I'm wondering if this could be a nutrition or exercise related issue. I'm a 25 year old female, about 40 pounds overweight, and my hair is falling out. I've been thinking it's just stress, my last month of graduate school was very hectic, and I'm having a hard time finding a permanent position in a school district which wouldn't force my partner (who just got a job of his own) to move. Sadly, we're kind of toeing the line on finances and my relationship with my mother isn't such that I particularly want to ask her for help, I'm working a part-time job, but it's barely making ends meet, and I returned to reality from my "strenuous last semester of grad-school" haze to discover that none of the housework had been done in the 3 months that I was mentally absent.
My hair is falling out in clumps. I have at least a handful at the end of every shower, it's gotten to the point where I avoid brushing my hair or even getting my head wet. I've been running again and am returning to my friendly local black box, my usually good diet was ABOMINABLE over the last 3 months, particularly the last month, but we have been getting back to Paleo + 1 cheat day a week over the past 2 weeks.
I've been looked over and my health is good, no infections, nothing abnormal, a little lethargy that can be attributed to my lack of exercise and change in my sleep schedule (since I work afternoons I've been staying up late at night and getting up around noon). I have Celiacs disease and hemochromatosis, but generally keep them well controlled, I still have some gluten slip-ups, more recently than normal, but that's because my diet's been bad and I've been eating out a lot.
Is there anything I can do to at least slow it down? I'm really fond of my hair and would like it to be full again.
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You might want to check out some additional resources specifically dedicated to addressing this issue, e.g. http://www.dannyroddy.com/ |
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Hair loss + lethargy = getting your thyroid levels checked (including your antibodies) ASAP. My hair falls out in clumps when my thyroid is low, or my antibodies are high. Once I started to take thyroid hormones, my hair slowed down it's suicide mission is less than a week. Within 6 weeks it stopped falling out all together. Good luck! |
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And it could be gluten as well. Those slip-ups are not only going to cost you hair, but they are damaging your gut as well. |
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You say you have celiac disease and haemochromatosis -- that's a hell of a combination. I feel for you. I have a few questions:
But really, since you wrote
you've kind of answered your own question. There are no easy solutions. If your health, and your hair, matter to you, then you'll make the changes necessary. I would consider eliminating the cheat days for the next couple of months to give your body a chance to recover. Remember that the gut takes quite a long time to heal from celiac insult. Tiny amounts cause damage in some people. |
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I remember reading a Paleo blog where the lady had all kinds of health issues and wasn't able to fully resolve them via diet... one was hair loss. She had a nutrition screen done and began on supplements, sounds like it worked for her but she didn't mention the supplements because of the need for a professional consult before you start on such a regimen. Best of luck to you! |
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Do you know how many hairs you're losing on average every day? It's actually quite normal to lose between 50 - 100 hairs a day, and up to 250 if you're washing your hair. It's important to remember too that sometimes hair loss just happens, even at a young age - often it's to do with genetics. Do people in your family suffer from hair loss? It could just be a natural part of aging for you. That doesn't mean you should put up with it though. Because of your other conditions, I wouldn't recommend a chemical hair loss treatment, because they're likely to cause you some nasty side-effects. Have you looked into natural hair loss treatments? I'm not sure where you're located, but here in Australia we have a product called Hair Restore Advanced which I'd thoroughly recommend. But really any other natural treatment will do, as long as you get those important vitamins and minerals into your body. Good luck and keep smiling! |
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Long-shot, but have you researched all the side effects of any medications you are currently taking? I took two shots of Depo-Provera for birth control a few years ago, and a week or two after each shot my hair came out in clumps. It was listed that between 1 and 5 percent of people could be affected by this. Certainly low enough at the time that it escaped my radar until it was too late. |
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