Hair Loss

[samcarter]

So today I was cleaning the bathroom where I usually blow dry my hair. As usual, I ended up cleaning a mat of (my rather long) hair from the floor. I mentioned it to my husband, and he said, "Since we've been married I've noticed a LOT of hair in our bathrooms from you." I thought it was normal for people to lose hair every day. It is, right? He said, "I grew up in a house of sisters, in a house of ONE bathroom and never encountered as much hair as when I married you." I said probably because my hair is long, and he said, "Nope, when it was short, there was still a LOT of hair in the bathroom."

Now, I clean the bathroom regularly. So it's not like the hair just builds up for months. And I remember as a kid, being told before washing the floors, "wipe up the hair with a paper towel". I thought, well, most people have lots of hair on the bathroom floor.

Now I'm wondering if it hasn't been a lifelong nutritional imbalance, making my hair fall out quite a lot. I don't have bald patches, and you wouldn't know that I lose a lot of hair. I didn't think I was. I know my mom always had her hair permed "to make it look fuller".

Anybody else told that they seem to shed a lot of hair?

[ravenwoodglass]

Some of us will lose hair due to nutritional deficiencies and some may have this as an autoimmune effect. Some will lose it in patches, that is alopecia areata which is definately immune mediated but the diffuse loss can be part of the autoimmune picture also.

Whichever it is from it should be relieved after you have been gluten-free for a bit.

I have the autoimmune form and I found vitamins specially formulated for hair growth which has helped with the regrowth. However for the couple of weeks after I have been glutened I still lose a lot of it. It has never gotten to the point it did preceliac diagnosis though where you could see my scalp clearly through the hair. It did take months for it to grow back in, ususally it is about 3 months before you can see regrowth. Do be sure to check your hair products for gluten and check where they get vitamin E from as it is often derived from wheat or soy. Be especially wary of products that are thickeners, they often have wheat and of stuff like Rogaine, which last time I checked was not gluten-free.

[sickchick]

Add 5000 mcg Biotin a day!

lovelove

[PaulaJ]

I have been shedding quite a bit for about 3 years and I'm pretty sure the gluten/gut issues contributed to it, but I also had very very low progesterone levels, which can also be an issue with hair loss (currently supplementing with natural P--I am 41). I have been gluten-free and on natural P since June of this year and the hair loss seems to have slowed down a little bit but not enough yet--I still shed easily and too much. I have recently started back up on b-complex to see if that helps, and I suppose I should probably should toss the multi back into my diet too. I understand that every day, under normal circumstances, we lose 50-100 hairs a day. I'd say I'm probably losing at least that every day. I never noticed hair all over the bathroom floor (in such a large amount) until about 3 years ago. I also didn't notice hair on my shirt, chest and arms that much like I have the past coupld of years. I'm looking forward to that stopping as I would not be excited to have to wear a wig or get a weave or something to cover bald spots. I don't have much more to loose before needing a cover up!

Paula

[Kitt1027]

I DEFINITELY have the same issue. My hair seems to fall out ALOT, but I have alot of hair so it still doesn't look thin. However, my hair has definitely changed over the years. My hair stylist said she noticed a change in my hair over the past 4 years. She says it seems like it's thinner and the texture is not as smooth. I know I've always had tons of hair all over the place, but I think it's definitely more than it should be.

I have psoriasis too, so I already have the scalp issues. I am pretty sure that once I'm gluten free for a long time, alot of these weird things will go fade away.

Good luck!

[Jaimepsalm63]

Not to get off the subject a bit...does anyone know about hair dye and if it has gluten? I'm one of those that dyes my hair in a salon on a 5 week basis...but am wanting to do it at home so I can save some money to buy gluten free food instead. I know vanity vanity. I was wondering if anyone knew about that as well. I never thought of asking my stylist if gluten was in the dye. She knew about the shampoos and conditioners because I asked. I've been gluten free for a long time now and am still losing a lot of hair. I have a lot of it and would like to keep it that way. Sorry to get off track a little. Thanks.

[ravenwoodglass]

Not to get off the subject a bit...does anyone know about hair dye and if it has gluten? I'm one of those that dyes my hair in a salon on a 5 week basis...but am wanting to do it at home so I can save some money to buy gluten free food instead. I know vanity vanity. I was wondering if anyone knew about that as well. I never thought of asking my stylist if gluten was in the dye. She knew about the shampoos and conditioners because I asked. I've been gluten free for a long time now and am still losing a lot of hair. I have a lot of it and would like to keep it that way. Sorry to get off track a little. Thanks.

That really is a valid query when we are talking about hair loss. Yes many hair dyes do contain gluten. Your stylist may be able to give you the contact numbers for the dye that she is now using so you can check but if you want to switch to doing it at home there are some safe brands.

I used to use Herbatint which is an herbal dye made in Italy that I found both at Wegmans and at my local heath food store. I used the permanent form and those were safe but I haven't checked the semi-perm and the 'wild' colors. I really liked it because you mix it yourself you mix what you need and you can blend the colors to 'personalize' a bit.

There are other 'name' brand dyes that are safe and I know that many here do have their favorites. You may want to do a search or ask in the products section.