Iron deficiency and hair...

[amantha]

So I was recently diagnosed as being iron deficient (not anemic yet though, whew!). I was told to take 2 pills of ferrous sulfate every day and go back in 3 months to get more blood work done.

Before I was diagnosed, I had noticed that my hair has been shedding like crazy since April or May..and I'm pretty sure I've lost a significant amount of thickness (especially around the crown of my head and temples). I know that iron deficiency can make one lose their hair. I was wondering if anyone else on here who is/was iron deficient/anemic noticed a difference in the amount that their hair shed after taking iron supplements. Also, how long did you have to take the supplements to notice a difference? I've only been taking them about a week, but I'm still shedding like crazy and I'm impatient! :p And taking a shower and seeing a handful of long hairs come out always makes me so depressed.

I was also thinking of taking MSM to decrease shedding and was wondering if anyone has had any success with it. Are there any side effects? How long did you have to take it to notice a decrease (if any) in shedding?

I should note that I take GNC's women's ultra mega active daily multivitamin, magnesium, B2, one fish oil capsule, and alpha lipoic acid on a daily basis. I don't even know why I'm iron deficient in the first place considering that my GNC multivitamin has 100% daily allowance of iron in it.

Looking forward to hearing any advice! :)

[Kiwiwi]

Did you ask your doctor how it's possible to get a deficiency while taking supplements every day? Well, of course you didn't :-p You asking the question let's me know. But, yeah, I would ask ^_^

I don't mean to scare you but this is just what I thought of. My friend's mother had been veeeryy tired for months (and also other symptoms which I don't remember) and it turned out she had iron deficiency because she had tiny, tiny internal bleedings. So she kept loosing blood so iron too. It was fixed pretty easily I believe.
Just so you know, if the deficiency doesn't stop, this could be something to look into.

[AlabasterAlice]

Bah. Those daily allowance numbers are quite often bull, IMO.

I'm quite anemic (low ferritin), and I shed like crazy. My hair brush regularly fills up with hairs to the point that I have to clean it no less then three times a week. It's miserable. :/

I am taking iron for it, but it's slow work. I'm only just now up to 39 and I've been on the iron pills for almost a year (then again I was at a 12 when I started and I have horrible heavy periods).

[sibylla]

I´m almost always aenemic (endometriosis).Sometimes I take my irontablets and somedays/weeks I forget.I haven´t found any difference in hair thickness. How I treat my hair externally seems to have bigger impact for me like BBBrushing and oiling and massaging my scalp.

[amantha]

Did you ask your doctor how it's possible to get a deficiency while taking supplements every day? Well, of course you didn't :-p You asking the question let's me know. But, yeah, I would ask ^_^

I don't mean to scare you but this is just what I thought of. My friend's mother had been veeeryy tired for months (and also other symptoms which I don't remember) and it turned out she had iron deficiency because she had tiny, tiny internal bleedings. So she kept loosing blood so iron too. It was fixed pretty easily I believe.
Just so you know, if the deficiency doesn't stop, this could be something to look into.

Yeah I originally contacted my endocrinologist because I thought maybe it was the Metformin he had prescribed me for PCOS that was causing the deficiency. He says it can only cause a B12 deficiency which he doesn't think I have considering my multivitamin has like 400% daily allowance of it. Although I did some research and found a few papers that claimed Metformin does cause iron deficiency. I think I might be deficient because the Metformin really upsets my stomach and umm..err....gives me the runs (sorry TMI I know!) pretty much every day. My guess is I'm probably not absorbing a lot of the stuff in my food/vitamins and that's why. I also normally have very heavy periods, but the past 4 or 5 months (with the exception of last month) I barely bled at all. I thought it was my birth control doing it randomly, however I was reading that iron deficiency stops periods too. Probably because you don't have enough iron to make all that bloody uterine lining each month. Either way, I need to get a PCP to investigate this further to see if I don't have some sort of genetic condition that causes problems with iron absorption.

I'm bummed to hear that no one who has taken iron has noticed a difference in their hair! :( I'm going to stay optimistic though. My ferritin was only 10 when they did the blood work last week, so I have a long way to go to bring it back to normal levels. I'm hoping once everything gets back to normal my hair will stop shedding so much.

Has anyone had any luck with MSM and shedding?

[SheeJee]

I am iron deficient as well, probably due to the fact that I am vegetarian. I had noticed a lot of shedding in the past, I have been taking my iron tablets for a month and I am now shedding less BUT I have also joined LHC last month and am now treating my hair better so not sure which to attribute this to :)

But apart from any potential hair benefits, I really would recommend taking iron tablets since iron is very important for a lot of other things in the body anyway.

[chenille]

More related to iron than to hair, but my mom always said that we absorb iron and other vitamins/minerals a lot better from food than from supplements. The body absorbs iron very efficiently from red meat (and other meats) but you can also get it from leafy greens like kale and collards, or broccoli (which is in the same family), plus there is iron in beans like black eyed peas or even the basic baked beans from a can. And as a bonus, leafy greens and beans are also in WebMD's article about Top 10 Foods for Healthy Hair (http://www.webmd.com/healthy-beauty/features/top-10-foods-for-healthy-hair).

[amantha]

More related to iron than to hair, but my mom always said that we absorb iron and other vitamins/minerals a lot better from food than from supplements. The body absorbs iron very efficiently from red meat (and other meats) but you can also get it from leafy greens like kale and collards, or broccoli (which is in the same family), plus there is iron in beans like black eyed peas or even the basic baked beans from a can. And as a bonus, leafy greens and beans are also in WebMD's article about Top 10 Foods for Healthy Hair (http://www.webmd.com/healthy-beauty/features/top-10-foods-for-healthy-hair).

That link is really helpful. Now I know what to add to my next shopping list. :)

[Mairéad]

I'm extremely anemic and I've noticed nothing wrong with my hair. I know it's supposed to cause shedding but even at my lowest hemocrit I've never shed hair.

My anemia is caused by GERD medication. It makes it awfully difficult to absorb nutrients and also [TMI] go to the bathroom. So, naturally, I just stopped taking my meds. :D

[girlcat36]

Taking ferrous sulfate did nothing for me; and I took it for years. When I began taking iron biglycinate my ferritin levels slowly began to rise.
http://www.iherb.com/Solgar-Gentle-Iron-25-mg-180-Veggie-Caps/10625?at=0
It is a more absorbable form of iron.
It took a year, but my ferritin rose from 22 to 70. I always take my iron with a vitamin C supplement for better absorbancy of the iron.
As for my hair----it is still falling out like crazy because I have thyroid problems.
I have no idea why I struggle with with iron levels. Even though my ferritin is good, iron levels are good I still have low RBC and borderline hematocrit and hemoglobin. I have been tested for all the GI stuff, and had an endometrial ablation to stop my heavy periods.

[Yame]

My hair sheds a lot and I have a few other characteristics that could be symptoms of anemia. I've been told a few times in the past that I might be anemic, but that was a long time ago.

Recently I had blood work done and nothing unusual came up. Apparently I am perfectly normal and healthy.

On one hand, that's great news... on the other hand I can't just say "oh, it's probably anemia!" and talk to my doctor about taking supplements and hope that'll fix my shedding. The cause of my shedding might be hard to figure out :(

[girlcat36]

My hair sheds a lot and I have a few other characteristics that could be symptoms of anemia. I've been told a few times in the past that I might be anemic, but that was a long time ago.

Recently I had blood work done and nothing unusual came up. Apparently I am perfectly normal and healthy.

On one hand, that's great news... on the other hand I can't just say "oh, it's probably anemia!" and talk to my doctor about taking supplements and hope that'll fix my shedding. The cause of my shedding might be hard to figure out :(

I was anemic and neutropenic for a very long time(20 years), and the doctor who ran the tests always said I was fine, and I didn't question it. Only when I became seriously ill and my new doctor wanted copies of any old blood work did I realize that I was not fine. I had chronic low red blood cell counts as well as chronic low white blood cell counts. I had a weird type of anemia--macrocytic anemia. My ferritin was in normal range at 22, but to regrow hair it is said that ferritin needs to be around 90. What I'm trying to say is that it depends on the doctor. What one doctor thinks is fine, another doctor may not think so. Always ask for copies of your lab tests.

[AlabasterAlice]

:doh: Who in the world says ferritin is OK at 22?!

The only decent doctor I had told me I need to be at at least 80, and I'd do best around 90-95. The rest, as shody as they are with some things, still realize my iron is too low until it reaches at least close to that.

[WinterButterfly]

It can take a but of time to build iron back up in the system. I would suggest taking a b vitimin complex that includes b 12. This works for me. But you should also try to get iron more from your diet. Do you eat meat? If you do, I would suggest having red meat 1 to 2 times a day. I feel best when I do this. It is one of the things that keeps my anemia at bay. Are you having any digestive problems? Maybe have a yogurt with cultures or some of this keffir stuff. But do not have calcium at the same time you eat your iron. They battle eachother for absorbsion. If your iron deficiency is causing the shedding, it will probably take a month to clear up. And it may take as much as 3 months because of the way hair works. Health affecting your hair usually shows up about 3 months later. Don't worry. It will get better.

[Aveyronnaise]

Wow this thread is enlightening , i have been exhausted this past year. I had thought it was normal as i am a kind of older mama. Finally I went to the Dr and he ordered a full blood panel, my hemocrit came back at 43 before my period. I am thinking on my own that it has to be even lower after my period, I know women don't hold on to their iron as well as men . I have to go back to the Dr for the analysis but I'll bet I will be put on some supplements.

[amantha]

It can take a but of time to build iron back up in the system. I would suggest taking a b vitimin complex that includes b 12. This works for me. But you should also try to get iron more from your diet. Do you eat meat? If you do, I would suggest having red meat 1 to 2 times a day. I feel best when I do this. It is one of the things that keeps my anemia at bay. Are you having any digestive problems? Maybe have a yogurt with cultures or some of this keffir stuff. But do not have calcium at the same time you eat your iron. They battle eachother for absorbsion. If your iron deficiency is causing the shedding, it will probably take a month to clear up. And it may take as much as 3 months because of the way hair works. Health affecting your hair usually shows up about 3 months later. Don't worry. It will get better.

Hi WinterButterfly! Thanks for giving me some hope! :) I think I just had the worst shed I've ever had this morning. One handful of hair lost in the shower...another handful lost when using my seamless, extremely wide-tooth comb (WTF?). I know it being autumn is making the shedding even worse, but still...it shouldn't be THIS bad. Hopefully I'll notice a difference within the next month because my hair is getting significantly thinner and it's making me so sad. I'm tempted to cut it all off but I don't think I will unless if it's really terrible.

I do eat red meat, however not very often. And the only red meat I like is ground beef. I don't like steak or anything (the texture creeps me out). I do like chicken, sausage, and fish a lot though. Unfortunately those aren't red meats. :( I do take my iron supplement with my multivitamin that has like 300-500% of all the B vitamins, including B12. So I hope that is enough. Do you think the calcium in my multivitamin would counteract the iron supplement if I take them at the same time? I think it only has about 50% daily allowance of calcium.

And yeah I'm totally having digestive problems from taking Metformin, which I really think is the culprit. I think I need to start eating yogurt on a daily basis again....and probably take some probiotics as well. Thanks to chenille's link, I'm going to only get good food for my hair when I go grocery shopping this weekend. :)

[Tsopana]

So I was recently diagnosed as being iron deficient (not anemic yet though, whew!). I was told to take 2 pills of ferrous sulfate every day and go back in 3 months to get more blood work done.

Before I was diagnosed, I had noticed that my hair has been shedding like crazy since April or May..and I'm pretty sure I've lost a significant amount of thickness (especially around the crown of my head and temples). I know that iron deficiency can make one lose their hair. I was wondering if anyone else on here who is/was iron deficient/anemic noticed a difference in the amount that their hair shed after taking iron supplements. Also, how long did you have to take the supplements to notice a difference? I've only been taking them about a week, but I'm still shedding like crazy and I'm impatient! :p And taking a shower and seeing a handful of long hairs come out always makes me so depressed.

I was also thinking of taking MSM to decrease shedding and was wondering if anyone has had any success with it. Are there any side effects? How long did you have to take it to notice a decrease (if any) in shedding?

I should note that I take GNC's women's ultra mega active daily multivitamin, magnesium, B2, one fish oil capsule, and alpha lipoic acid on a daily basis. I don't even know why I'm iron deficient in the first place considering that my GNC multivitamin has 100% daily allowance of iron in it.

Looking forward to hearing any advice! :)

I had major shedding due to iron deficiency and after I started taking iron tablets (two a day) I noticed a 50% decrease in 3-4 weeks.. It takes time!:(

[amantha]

I had major shedding due to iron deficiency and after I started taking iron tablets (two a day) I noticed a 50% decrease in 3-4 weeks.. It takes time!:(

YES. I'm taking 2 a day and I'm already one week down. I can wait another month. I just don't want it to take like...6 or 7 months with the same amount of shedding or I'll be bald! :p

[dekisha]

anemia changed my life from roots.
I changed my food totally and my trully wish was to beat deficiency, and lot of readings about iron deficiency (http://www.irondeficiencyguide.com/) nad hair loss, especially my hair was horrible

Anemia in pregnancy (http://www.irondeficiencyguide.com/anemia-in-pregnancy) was horrible experience and i'm scaring of talking of that, that was really horrible.
My little monica is healthy little girl thanks to god of that!

People, try to live healthy, health is only what we need!

[summergreen]

I was on 2 x 200 mg ferrous sulphate daily for about 10 years because of low ferritin (caused by heavy periods). It did make a huge difference to my shedding - took about 2-3 months to see improvement. Hang in there amantha! I really hope the iron tabs help you.

[jackie75]

I have struggled with anemia for years. It definitely makes a difference what form of iron you take, to take it with Vit c, and avoid taking calcium along with it.

You can also increase your iron by using cast iron cook wear. I just recently cleaned up mine to start using again.

Here's a neat article about how much iron is absorbed when cooking certain foods:

http://country-physician.blogspot.com/2011/03/fight-anemia-pioneer-way.html

[amantha]

Thanks everyone so much for their advice! Since this thread has been brought back up, I thought I would give an update.

I've been taking 325mg of ferrous sulfate twice a day (as prescribed by my doctor) since September. I started taking that along with 500mg of vitamin C around Thanksgiving time. I also added 1000mg of MSM twice a day to that to help with the shedding. I also got an intravenous iron infusion in November. About 1.5 months ago, my shedding FINALLY dropped to normal levels....and my iron is slowly creeping back up! Although it's still below normal, it's going in the right direction. I got my levels tested in early January, and my doctor told me to continue with the supplements and then get checked again sometime between 3-6 months from then. If the iron hasn't markedly increased even more then we'll have to discuss another round of intravenous infusions.

Interestingly enough, apparently my Dad has some weird issues with absorbing B12 that he recently discovered, and it's affecting his iron and hemoglobin levels. He has to go and get an injection of B12 from his doctor every couple of months now. We're curious to know if there's some sort of genetic component going on here. My B12 was never tested, so I'm thinking of asking my doctor to check for that as well to see if that is the culprit.

But yeah, I'm really happy that my shedding is back to relatively normal levels. My head is covered in a huge halo of 2 inch long baby hairs...so my hair seems to be growing back. I can't wait until a couple years from now when they're as long as the rest of my hair. :)

[Tisiloves]

Another bit of advice is not to take your iron with anything containing tanin (tea, wine, spinach) as that inhibits iron absorbtion from non-animal sources.

[heidi w.]

This is a VERY important subject for mostly, younger women. A mere borderline case, such as you have, can absolutely cause an increase in hair loss.

It's important to note that hair responds a bit more slowly than immediately. IF you have low iron, it can take approximately a month or so for people to notice the increase in shedding. Low iron produces an increase in shedding but most people don't notice it until it's far more obvious and a bit more critical. And for the shedding to cease, once we are taking iron pills (which you are taking) can likewise take a little time for the body to adjust accordingly. It's not going to make a show of improvement inside of a week. Maybe around a month, give or take.

The loss you have is not permanent. The hair will grow back, eventually. This is not a case of hair follicles absolutely dying.

Make sure to take the pills the way the doctor advises. Do not do anything overly weird or odd against doctor's orders. This kind of iron can build in the body and cause toxicity. This is why a person SHOULD NEVER take iron pills without doctor supervision. EVER!

Also, for your case, I strongly advise you take a good look at your food intake and assess that it provides sufficient iron. Because at some point you're going to be off of these iron pills, and maintaining your iron levels through nutrition. Younger women, particularly those who may be vegetarian, tend to have slightly more problems with iron supplies, than those who eat meat. I'm not pro-meat eating per se. But it's very important to ensure that one's diet, whatever kind of diet one has, indeed has sufficient iron supply.

One thing that menstruating women may not realize is that we lose blood each month, and often the necessary iron we need is taken out of bone marrow for the duration, and sometimes close to the mensus, that supply can be low and we can experience a brief lull or low level of iron in blood supply which can likewise affect energy and motivation for the duration. I would argue that there could likewise be problems in this way for women near the end of their mensus because at that time, a lot of women's regular cycle wanes, and they can end up having a flood a few times a year, as I do, for example. My last period just ceased, and it went on for 3 weeks. An absolute flood that sanitary napkins cannot in any way handle. (I have to wear tossable underwear, or I'd be in the bathroom every half hour.)

Stuff to know. Everything changes. That's the norm.
heidi w.

[heidi w.]

Thanks everyone so much for their advice! Since this thread has been brought back up, I thought I would give an update.

I've been taking 325mg of ferrous sulfate twice a day (as prescribed by my doctor) since September. I started taking that along with 500mg of vitamin C around Thanksgiving time. I also added 1000mg of MSM twice a day to that to help with the shedding. I also got an intravenous iron infusion in November. About 1.5 months ago, my shedding FINALLY dropped to normal levels....and my iron is slowly creeping back up! Although it's still below normal, it's going in the right direction. I got my levels tested in early January, and my doctor told me to continue with the supplements and then get checked again sometime between 3-6 months from then. If the iron hasn't markedly increased even more then we'll have to discuss another round of intravenous infusions.

Interestingly enough, apparently my Dad has some weird issues with absorbing B12 that he recently discovered, and it's affecting his iron and hemoglobin levels. He has to go and get an injection of B12 from his doctor every couple of months now. We're curious to know if there's some sort of genetic component going on here. My B12 was never tested, so I'm thinking of asking my doctor to check for that as well to see if that is the culprit.

But yeah, I'm really happy that my shedding is back to relatively normal levels. My head is covered in a huge halo of 2 inch long baby hairs...so my hair seems to be growing back. I can't wait until a couple years from now when they're as long as the rest of my hair. :)

Has anyone spoken to you regarding things you might be able to do nutritionally to help things?

For example, spinach has a lot of iron. But eating a boatload of spinach isn't overly helpful as the iron in spinach is hard to leach out and absorb. BUT IF one combines it in a stir fry, with perhaps a few strips of beef, the enzymes in beef helps the body to absorb the spinach's iron.

Also, we all tend to know that dark leafy greens have lots of spinach but most people dislike the bitter taste. If you're stir frying or otherwise cooking these greens, right near the end of cooking, toss in a pinch of granulated sugar, and this will help to remove the bitter taste. The greens will be far more palatable, including in a lasagne.

heidi w.

[MommaRalph]

Great advice here! I'm going this morning for blood work testing iron and/or thyroid issues. Both may have been causing the hair loss (along with other factors) that i have been experiencing lately. I just wanted to suggest you consider liquid iron supplements along with capsules containing liquid. They are more accessible to the body than solid tablets.

Valerie

[amantha]

Great advice here! I'm going this morning for blood work testing iron and/or thyroid issues. Both may have been causing the hair loss (along with other factors) that i have been experiencing lately. I just wanted to suggest you consider liquid iron supplements along with capsules containing liquid. They are more accessible to the body than solid tablets.

Valerie


Ooo I've never heard of liquid iron capsules or even seen them anywhere. Do you know of any place or website that sells them?

I hope they're able to figure out what's causing your hair loss very soon!

[mora]

Ooo I've never heard of liquid iron capsules or even seen them anywhere. Do you know of any place or website that sells them?

I hope they're able to figure out what's causing your hair loss very soon!

I tried the PurAbsorb iron supplement when they were running a promotion at Walgreens. I don't care for the taste so I haven't been taking it regularly but even after just trying one packet, the hemoglobin level the last time I donated blood was close to the highest it's ever been. The taste is tolerable when I mix it with an Emergen-C packet, though, and I'm sure the vitamin C further increases the absorption.

ETA: In this post (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=1981774&postcount=12) on an unrelated thread, the posted also mentions that her hair became thicker after getting anemia under control.

[Denebi]

My ferritin level was down to 10 and I lost hair like crazy.... that was last year, and I also got an intravenous iron infusion in August. I have fructose malabsorption which probably is the reason why I cannot absorb as much iron from the food as I should.

My shedding stopped and lots of hair is growing back now :cheese:

[Bedhead]

I went through this 2 years ago. Instead of taking the pills, I took organic blackstrap mollases, and took a good look at my diet. I ate healthily, but most of the healthy foods I ate lacked in iron, magnesium and potassium. In doing this I downloaded a program called Cron-O-meter (http://cronometer.com/), which works on both pac and mac, and is free, and no I don't work for them ;). Anyway, I still occassionally check in and plug what I ate in a day into the program mid-day and make any adjustment I might need to get my requirements. One food I incorporated into my diet was chicken liver, in the form of 'Adobo chicken liver' (google for recipe). I hate liver, but somehow this is actually good, and it takes so little to get what I need.

As far as how long before I noticed my hair not falling out as much? A month or so. That was two years ago, and I was having upwards toward 300 hair fall out a day. My widow's peek was almost gone, because my hair had slowly receded over time. It was when I stopped using any cleansers on my hair when I started seeing and increase in babyhairs (as soon as I put conditioner in I had hair coming out like crazy, but not as much after the diet change. It went from 300 to about 50-75), and now on NW/SO I just got a HUGE amount of baby hairs (over half an inch has been added to the depth of my fringe), with only abou 10 to 20 hairs coming out in a day. I'm not advocating NW/SO, just telling you my experience. I think somehow having low iron, a possible hormone change, and S&C somehow did not mix. It's been 4 years since I began trying to figure out what was wrong with my hair (I had inexplicable damage and severe matting), So I think it just took me 2 years for my hair to start falling out so much.

I don't mean to babble, but I thought telling my story could help someone, if not you.

[leslissocool]

I've been anemic all my life, but the last time I got the IV was 5 years ago. I'm still anemic (it comes and goes) but ever since I started to eat a lot of protein it's gone down dramatically.

You need B12 to absorb Iron. Make sure you are getting some, and take liquid drops since your body absorbs them faster! My doctor put me on liquid vitamins when I was pregnant, on top of my prenatal. I take prenatal vitamins now, he kept me on them because of their high amount of iron.

I'm glad you're getting it under control! Just remember, in my case diet changes made all the difference. I lived in a country that ate like, all carbs. I remember going weeks without having anything other than pasta or pizza. Moving and starting on a controlled carb diet (not atkins per se, but no sugar and keeping an eye on my carbs) made so much difference, my doctors were shocked.

[amantha]

My ferritin level was down to 10 and I lost hair like crazy.... that was last year, and I also got an intravenous iron infusion in August. I have fructose malabsorption which probably is the reason why I cannot absorb as much iron from the food as I should.

My shedding stopped and lots of hair is growing back now :cheese:

My ferritin was 10 too! My % iron saturation was also only 11 (lowest value in normal range is 25). I'm really glad my shedding is under control now, but I've been worried because I've been losing some baby hairs that had grown back in during my growth spurt. I think it might have been due to seborrheic dermatitis though because once I used a dandruff shampoo last week they stopped falling out (so far at least...I'll probably have to use it periodically to keep things under control). If it's not that, I am worried that my iron is getting low again or I'm not absorbing it fast enough. My ferritin is 47 now (still on the very low end of normal) and my % iron saturation is only 20. I'm still super exhausted all of the time.

I'm kind of annoyed that my doctor hasn't really looked into what could be causing my iron deficiency. Everyone here seems to know what caused theirs. She just assumed it was heavy menstrual bleeding (which I used to have until I stopped menstruating due to the iron deficiency). But there are so many other things that can causing iron deficiency that I wish she would look into it more....especially considering that my Dad apparently has a problem with absorbing B12 so there could be a genetic component that I inherited where I can't absorb B12 very well either and thus my iron is low.

I'm going in early next month to get tested again and am hoping for more progress. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[Denebi]

The B12 deficiency is a result of a lack of intrinsic factor. And yes, this can be a genetic defect. You should ask your doctor to check the intrinsic factor (there are tests e.g. Schilling-test). 47 still isn't enough as far as I recall, so urge your doctor to find out the reason for your deficiency.

I hope you get (and stay) better soon!

Funny coincidence: I'm also struggling with dandruff right now... oiling my scalp helps a bit, though :)