Help! My Hair Is Falling Out

[CarolinaKip]

I need some help with vitamin suggestions targetting hair loss or other suggestions. I noticed a few weeks ago losing some, but now it's breaking off and I have a noticable spot. I use Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo, Suave Aloe Vera and ginseng conditioner, Garnier Fructis fiber gum putty and suave hair spray. To my knowledge they are gluten-free or have a missed something? I'm thinking it is more of not getting the right vitamins? Suggestions and help is most appreciated!

[cahill]

I need some help with vitamin suggestions targetting hair loss or other suggestions. I noticed a few weeks ago losing some, but now it's breaking off and I have a noticable spot. I use Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo, Suave Aloe Vera and ginseng conditioner, Garnier Fructis fiber gum putty and suave hair spray. To my knowledge they are gluten-free or have a missed something? I'm thinking it is more of not getting the right vitamins? Suggestions and help is most appreciated!

Have you had your thyroid checked lately ??

[CarolinaKip]

Have you had your thyroid checked lately ??

4 Months ago, but I'm willing to have it checked again!

[cassP]

ya- i second that- get a complete thyroid panel- and ask for a copy of your result-> a lot of our docs are still using the TSH range that goes up to 4.5, when a group of endocrinologists are now suggesting the normal range should only go up to 3

& getting your vitamin levels checked would be a good idea too! altho i dont know what deficiencies involve hair loss- im sure others here could tell us

[fattycat]

I had this happen in 2005. Several vitamin and mineral levels were low or fluctuating but all of my hormone levels were also low. My thyroid tests came back normal but I had to go on hormone replacement therapy for about 6 months.

[rosetapper23]

A couple of suggestions: Take amino acid chelated zinc and a supplement with choline in it (BioSil is a good brand). If you have a zinc deficiency, you'll have thinning hair, flaky scalp (perhaps only in a few areas, though), perhaps some pimples around your mouth (above, two the sides, and on your chin), and you might also be having some problems with your tendons.

Another thing to try is EO Volumizing shampoo, which is gluten free. It contains rosemary essential oil, which stimulates hair growth. You can also take organic aloe vera pulp and mix in a little rosemary essential oil to dab on those areas where the hair is thinning.

[mommida]

BIOTIN

I strongly suggest Biotin in more a liquid form not the powdery pill. It would by from eating liver. Not too many people eat liver, so vitamin supplements are probably needed.

Thyroid problems should be looked into. I have been on thyroid medication for 15 years and the Biotin really helps.

[golfer03]

I need some help with vitamin suggestions targetting hair loss or other suggestions. I noticed a few weeks ago losing some, but now it's breaking off and I have a noticable spot. I use Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo, Suave Aloe Vera and ginseng conditioner, Garnier Fructis fiber gum putty and suave hair spray. To my knowledge they are gluten-free or have a missed something? I'm thinking it is more of not getting the right vitamins? Suggestions and help is most appreciated!

I recently self-diagnosed with gluten intolerance after years of problems. I referred myself to an endocrologist to confirm and was also diagnosed with PCOS (which I strongly believe is caused by undiagnosed gluten intolerance). The main reason I finally had to figure out what was wrong was becasue I started losing my hair. I have always had long thick brown hair. I suppose I've always taken my thick head of hair for granted, but in the last couple months I started losing lots of hair. At first I noticed my shower drain had hair in it almost daily which I thought was odd. Then I noticed hair shedding all over my bathroom counter from doing my makeup and hair in the mornings. It just began to worsen and worsen. By the third month that I had been noticing the hair loss I was losing handfuls every singe day in the shower. I would run my hands through my hair in the shower while rinsing it and handfuls of hair would come out. At this point I had already determined that I had gluten intolerance, but I was not religiously supplementing, and while I had cut out the majority of gluten, I was still ingesting gluten occassionally. I requested that the endoconrologist perform blood work to test: testosterone levels, iron levels and vitamin B12 levels. I knew that untreated gluten intolerance very often leads to B12 and iron deficiencies since the small intestine is responsible for absorbing these two nutrients from the food we eat. I was also suspicious that the gluten intolerance was causing my homones to be out of balance and was suspicious that excess testosterone may be converting to DHT (the bad testosterone which is mainly responsible for balding in both men and women). A week later I went back to receive the results from the blood work: testosterone levels were very high for a female, I was B12 deficient and iron deficient. I knew this was from the gluten because I eat a diet high in B12 and iron and I eat 2 eggs every single day. The only way I would be deficient was because of malabsorption issues (small intestine damage). I received B12 injections into my arm that day before I left the doctor. Now I take 400% the daily recommended value of iron and I take 16,000% daily value of B12 sublingually (you need to take the b12 in a tablet that you place under your tongue while it dissolves. This increased absorption since it goes directly into your blood stream instead of being processed by your intestine). I also take Saw Palmetto (a natural supplement that blocks DHT from binding to hair follicles). I am also on low dose birth control which, along with the absolute exclusion of gluten, will hopefully bring my testosterone levels back down to normal in about 3 months time. But I didn't want to risk losing more hair in the meantime so I added the saw palmetto in case the excess testosterone was the culprit behind my hair falling out. However, I am near certain my hair started falling out because of the B12 and iron deficiencies. I think the deficiency has been getting worse as time has gone on and it finally reached a point of hair loss-although now I see there were warning signs long before such as tingling hands and feet, dizziness, fatigue, and poor balance that I attributed solely to the gluten. I strongly suggest you ask you doctor to test you testosterone levels, B12 and iron levels or even just buy sublingual b12 tablets (less than $5.00 a bottle) and iron and start taking them ASAP. If your testosterone levels also come back high then add the saw palmetto or ask you doctor their recommendation for balancing the high testosterone (again I think this hormone imbalance is from gluten) My hair loss stopped within 4 days. Hope this helps.

[cO-ol]

B12 and iron deficiencies definitely can contribute to hair loss. If you haven't gotten your iron or b12 checked, that's a really good idea (as is getting your thyroid checked).

Make sure that for iron the ferritin is tested and for b12 MMA & homocysteine are also checked, because you can have deficiencies that don't quite show up on standard b12 and hemoglobin tests.