvement in the thickness of new hair follicles.. (a trichologist would be able to give you more information) I'm going to suggest trying Bondi Boost products. I have been using them for a couple of weeks and they are excellent. Just take a look at the ingredients..

https://bondiboost.com.au

I use the intensive growth spray, growth shampoo and conditioner, and also take the supplements they sell. The conditioning mask is the best I have ever used.. I suggest googling the reviews.. looking at youtube videos of people that have used the products.. check their facebook page and instagram if you need some confidence as to the success of their products..Women who have lost hair, damaged hair etc have had very good results with them.. and it's all natural... the reviews across the board are amazing..Importantly, many people say they have thickened new hair..

Other than that, I would ask the doctor for a thyroid check and also hormone check.. have you done that at all?

Then I would look at diet.. is the rest of your diet good? Good quality Protein, biotin, plenty of water (at least 2 litres a day) and fruit and veg?

I did read a study yesterday that in women that had lost hair through iron deficiency, a doctor found that the iron supplements were not successful without lysine - https://blog.viviscal.com/4-benefits-of-l-lysine-for-hair-growth/ Here's some info on it...

Cate36 thank you SO MUCH!!!!!!
I would definetely take and Lysine!!! Thanks so much for the info and the help!
Yes some supplements even i was taking them i was still loosing hair (not or course like before) so maybe this was the problem. But the one i take now its much much better.
Well i drink a lot of water 10 months now but i don't eat so much fruits!
i have done thyroid check twice and everything was fine. And i had also done hormone test one time cause i also have and acne that i did not had some years before. But the hormone test where fine! Even i am sure i should have some hormone imbalance cause i eat healthy and not touch my face with my fingers etc. I may check it again of course.

[Cate36]

Cate36 thank you SO MUCH!!!!!!
I would definetely take and Lysine!!! Thanks so much for the info and the help!
Yes some supplements even i was taking them i was still loosing hair (not or course like before) so maybe this was the problem. But the one i take now its much much better.
Well i drink a lot of water 10 months now but i don't eat so much fruits!
i have done thyroid check twice and everything was fine. And i had also done hormone test one time cause i also have and acne that i did not had some years before. But the hormone test where fine! Even i am sure i should have some hormone imbalance cause i eat healthy and not touch my face with my fingers etc. I may check it again of course.

Sounds like you have covered all bases then! Glad to help.. my heart goes out to you :) The Bondi Boost stuff is good.. it's an Aussie product, but it's such high quality, that it is definitely worth a go. The herbs and oils in it are specifically for hair growth and thickness.. X

[Reyesuela]

Hello!
So they should have grow back all together right away?

As soon as your iron was normal, they should have grown back, yes. They should still be in the anagen (growing) phase, just weakened.

[Reyesuela]

I don't have balding! they are just not thick like before! My hair is just less and i am young for balding.

"Pattern balding" in women is not actual baldness--not unless you are very old! You can start having pattern balding at any age after puberty. In women, pattern balding presents most often as thinning hair especially at the temples and on the top of the head. Hair that is "just less" is absolutely typical of female pattern balding.

Even the second woman here has probably lost more than 2/3rds of her hair already:

http://malaysiahairtransplants.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/fphl.jpg

[Cate36]

I wouldn't panic too much.. try the things suggested here.. and if you are still worried, see a hair specialist that can diagnose if there is anything else going on.. even if there is, the medications are pretty standard (and talked about here in various threads) and there is a lot that can be done to correct the situation...

[me lene]

Sounds like you have covered all bases then! Glad to help.. my heart goes out to you :) The Bondi Boost stuff is good.. it's an Aussie product, but it's such high quality, that it is definitely worth a go. The herbs and oils in it are specifically for hair growth and thickness.. X

Thank you again !
are they all natural?
Yes i have checked them all!
And immediately when i started iron i saw my hair growing and becoming fuller. I know the cause or at least the main cause, it is just that i saw this huge improvement when i had lost SO much hair. The difference where huge from the 1st week i started iron. But no i did not saw ALL the hair that i had lost growning back all together. Just the most of them. Or the half of them.

[lapushka]

"Pattern balding" in women is not actual baldness--not unless you are very old! You can start having pattern balding at any age after puberty. In women, pattern balding presents most often as thinning hair especially at the temples and on the top of the head. Hair that is "just less" is absolutely typical of female pattern balding.

Even the second woman here has probably lost more than 2/3rds of her hair already:

http://malaysiahairtransplants.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/fphl.jpg

I went through temporary (hormonal) balding (patches) during puberty. So it's got nothing to do with age, I don't think.

[MusicalSpoons]

Your iron might be 'normal' but not high enough to replace your stores of iron (ferritin) and make everything work properly and have enough left over to go to growing your hair back as thick as it used to be. Have you seen your blood test results? It might be that your iron is in the low end of the 'normal' range and your body needs it to be a bit higher still.

[me lene]

Thanks again both of you!
I took some photos if you can take a look.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k25sjn1fouk6o5d/me1.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mw2fi6u5kr502n5/me2.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/25asjm2ulmfx65y/me3.jpg?dl=0

The 3rd one is to see that the lower hair are much less then the roots and look really bad.

[me lene]

Your iron might be 'normal' but not high enough to replace your stores of iron (ferritin) and make everything work properly and have enough left over to go to growing your hair back as thick as it used to be. Have you seen your blood test results? It might be that your iron is in the low end of the 'normal' range and your body needs it to be a bit higher still.

Yes i did! The impressive thing is that my iron was really good my feritine REALLY good also and then i thought that i should STOP iron for 3 months cause everything where perfect and high enough.And when i did that 3 times i started loosing A LOT OF HAIR from the first weeks!
And after i did test 3 months after my feritine was SUPER LOW!!!!! So for sure is the iron that caused me all this troubles.
Maybe this was the problem and this stop made me loose the most of the hair that i had grown! :(

[blackgothicdoll]

Yes i did! The impressive thing is that my iron was really good my feritine REALLY good also and then i thought that i should STOP iron for 3 months cause everything where perfect and high enough.And when i did that 3 times i started loosing A LOT OF HAIR from the first weeks!
And after i did test 3 months after my feritine was SUPER LOW!!!!! So for sure is the iron that caused me all this troubles.
Maybe this was the problem and this stop made me loose the most of the hair that i had grown! :(

That's probably the problem. If you have a propensity to be anemic, you can't just get your iron up and then wash your hands of the ordeal. You are most likely loosing iron, or not retaining iron, and will need to always constantly supplement it.

If you haven't already, get back into the schedule of taking your iron and don't make any plans on stopping. Also, continue to get routine checks on your blood iron.

[lapushka]

Thanks again both of you!
I took some photos if you can take a look.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k25sjn1fouk6o5d/me1.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mw2fi6u5kr502n5/me2.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/25asjm2ulmfx65y/me3.jpg?dl=0

The 3rd one is to see that the lower hair are much less then the roots and look really bad.

TBH, it's hard to tell from the pictures (I don't see anything wrong, really). Your scalp looks just fine. But if you feel and say your hair is thinner, I trust that and it's no fun.

I would check back with your doctor and have at least regular blood checks. Did the doctor tell you to quit taking the iron?

[me lene]

TBH, it's hard to tell from the pictures (I don't see anything wrong, really). Your scalp looks just fine. But if you feel and say your hair is thinner, I trust that and it's no fun.

I would check back with your doctor and have at least regular blood checks. Did the doctor tell you to quit taking the iron?
Yes they are MUCH less than before. They are wavy enought and that covers the problem.
In this photo are my WHOLE hair right now and not straight i just strech them.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uhq6459mkyggutr/me5.jpg?dl=0

I know its not THAT bad but still this is best i achieved to regrow them after 3,5 years! Which is a lot of time.
Here is how they were before and they are also totally straight in this photo.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/75yjm9f94plotta/me4.jpg?dl=0

The doctor just told me at first that i should take it at least for 6months and i did that and then at the pharmacy they told me to stop it for 3 months and then started again. I did blood test 2 months before and everything is fine. But is still take supplement.

[me lene]

That's probably the problem. If you have a propensity to be anemic, you can't just get your iron up and then wash your hands of the ordeal. You are most likely loosing iron, or not retaining iron, and will need to always constantly supplement it.

If you haven't already, get back into the schedule of taking your iron and don't make any plans on stopping. Also, continue to get routine checks on your blood iron.

Thank you for your help! I know you are right! Now i know from my experience that i should take it daily. If i have take supplement from the first times i saw that i was loosing so much hair nothing would have happened i feel kinda stupid. I was loosing a lot of hair in general and before this excessive hair lose and my hair where thick so i never gave attention. I thought it was normal to loose a lot of hair etc. So i guess i always had this problem just not to such a degree.

[blackgothicdoll]

Thank you for your help! I know you are right! Now i know from my experience that i should take it daily. If i have take supplement from the first times i saw that i was loosing so much hair nothing would have happened i feel kinda stupid. I was loosing a lot of hair in general and before this excessive hair lose and my hair where thick so i never gave attention. I thought it was normal to loose a lot of hair etc. So i guess i always had this problem just not to such a degree.

Yep, I've suffered anemia for my whole life and can attest that it sucks and is high maintenance. But keeping control of it is much easier than recovering from it! Good luck :)

[me lene]

As soon as your iron was normal, they should have grown back, yes. They should still be in the anagen (growing) phase, just weakened.

i read that the anagen phase lasts 1-3 or 4 years.
I am kinda confused now.
So if i loose now hair from iron deficiency they may need 3 years to grow back? (some of them i guess)

[me lene]

Yep, I've suffered anemia for my whole life and can attest that it sucks and is high maintenance. But keeping control of it is much easier than recovering from it! Good luck :)

This is so true! My hair 3,5 after they are the 1/4 that i had before. Also at the first year from the sock my hair where not growing longer. Pf i feel stupid but i would try relax at least i am much better. Thank you again for your advices!

[MusicalSpoons]

i read that the anagen phase lasts 1-3 or 4 years.
I am kinda confused now.
So if i loose now hair from iron deficiency they may need 3 years to grow back? (some of them i guess)

I'm not sure where that statistic came from, but it's often quoted as the average length of the anagen phase - there are hundreds of members here to prove it's not true for everyone :D so really please try not to worry about that. (My own longest hairs are getting on for 8 years old, and there are many members here with much longer and older hair than that!)

[me lene]

I'm not sure where that statistic came from, but it's often quoted as the average length of the anagen phase - there are hundreds of members here to prove it's not true for everyone :D so really please try not to worry about that. (My own longest hairs are getting on for 8 years old, and there are many members here with much longer and older hair than that!)

Yes you are right i found this "Your hair grows around half an inch a month, and faster in the summer than in winter. The growth phase, or anagen phase, lasts an average of 3-5 years, so a full-length hair averages 18 to 30 inches. The anagen phase is generally longer in Asians, and can last as much as 7 years with hair being able to grow to 1 metre."
But still i did not understood if i loose some hair now from any deficiency is there an exactly time that it needs in order to grow back? (the time needed from the Telogen Phase
till the anagen phase)
Then anagen phase if i am not wrong is about the time FROM when it starts to grow until it will stop to grow. Not the same.

[Reyesuela]

i read that the anagen phase lasts 1-3 or 4 years.
I am kinda confused now.
So if i loose now hair from iron deficiency they may need 3 years to grow back? (some of them i guess)

No. Hair should quickly re-enter anagen in the normal percentage pretty much immediately. It won’t be full length, but it should be growing out at the roots.

it doesn’t grow for 4 years and rest for 4 years.

Also, my dye marks show clearly that this “four years” figure is also nonsense. I have had dye more than 5 years old, and I only didn’t have longer because I cut it off.

[GrowlingCupcake]

To clarify: during the 3 and a half years you have been growing your hair, were you taking your iron supplements regularly?

If you stopped at any point, you should not count those three years. Only count the time you have been taking it regularly.

If I read it correctly, you have only been taking it regularly since September, right? At an average growth rate of 0.5 inches a month, that is only 2 inches. It is going to take years before your hair looks thick at a long length. Just keep taking your iron regularly, and ensure that you get tested.

[Reyesuela]

To clarify: during the 3 and a half years you have been growing your hair, were you taking your iron supplements regularly?

If you stopped at any point, you should not count those three years. Only count the time you have been taking it regularly.

If I read it correctly, you have only been taking it regularly since September, right? At an average growth rate of 0.5 inches a month, that is only 2 inches. It is going to take years before your hair looks thick at a long length. Just keep taking your iron regularly, and ensure that you get tested.

She has not had clinical anemia for at least 3 years. You don’t have to take iron your whole life if you correct you diet, anyway, unless you have extreme bleeding during your period.

I actually have mild anemia right now. My hair hasn’t suffered. Anemia doesn’t really have a dramatic effect on hair unless it is severe.

[MusicalSpoons]

She has not had clinical anemia for at least 3 years. You don’t have to take iron your whole life if you correct you diet, anyway, unless you have extreme bleeding during your period.

I actually have mild anemia right now. My hair hasn’t suffered. Anemia doesn’t really have a dramatic effect on hair unless it is severe.

It really depends, everyone's body reacts differently. OP mentioned she came off a little while and her iron (or was it ferritin? Can't quite remember) dropped quite quickly. If that's the case, then actually she might need to maintain iron supplements until blood tests say otherwise.

[aethyra]

TBH, it's hard to tell from the pictures (I don't see anything wrong, really). Your scalp looks just fine. But if you feel and say your hair is thinner, I trust that and it's no fun.

I would check back with your doctor and have at least regular blood checks. Did the doctor tell you to quit taking the iron?
I agree with you Lapushka. Her hair is lovely! But I do understand the concern with the regrowth not being what . she would like as far as density.

My ferritin is on the low side of normal as well and I had massive sheds in 2018. After reading about My Lene having noticeable improvements, I am going to start on that Iron supplement that is just sitting around gathering dust. I must admit, I have been concerned about the side effects of iron supplementation. I nearly died at 19 taking an iron pill when I was anemic and under weight. I took it on an empty stomach and went off to work.

[me lene]

Hello!! Thanks so much for all your answers!
I thought that my thread did not had more answers and i did not searched for it again!
Aethyra thank you but the photos with the lovely hair were the before not the after. i may try to take photos tomorrow to see them as they are now. It is extremely obvious i should cut them in order to look normal. Cause now they looks similar to this

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yhdmjm8f06E/hqdefault.jpg

It is for sure iron deficiency! I stopped the supplement again only for 1 weeks and saw slightly more shedding!
While i always taking iron i am just fine with normal shedding.
But the problem is the my blood test are perfect after 2months of taking iron but almost IMMEDIATELY when i stop iron the shedding is huge!
This is why i worry but every time i do blood test they ask me for how long do i take iron and how much and how many times per week.And they tell me that this matters forthe results and that i should tell them.
I am not a doctor but i guess that the tests are wrong cause its impossible if i have so good prices of iron and ferritin to shed so quickly after i stop supplements.
For example once i took iron for 4 months i did test and my iron and ferittin where in really good levels and my hematocrit was so high that i worried so i stopped the iron immediately!
After 2 weeks i started shedding SO MUCH!!!!!!
But i said there is no way is iron deficiency cause i just did the test.
After 3 months i do test for feritin and it was seriously low!!!!
and in this 3 months i have lost all the hair that i have grown while i was taking supplement!

[me lene]

GrowlingCupcake yes right now i am taking iron from September i did blood test in November and were perfect!
But i know that if i am gonna stop iron again i will loose my hair again! So i continue to take it. I just worry if this is dangerous.
Yes like you said it will take YEARS to be thick at a long length again! :rolleyes:

[meteor]

GrowlingCupcake yes right now i am taking iron from September i did blood test in November and were perfect!
But i know that if i am gonna stop iron again i will loose my hair again! So i continue to take it. I just worry if this is dangerous.


That's why it's important to keep testing for hemoglobin and ferritin (and hopefully, transferrin and iron-binding capacity, too) pretty frequently (once every 3 months - 6 months is quite typical for people with anemia, but your doctor should adjust it specifically for your case). If ferritin does goes up by *a lot* due to heavy iron supplementation, it can become dangerous (extremely high levels of stored iron can be a risk for heart and liver, for example), but you'd see it in your tests and stop taking iron for a while until it stabilizes. Alternatively, tests may show that stored iron is not going up fast enough, then other forms of iron supplements or, in more extreme cases, intravenous iron infusions may be considered.
My ferritin drops sharply as soon as I stop taking supplements (and a few of my friends experience the same), but everybody's different.

[me lene]

Hello! Thanks for sharing your experience!
My ferritin was not in dangerous levels. Just normal-good level.
But the hematocrit was too high in my case.
I take right now 10mg iron every day! I may try to take it every after day maybe.