Bruising... Hair Loss... Weight Gain... Help!

[AshleyRay]

I was diagnosed a year ago with severe celiac disease. My docs claimed I had the worst mal-absorption they have ever seen - lucky me. I will spare the details and misery. :0) I am gluten-free and DF. It's been hard but I haven't wavered. I'm doing a lot better and it has taken a long time. I used to eat tremendous amounts of food - I guess the mal-absorption was great for NOT gaining weight. Now that I'm healing I'm gaining more and more weight. I'm careful with my eating habits but this is out of control! Does this get better? I still don't have a lot of energy for exercise (three kids). I've grown out of my fat pants and I'm not getting more (fatter) pairs. Any suggestions!?!?!?

My hair fell out in my teenage years - I'm guessing celiac issue. I still have paper thin hair. This issue, among the many aesthetic concerns isn't getting better.

I have always bruised easily. My anemia is getting better but I'm covered in bruises. I won't wear shorts (not to mention I don't fit in them anymore) fearing that someone is going to assume domestic violence. I don't even know where most of them come from. They just appear (several at a time) every day. My platelets are ok and my iron is better. I'm at a loss of what else is going wrong. I don't want to spend thousands more dollars on tests. I take about $700 worth of supplements monthly. I have little faith in docs. They seem to prescribe invasive testing without clear results. I think most docs don't even care to address celiac disease b/c there is pharmaceutical treatment.

Anyone!!! Please offer advice!

[RiceGuy]

My first comment is on the cost of your supplements. I cannot imagine spending that much! Are they pharmaceutical grade? If so, I'd suggest forgetting about them, and getting some from your local health store or online. The reason is that pharmaceutical companies can't patent natural vitamins, so they make "equivalent" ones, which are often inadequate, if not useless. For instance, vitamin D3 is the natural, healthy kind, but I've read that the prescription form is vitamin D2.

I'd recommend getting a decent sublingual methylcobalamin B12 supplement, such as Open Original Shared Link. Take at east 3mg per day. It should help with the health of the hair, skin and nails, as well as a myriad other things. Also, a magnesium supplement, B-complex, vitamin D3, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin E, and essential fatty acids. Coconut oil is a great source of healthy fatty acids, and has been shown to actually assist in weight loss goals. Flax seeds are also healthy, as are chia seeds. Never cook with these seeds, but rather sprinkle them onto your food after the cooking is done, or even on individual servings. Freshly grinding these seeds is the best way to have them, and I suppose a pepper grinder would work well for that.

Also be sure to get adequate fiber in your diet. This will assist in weight loss too. Grains like amaranth and teff are loaded with fiber as well as many nutrients.

I'm sure others will have great suggestions for you. Hope you feel better soon!

[CarolAnne]

Perhaps you could check here Open Original Shared Link for a Naturopathic Doctor in your area who could help you.

Hair loss, weight gain, bruising, low energy, joint & muscle pain, sleeplessness, exhaustion...it took a Naturopathic ARNP to finally tell me that I was suffering Adrenal Exhaustion probably do to the stress that my Celiac Disease was causing on my body. Standard physicians don't generally treat Adrenal Exhaustion until it becomes Adrenal Failure...then they can give you prescription meds to live on for the rest of your life.

Adrenal Exhaustion can be treated with natural prescription strength supplements. It takes a 16hr saliva test to be tested properly...not the usual 24hr urine that most standard physicians want to use. You can find out more about the test here Open Original Shared Link

Good luck!! I hope things work out well for you.

[sickchick]

I take 5000 mcg biotin a day for my hair (and nails) works.

good luck Sweetie

[ShayFL]

How is your Thyroid? TSH less than 2? Or ideally less than 1 (for most people)?

[AliB]

Before I discovered I was Celiac my hair was falling out all over the place. I took Milk Thistle capsules for a few weeks as they help to restore the liver. Hair loss is often a sign of a sluggish liver (if you do take some make sure they are gluten-free - mine weren't, as I discovered when I took some recently!).

I have always bruised easily - that may also be linked to poor liver function, but low Vitamin C can also contribute.

Along with the Milk Thistle I was taking a good Multivit and mineral, Vit C, Cod Liver Oil, and Calcium and Magnesium. Within a few weeks my hair stopped falling out and has been fine since.

[Joni63]

Hi AshleyRay,

I've read that a vitamin K deficiency can cause bruising. There are a number of things that can contribute and since you were severely malnutritioned you might want to get your vitamin A, E, K, all B's, D and your iron including serum ferritin, as well as calcium, magnesium, and folate checked if you haven't already had those done.

Here is some good information about bruises and it's causes:

Open Original Shared Link

[AshleyRay]

Thank you so much for the reply. I will look into your recommendations. I have been very diligent with regard to charting my progress. It all gets so overwhelming. My hair became really thin when I was in my teens. I think that was when the celiac "triggered." In the past years I have had some severely stressful events that (I believe) heightened my health issues. I feel like I have so little time to focus on my health - three kids. I guess it was meant to happen to re-direct some attention to my own health - important.

Thanks again!

[ShayFL]

I have been studying hairloss lately. Mine has thinned, but my sister's looks really sparse. I have read some interesting research that when Ferritin gets above 40 hair will start to grow back. I am at 19 and am shooting for 50. Taking iron supplements right now. I dont want to go above 50 because lots of research says this can contribute to cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Diabetes runs in my family. So shooting for between 40 and 50 on the Ferritin.

Has yours been checked? I keep copies of all of my labwork in a file for reference.

[purple]

You gotta check this out if you pay that much for supplements!!! swansonvitamins.com Call for a catalog 1- 800- 437-4148 You won't believe how cheap they are. Dr. Mercola recently joined them. 5 bucks shipping on any size order and it comes in 4-5 business days, sometimes its free. Faster for an extra dollar or 2. The health food store is 2 to 3 times the price on some of the same products. They have a bigger catalog than the first one you might get. They sell name brands too and alot cheaper. Natures way, Enzymatic Therapy, Jarrow, Country Life, Natrol, Kyolic, Schiff. 100 percent money back guarantee. In business for 40 years. Example: I buy Kyolic garlic for about $12 and our co-op sells the same product for almost $25!

[twe0708]

I take 5000 mcg biotin a day for my hair (and nails) works.

good luck Sweetie

Just wondering if you still take this much biotin a day and if it's still helping?

[Reba32]

check your thyroid. All of your symptoms can be atributed to thyroid disease. Hashimoto's and Grave's disease are both autoimmune thyroid diseases that can both go hand in hand with Celiac.

[burdee]

I also bruised very easily before I got my good bacteria levels high enough to produce vitamin K. Deficiency of that vitamin often manifests in frequent bruising. I also eat lots of foods that contain vitamin K. However, taking lots of high dose probiotics for a long time (especially after treatment for gut bacteria, parasites or candida) helped decrease my bruising.

SUE