Hair Loss From Celiac

[jasmari]

Hi all. I'm new here. I was recently diagnosed with celiac after having a biopsy done (blood tests were all normal). My question is, I've been having severe hair loss problems since last summer. I've read that this can be related to celiac and poor absorption. I'm hoping and praying that the hair loss will subside once I've been gluten free for a while. I've been on the diet for just a week. Has anyone else ever had this problem?

[Lisa]

Hi all. I'm new here. I was recently diagnosed with celiac after having a biopsy done (blood tests were all normal). My question is, I've been having severe hair loss problems since last summer. I've read that this can be related to celiac and poor absorption. I'm hoping and praying that the hair loss will subside once I've been gluten free for a while. I've been on the diet for just a week. Has anyone else ever had this problem?

Hi and Welcome!

Yes, you're right. Hair loss is a common symptom of poor absorption due to Celiac. Many people has had hair loss by the clumps. As you body starts to regulate itself and gluten is removed from your system, hair loss will subside. It may take some time though.

After your intestines heal, Biotin can be helpful with hair growth.

[irish daveyboy]

Hi all. I'm new here. I was recently diagnosed with celiac after having a biopsy done (blood tests were all normal). My question is, I've been having severe hair loss problems since last summer. I've read that this can be related to celiac and poor absorption. I'm hoping and praying that the hair loss will subside once I've been gluten free for a while. I've been on the diet for just a week. Has anyone else ever had this problem?

Hi 'jasmari',

Have you ever thought about 'Alopecia', it has been linked to Celiac Disease,

.

Just Search for Alopecia and Celiac Disease, there are many links, here's just one!

.

Open Original Shared Link

.

Regards,

David

[AliB]

Before my digestion finally collapsed due to gluten intolerance my hair was falling out by the handfuls. It was everywhere and I was frightened I would go bald! That may be acceptable for a 50 year old man, but not a woman!

I know that problems with hair can be linked to deficiencies, but it can also be to do with poor liver function. I took Milk Thistle capsules for 6 weeks, as that is a very good liver tonic, and plenty of good vitamin and mineral supplementation and it stopped falling out and is a lot stronger and healthier.

Stopping gluten may well help the gut start to heal and begin to absorb, but sometimes it is good to give the body a helping hand. That Milk Thistle is powerful stuff. I am pretty confident that it helped me get rid of some gallstones and also, about 10 days after I stopped the gluten and dairy I actually felt my liver have a clear-out. Quite what, I'm not sure, but it was a bit sore for a couple days after so I suspect it may have been more stones, grit and possibly even fat!

I am now 2 months into the gluten-free/DF and for the last 3 weeks have been doing the Specific Carbohydrate diet to really give my body a fighting chance to recover and am just beginning to feel the benefit - I actually jogged down the road for a paper this morning and I can't remember the last time I did that! I am also now able to tolerate some foods that I couldn't a few weeks ago. And my hair is still doing well............

[JulesH]

I lost a lot of hair prior to my diagnosis. It got thicker after I went gluten free, but it's still very very sensitive and the slightest change in my diet makes it all fall out again. I've never had the thickest hair ever, but I'm hoping that I'll find something that will at least make it healthy again.

[MDRB]

Hi,

I had a hair thinning problem before diagnosis but it is starting to thicken up again.

Vitamin B deficiency can cause hair loss and it just so happens that vitamin B levels are often very low in celiacs. You can get a blood test to verify this and try a vitamin supplement (make sure its gluten free).

Good luck going gluten free, remember that it can take a while for your body to heal.

[Nan2N]

I also had horrible hair loss before I was diagnosed. Actually I'm still waiting for some blood results and a biopsy next week. When I started losing hair my doctor ran an ana test and the only thing that came up was celiac. My hair has been falling out since Jan. and it's really upsetting. I hope when I am able to go completely gluten free (after test) that my hair will grow back. I have been taking a ton of vitamins and extra biotin and can see some hair starting to grow back...slowly. Glad to know others have had theirs grow back.

[Nan2N]

Before my digestion finally collapsed due to gluten intolerance my hair was falling out by the handfuls. It was everywhere and I was frightened I would go bald! That may be acceptable for a 50 year old man, but not a woman!

I know that problems with hair can be linked to deficiencies, but it can also be to do with poor liver function. I took Milk Thistle capsules for 6 weeks, as that is a very good liver tonic, and plenty of good vitamin and mineral supplementation and it stopped falling out and is a lot stronger and healthier.

Stopping gluten may well help the gut start to heal and begin to absorb, but sometimes it is good to give the body a helping hand. That Milk Thistle is powerful stuff. I am pretty confident that it helped me get rid of some gallstones and also, about 10 days after I stopped the gluten and dairy I actually felt my liver have a clear-out. Quite what, I'm not sure, but it was a bit sore for a couple days after so I suspect it may have been more stones, grit and possibly even fat!

I am now 2 months into the gluten-free/DF and for the last 3 weeks have been doing the Specific Carbohydrate diet to really give my body a fighting chance to recover and am just beginning to feel the benefit - I actually jogged down the road for a paper this morning and I can't remember the last time I did that! I am also now able to tolerate some foods that I couldn't a few weeks ago. And my hair is still doing well............

I was just wondering if you can take milk thistle while on medication. Didn't know if it would clear out the meds too. Might not be a good thing...but would love to try it.

[AliB]

I was just wondering if you can take milk thistle while on medication. Didn't know if it would clear out the meds too. Might not be a good thing...but would love to try it.

Not sure about that. I am on Metformin for my diabetes along with insulin, and was also on a blood-pressure tablet which I have stopped as my blood pressure has come down. I took the Milk Thistle along with multivitamins and supplements without any obvious effect on anything except my rejuvenated hair and the disappearance of my gallstones!

Milk Thistle is an herb, and they usually are ok with most things. I have just Googled it and apparently it can occasionally cause some bloating and diarrhea, but I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary at the time. I only took it for about 6 weeks and although my digestion collapsed about 2 weeks after I had stopped it (by then my hair was so much better I didn't see the point in taking it any longer), I am confident it wasn't the Milk Thistle that had caused it as I had been having stomach problems long before I took the MT.

I still do take a capsule every other day, just to keep my liver supported.

I had been ok, although having to deal with IBS for some years as well as fatigue and other things so GI obviously was a problem for me, but I was pootling along relatively well until my doctor decided to change me from insulin to a new drug called Byetta last July. One of the side-effects is stomach problems. My stomach got so bad that my doctor took me off it after 3 months and put me back on to insulin. I actually think that triggered the onset of Celiac/GI in earnest. I'm glad I took the Milk Thistle when I did as I am sure that has helped my recovery a lot quicker than might have been without it.