hair shedding

Low iron stores: a risk factor for excessive hair loss in non-menopausal women

by Y on October 22, 2007

Low Iron Stores: A Risk Factor For Excessive Hair Loss In Non-Menopausal WomenI found this study really interesting as it cites low iron stores as a possible contributing cause of women’s hair loss. I know one of the first things that usually gets tested when a woman complains of hair loss is the iron levels. Of course there is such a huge range of what is considered normal its hard to tell the optimal level for our body.

Here it is:

European Journal of Dermatology. Volume 17, Number 6, 507-12, November-December 2007, Investigative report

*Abstract

Author(s) : Claire Deloche, Philippe Bastien, Stéphanie Chadoutaud, Pilar Galan, Sandrine Bertrais, Serge Hercberg, Olivier de Lacharrière

Summary : Iron deficiency has been suspected to represent one of the possible causes of excessive hair loss in women. The aim of our study was to assess this relationship in a very large population of 5110 women aged between 35 and 60 years. Hair loss was evaluated using a standardized questionnaire sent to all volunteers. The iron status was assessed by a serum ferritin assay carried out in each volunteer. Multivariate analysis allowed us to identify three categories: “absence of hair loss” (43%), “moderate hair loss” (48%) and “excessive hair loss” (9%). Among the women affected by excessive hair loss, a larger proportion of women (59%) had low iron stores (<\; 40 µg/L) compared to the remainder of the population (48%). Analysis of variance and logistic regression show that a low iron store represents a risk factor for hair loss in non-menopausal women.

The article is broken down into the following areas

Introduction

Materials and Methods

  • Volunteers
  • Hair Loss Assessment
  • Biochemical Measurements
  • Statistical Analysis

Results

  • Hair Loss Quantification
  • Link Between Hair Loss And Serum Ferritin Levels

Discussion

This study, carried out for the first time on a very large cohort of women, provides strong arguments in favor of an association between depleted iron stores and hair loss, particularly excessive hair loss in women before menopause. [click to continue…]

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My Sister Is Losing Her Hair And I Want To Help Her

by Y on October 21, 2007

My Sister Is Losing Her Hair And I Want To Help HerHi all. I don’t know if i’m stepping over the boundaries here and if I am, please let me know. I mean no disrespect. I am a family member of someone who has recently experienced hair loss. she’s my big sister and we live together. this has been an absolutely devastating experience for her. She started to really notice thining about a month or so ago and she has been to a couple of doctors, but hasn’t had too many tests done yet. I’ve been trying to find doctors and information for her, but i don’t know if i’m just making it harder. she is having a hard time so i try to take over the logistical stuff so she doesn’t have to think about it.

I guess i’m posting this just to ask you if there is anything i can do to help her or make this less painful. I know i can’t know what she’s feeling, but thought I would reach out to see if any of you could tell me stories of someone helping you make the situation better. She is a very guarded person and she doesn’t let people in very easily. I know she must feel completely isolated and I just want her to know she isn’t. We have a very close family and everyone is here for her when she needs it.

Again, I apologize if I am making anyone feel violated. I just want to help my sister any way I can. Thanks for listening.

~Brooke

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Dear Brooke –

Thank you so much for writing. I think it is really wonderful that you are trying to take on an active role in helping your sister through this extremely difficult time. Hair loss is devastating for any woman, and your sister is not alone in this. I’m certain your support means more to her than you even realize, and I certainly don’t think you are making anything worse by being there for her. Just a couple questions, how old is your sister? Did she recently start or stop taking birth control pills, nuva ring or the patch or experienced any recent extreme weight loss?

You asked for stories of situations where someone was able to make the situation better for the woman experiencing hair loss. For myself, the biggest help was just having someone there to listen to me. My fiance was there from the beginning and he always listened and understood my emotional pain, sense of confusion and fear for the unknown future. He understood my real loss. Having my feelings validated was extremely important to me, it still is. Having someone who believed my words “I am losing my hair” and fully comprehending the impact that was having on me, was helpful to me. What do I mean by believing? By believing I mean not denying or trivializing my pain by telling me “oh you look fine, you’re not losing your hair.” If a woman is losing her hair, she knows it, end of story. On the flip side, words that helped me was when he told me ” I know you are losing your hair, but to the rest of the world you look like you have a full head of hair, so try and enjoy today.” It was very delicate wording. He validated my situation and then gave the best hair complement a women with hair loss could get 🙂 He wasn’t lying either, it was the truth. When we are engulfed in the early stages of hair loss we struggle with what our former image was…. a full head of hair. As it thins, nothing is good enough and the depression and sadness creeps to an all time high even when no one else can really tell. Now people can tell I’m losing me hair, but I’d say definitely for the first 5 years, my secret was known to only me. That didn’t prevent me from feeling ugly, sad and avoiding social gatherings, but it was something I wish I fully realized back then. Having my fiance tell me it “looked like I had a full head of hair” reminded me what I couldn’t remind myself, I was still OK. [click to continue…]

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Female Pattern Balding – Hair Loss Story

by Y on October 8, 2007

I did not notice hair falling out, it just stopped growing and the dermatologist said it was female patter baldness and nothing could be done. I had take Prempro for 11 years without a missed day – per GYN to stop my periods. I was 50 at the time. Went through an extremely stressful divorce and work situation. I noticed the balding when I was about 59, and it has gotten worse…..my scalp showed through no matter how I tried to cover it. Since I was told I was not a good candidate for transplants, I got an epiphany. I went to a women who does permanent make-up and had her tattoo the areas (with a sort of light brown – I am blond) that aways showed through. It works quite well, but is very expensive and takes a long time to do. I had about 5 sessions of 1 – 2 hours. I was able to get novacaine after the first two-hour session, so the pain was managed. I still have some areas to cover, but it is a great improvement.There is no hair loss like this on either side of my family. I have taken some of the medications listed that cause hair loss, but what can you do if you need them? I am now 70 and hate my very thin hair, which used to be one of my best features.

*************

Hi –

Thanks for writing, I realize hair loss at any age is distressing, but I have to say you are so fortunate to have spent the majority of your life with hair and not dealing with the massive shedding and hair loss that many very young women experience today. For myself, I basically spent my entire 20’s in partial seclusion, feeling very sad and depressed, feeling like I’ve lost who I was… my identity. I wrote in the past post, “Hair Loss, Hair Loss Everywhere – What’s in the water?” that I would seal that deal immediately if I was told I could have all my hair back and then at 50 it would all fall out and I’d definitely do it for 60, even better. That would mean I’d get to have 31 more years of peace, of happiness, being out there and enjoying my youth. I feel I’m letting that slip away, losing my hair 8 years ago did that to me, but I work on myself all the time and trying to get past the whole idea of ” I am not my hair” and just trying to be positive.

Please understand I am not at all dismissing your concerns and I really do understand hair loss and how it would affect anyone who becomes afflicted with it, but I thought I would point out how fortunate you have been. Your tattoo idea was extremely creative, and I’m glad to hear you are happy with the results, but there also are less invasive ways to conceal the scalp. There are several products are on the market today that are actually a sort head make up that serve as a scalp cosmetic concealer. Two that I am aware of our DermMatch and Toppik. DermMatch and Toppik Scalp Cosmetic Concealer

Also, you are right when you talk about some of the drugs listed on the “drugs that cause hair loss” list, what can one really do when they have to take a certain medication? It is also important to note that while these drugs can cause hair loss, they are not necessarily the cause of hair loss for a lot of women. I am sure there are plenty of women and men who take these medications without experiencing hair loss as a side effect. So it doesn’t necessarily mean that since you took some of the drugs listed that that is what spawned your female pattern baldness.

A lot of women begin to experience hair loss for the first time post menopause. [click to continue…]

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Spironolactone – Hair Loss Story Question

by Y on October 6, 2007

Spironolactone - Hair Loss Story & QuestionHi! First of all I want to say that this is a GREAT forum/blog and I give you a lot of credit for starting it, sharing your stories, and wanting to help others. THANK YOU, and I really appreciate all you’ve done and gone through. Stay strong, continue helping others and you will get through this!

I want to ask you about your thoughts on Spirinolactone, but should provide you some context first. I am 28 years old and started losing my hair around August of 2006. I was under a lot of stress with my job and not taking very good care of myself nutritionally either. So, I started with a family physician and had blood work done. Everything came back fine. She recommended I take a daily multivitamin. She also recommended me to a dermatologist. I finally saw a derm in January of 2007 (it takes FOREVER to get in) and they did some additional blood work and told me to start taking biotin as well as the daily multivitamin. Again everything was “normal” and that was it. In March of 2007 my excessive shedding stopped and my hair felt better again. So I thought the vitamins and biotin were helping and
thought stress had a lot to do with it, too.

THEN, in August of 2007 I started losing a lot of my hair again and am continuing to shed excessively. This time around the hair loss is more noticeable and my scalp is much more noticeable than the first episode. I did just move to a new state, change jobs, sell our house, etc., etc. I thought maybe it was stress again but knew I needed to see a derm to be sure. I live in Winston-Salem, NC and they have an excellent dermatology practice at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Medical Center. They have doctors that specialize in female hair loss!! So, I finally went early this week (after getting an earlier appointment because of a cancellation). I saw 2 doctors that were fantastic. They spent a lot of time talking through everything and came to the conclusion that it’s likely androgenic alopecia. BUT, they had me take every blood test possible in case it’s related to low iron, thyroid, etc. I’m still awaiting those test results. They also think some stress could be involved, but when they performed the hair pull test on me it was positive in some areas and not in others, likely female pattern hair loss (androgenic alopecia). I am supposed to start using Rogaine for men and they will prescribe Spirinolactone if all of my blood work comes back “normal.”

So, do you know much about this drug? Does anyone else on the site know? [click to continue…]

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Hair Loss At 20 Years Old, Sarah’s Story

by Y on October 4, 2007

At the age of 20 years old, I decided to go on birth control, so my doctor prescribed me to “Symphasic”. About 3 or 4 months later, I realized that my hair was thinning, I left it for about 6 months.. and then I went to my doctor, and she switched me to a different birth control – Yasmin. I thought it would be the answer, and I would be cured… but I was FOR SURE wrong. The hair loss got worse. Every month I lost a little more. It wasn’t until this past June that I decided to give up birth control all together and hope for the best. My hair loss began to stop a little, until around the middle of September, and that is when it started shedding more, and it continues to October, which is now. I keep hearing that it takes up to 6 months or more for birth control to get out of your system, and I HOPE that I will then grow my hair back, but what these women on the this site have to say is no hope.Does this sound exactly what you women have gone through? I am starting to get scared. I have had blood tests- and apparently there is nothing wrong with me. Should I be hoping that going off birth control was the best thing, and I will grow my hair back? I am so stressed about it, and like other women say… it takes up about 98% of my thoughts every day! I am crazy self conscious and i cant stand it any longer. if you could please write any comments or suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated!Thanks so much
Sarah

*******

Hi Sarah,

I read your story and I instantly was taken back to 8 years ago since your hair loss began around the same age mine did. I have to point out that I’m not a doctor, but here is my opinion on your situation. Honestly Sarah, I think you have a really really good chance of recovering from this completely, I’ll tell you why. The duration of time you were on the pill wasn’t very long, and also Yasmin is suppose to be a low androgen index birth control pill so I don’t think the damage it would cause would be as severe as say the pill I took, which was Loestrin FE, the highest (or at least was the highest) androgen index pill. I’m not sure about the Synphasic birth control pill because I’ve never heard of it, I tried to Google it and didn’t find much on it, however, on the upside I didn’t find anything good or bad on Synphasic, which I think is a good sign. When you type in the pill name I took “Loestrin” and “androgen index” or “high androgen” you’ll find TONS of stuff that point to women having hair loss problems, a lot of sites explaining it is a high androgen pill etc etc. I don’t even know why they prescribe it to women and I certainly don’t know why they had prescribed it me at 20 years old. I didn’t find anything like that about Synphasic, that’s not to say that the pill wasn’t bad for you, obviously it was, you had hair loss from it, but at least there isn’t an overwhelming about of negative stuff on it. I think that’s a good sign. [click to continue…]

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Drugs That Can Cause Hair Loss

by Y on October 3, 2007

Drugs That Can Cause Hair LossI was asked if I could provide a list of a drugs that can possibly trigger hair loss. I would like to start the list off with my current nemesis, Synthroid. Synthroid is a common medication that is prescribed to treat hypothroidism. Apparently it is a pretty common side effect to experience hair loss from it for those individuals who are sensitive to the medication. I’m sure there are plenty of women taking the drug with no adverse effects to their hair, but it should not be overlooked as a possible contributing factor to your hair loss. The listed “side effects” section on drugs.com it indicates that the hair loss is “usually temporary,” and the “special warnings” section indicates that “it is temporary,” well is it or isn’t it? Of the several doctors I’ve spoken with they have confirmed that it does cause hair loss in some individuals, and not the temporary kind, at least not until the problem with the medication is resolved. Just as a low thyroid (hyopthyroidism) can cause hair loss so can an overdose of the medication Synthroid. The following are signs of over stimulation:

Abdominal cramps, anxiety, changes in appetite, change in menstrual periods, chest pain, diarrhea, emotional instability, fatigue, fever, flushing, hair loss, headache, heart attack or failure, heat intolerance, hyperactivity, increased heart rate, irregular heartbeat, irritability, muscle weakness, nausea, nervousness, palpitations, shortness of breath, sleeplessness, sweating, tremors, vomiting, weight loss.

You do not necessarily need to be experiencing all of these symptoms to have an overstimulated thyroid caused by your thyroid medication. I put it out there so that you can have this knowledge in case you begin to notice hair loss after starting the medication or having your dosage raised. That is another factor to keep in mind, if you have recently had your dose raised after years of being at a certain dosage level, it is possible that the increase in dosage was too much for you body. You should talk to your doctor or seek another opinion from an experienced and knowledgeable physician, an endocrinologist may be a good choice.

So without further ado here is the list of drugs that can possibly cause hair loss, also note this is not the complete comprehensive list, just the more common ones known. [click to continue…]

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A Shower In The Dark – One Of My Hair Loss Rituals

by Y on October 2, 2007

A Shower In The Dark - One Of My Hair Loss RitualsLike I mentioned in another past post, one of the things I do when I’m struggling a lot with my hair loss (such as now) and the shedding is so extreme, is that I shower in the dark. I waited yesterday for the night to come so I could shower. I can’t bear to see the hair falling out all over the place and stuck between my hands, it is too much torment for myself. Needless to say I also comb my hair in the dark as well. Quickly combing through what is left my hair, scooping up the pile that fell out, and making a beeline straight for the toilet where I put to rest my fallen hairs. It didn’t overly depress me as it sometimes can, I guess my mind was a little stronger yesterday. That is just how it goes. Some days I’m stronger with my hair loss and others I am so wrought with depression and sadness. I am thankful for the stronger days, I pray for more of those days all the time.

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Welcome To The Women’s Hair Loss Project

by Y on September 24, 2007

Welcome To The Women's Hair Loss ProjectI am noticing a lot of new traffic coming in from different places and I wanted to welcome all the new reader’s to The Women’s Hair Loss Project and to write a little about our community. I started this blog to basically start journaling my life with hair loss. I write my daily thoughts as they come to me with all my quirks and sadness too. I write about my past regrets in treating my hair loss, the daily dealings of living with hair loss and some more lighthearted things such as my quest for the perfect hair thickening shampoo and my silly idea for a bumper sticker that says “Be Nice To Me, I’m going Bald!’

This is my life with hair loss.

I really would like to touch the lives of more women to let them know they are not alone. I’ve come to realize that a lot of women suffering with hair loss experience much of the same feelings as I do. Everything I thought was just me being crazy turned out to be more normal than I had imagined. For women I think that once you become a hair loss sufferer, no matter what steps you take to treat it or improve it, you are always still missing a little something, a little part of yourself. When women have the chance to read other women’s stories it can be healing, I know it is for me. You can read my hair loss story here.

Already we have a lot of great supportive women who share their stories and their lives.

Read Julie’s Story and see her pictures and read her wonderful put together wig buying tips.

Read Taylor’s Touching Story. She has endured so much at only 17, yet she is so strong and I admire her greatly.

Also Read Amy’s Story and Mira’s Story along with her story on how her husband (then boyfriend) reacted when he found out she had hair loss, along with another comment she left about an inspirational hair loss story

Finding all the Posts

There is so much to read on this site and it seems that some of the articles can be difficult to find, [click to continue…]

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Be Nice to me, I’m going bald!

by Y on September 20, 2007

Be Nice To Me, I'm Going Bald!So the great thing about having a supportive man in your life is being able to joke about things that aren’t really funny. Yesterday my fiance was saying something from afar that nagged me (completely unrelated to hair), I forgot what, but I replied to him “Hey, be nice to me, I’m going bald!” As the words left my mouth I started to laugh and so did he once he could hear I was only joking.

My mind found a joke in there somewhere to pick myself up because I was feeling pretty down yesterday after the shower gauntlet of shampoo, rinse and comb. Oddly enough, I picked up a T-shirt to put on that I think was mailed to be a few weeks ago when I bought something on the internet ( it was a free gift) and the back of it said:

Determination
\di-tur-muh–ney-shuh n\
a: a fixed purpose,
the power and will to persist,
resolve, to have the drive,
to have the grit, to go the distance,
to be hell-bent on reaching a goal
and getting it done no matter what

After I read that my spirit lifted up a little and I forced myself back into my “strong mindset,” and said to myself “I am determined.” Determined to not let my hair loss eat me alive, to beat this, maybe not with treatment because that is beyond my control, but with my mind, with my heart and learning to love myself and not care so much about what other people think.

Anyways, I thought it would make funny bumper sticker “Be Nice To Me, I’m Going Bald.” a little humor never hurts.

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Help I’m Losing My Hair, Rogaine Caused Shedding. What do I do?

by Y on September 19, 2007

Debra asked this question on the “calling all thickening shampoo” thread, but I decided to repost it here so that other women can have the opportunity to find it easier and perhaps comment as well.

She Wrote:

I love reading these comments. I started loosing my hair about 3 months ago. My family doctor recommended I go see a dermatology. Dermatology told me to use Rogaine for women. I had to stop after a few weeks as I noticed i was loosing more hair. Than I had the biopsy done. Now he is telling me to use Rogaine for men! holy cow. What to do? Need your help please?

Hi Debra-

Welcome to the site!

I am not a doctor so I can’t give medical advice, but I’ll give you the information I’ve found out over the course of the last 8 years losing my own hair.

Did you recently go on or off birth control pills or any other medication? I don’t think I a personally agree that the dermatologist you saw should have advised you to go on Rogaine after only 3 months of hair loss. 3 months is a very short amount of time and you could have just been experiencing shedding caused by any number of factors.

It is not uncommon at all to start shedding more hair after beginning any hair loss treatment such as Rogaine. The hair shedding should be temporary. After a 1-2 months if the treatment works, new hair should begin to grow, hair growth works in cycles. When Rogaine causes hair shedding it may induce the hair shaft to fall off, the follicle would then enter a dormant phase in the cycle (temporarily) while the matrix is restructured for future growth, hopefully with a thicker and stronger hair shaft. In the meantime through you may lose more hair, but after waiting for several months you may have thicker and stronger hair with any new hair growth, assuming the Rogaine works. [click to continue…]

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