This Hair Loss Thing Is New To Me – Patti’s Hair Loss Story

by Y on October 25, 2007

This Hair Loss Thing Is New To Me -Patt's Hair Loss StoryIn the last 2 months I have lost about 3/4 of my hair. Plus pubic hair. Weird! This is all so disconcerting and difficult. I have turned into a hat junkie … and I am grateful for them, but it gets real hard some days. I am
thankful for so many things and for this website. It’s good to read the stories from the other ladies out there who understand. and all the helpful advice. Is the loss of pubic hair normal too! I have been diagnosed with hypothyroid, adrenal fatigue, high cortisol (stress), and all my hormones are very low. I just started on bio-identical hormone treatment and a number of supplements from my nutritionist and I am starting to feel better. But there are some days that I don’t want to leave the house! Many blessings to all of you beautiful precious women out there! Patti

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

Dear Patti,

Thank you so much for writing. I always say this at the beginning of my responses to emails so that there is no misunderstanding. I am not a doctor and cannot give medical advice, these are just my thoughts and opinions.

Your extreme rapid hair loss loss, 3/4 of your hair in 2 months in conjunction with the fact you have also lost your pubic hair, would in my opinion definitely point to some underlying cause other than typical androgenetic alopecia (female pattern baldness). Of course I have no way to know for sure. This was just my initial thought after reading your email. Especially since you mentioned that you have been diagnosed with hypothyroid, adrenal fatigue, high cortisol, and that all your hormones are very low. That is a lot of stuff happening and any one of them or all of them could be responsible for your hair loss. But the pubic hair loss still left questions in my mind so I did some research on the internet and found that any of the following could be responsible for pubic hair loss:

——————
Hair Loss – pubic hair loss may occur for many of the same reasons as any hair loss.
Menopause
Normal Aging
Underactive adrenal gland***
Addison’s Disease
Liver Cirrhosis
Pituitary Disease
Hypopituitarism

*Source
————————-

You mentioned you were diagnosed with adrenal fatigue and this list mentions “underactive adrenal gland” as a possible cause for pubic hair loss. Nothing is definite and I do not know what has caused your rapid hair loss and pubic hair loss, this is all just speculation. You were prescribed bio-indentical treatment which I know is prescribed to menopausal women, you didn’t indicate your age, but I did read several times when I was looking for information that pubic hair loss can also be caused by menopause.

One other thing I thought you might find interesting was an article written by Ella Morgan from Articleclick.com, titled “What Causes Pubic Hair Loss”

She writes:

Although most people are concerned about hair loss when it happens, many people don’t realize that pubic hair loss can also happen, whether or not hair loss happens on other parts of the body. Pubic hair loss can happen for several reasons, and many times it is a symptom of something serious. Anyone who finds that they are losing their pubic hair, even if they are not losing their hair anywhere else, should try to find out the reason.

Pubic hair loss can definitely coincide with hair loss on other parts of the body. When people are undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, for instance, they will often lose most or all of their head and body hair. This is normal with chemotherapy, and most cancer patients are warned about this ahead of time. Since cancer patients are usually forewarned, there is no reason to look for any other reason for the hair loss. Many women lose more head and body hair, including pubic hair, during or after menopause, and this is also a normal occurrence. Losing most or all of your hair during or after menopause is not normal, however, and a doctor should definitely be consulted if this is happening. Many women also lose head and body hair after childbirth, which is also a normal occurrence. This usually gets better over time. Other causes of head and body hair loss can include iron deficiency anemia, hormonal imbalances, autoimmune deficiency diseases, and certain skin-irritating diseases, such as Eczema. With skin conditions, if the condition is concentrated around the pubic region, then only pubic hair loss will be noticed. Sometimes severe stress can cause loss of hair in the pubic region, although this most often coincides with losing hair on other parts of the body. Other things that can cause pubic hair loss include cirrhosis of the liver, Addisons Disease, hypopituitarism, and an underactive adrenal gland.

The main thing to remember if you notice that you are losing a large amount of hair in your pubic region is that this is a symptom of something else. Losing pubic hair doesn’t just happen for no reason – there is always an underlying cause. Even if you don’t find it necessarily alarming when you are losing large amounts of pubic hair, such as you would if you were losing the hair on your head, you still need to find out the cause. Whatever it is that is causing the hair loss, it can usually be treated easier if you catch it early. Your doctor may have to do several tests to find out the reason behind the loss of hair in your pubic reason, and will have to ask you several questions, but finding the underlying cause is important. If you and your doctor decide that it is due to stress, then treating the stress with relaxation exercises, therapy, or possibly medication can help stop the hair loss. If it is due to a skin condition in the pubic region, your doctor will probably be able to prescribe a topical medication that will ease or cure the condition.

—————–

Patti, I hope this information is of some help for you. Unfortunately I don’t have a whole lot knowledge about pubic hair loss because I have never experienced it myself. Perhaps some other women will be able to comment on it themselves. The key is to work with a good doctor you feel comfortable and confident with. In spite of it all your email seemed very high spirited, so it seems you are keeping a positive attitude about everything, which is great. I hope your treatment works to help rectify the problems you are experiencing. Please keep us updated on how you are doing.

~Y

{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }

jeni October 26, 2007 at 12:24 am

It sounds like Alopecia Areata, which is usually triggered by an autoimmune disorder, and it can cause rapid hair loss on your head, as well as other areas on your body. Hopefully with the help of doctors Patti will be able to find some help with her health issues.

Reply

Elle October 26, 2007 at 4:07 am

Sounds like Alopecia Universalis as body hair is being affected.

Reply

Marianne November 2, 2007 at 9:27 am

I have been doing lots of readings (articles and thyroid forums) on adrenal problems as well as thyroid disorders. Most of the people with these issues say the best thing to do is to address your adrenal issues then the thyroid problems. If your adrenals aren’t working then you can have a hard time converting T4 to T3 (at least that is my understanding). Your sex hormones can sometimes improve once you adrenal and thyroid are supported. hope that helps and I hope I didn’t confuse you!!

Reply

donna February 22, 2009 at 4:55 pm

well my name is donna walker i am 18yrs old and i dont really know when this started to happen but to tell the truth i am kinda afraid of why this is happening imean i am so young and im losing my public hair why is this happening is all that i can think of at the moment i dont want this to be really satting in im kinda at a new pwak in my sex life and i use to love the beautiful hair i got down below all i want need is some body to tell me why!!!

Reply

Collette November 4, 2009 at 6:16 pm

I also have adrenal fatigue. I was diagnosed in 2003. I also have celiac disease (autoimmune) and raynaud’s disease (a buddy of celiac) I have also lost 3/4 of my hair…but it took 3 years not 2 months.

May you find all your answers Doll!

What supplements are you taking?
I take 1000 mg vitamin c – 6 glandular adrenal caps ( two at a time- 3 times a day) 200mg mgnesium citrate (3 times a day with the adrenal caps) and sublingual b-12’s for energy!
Make sure you are avoiding stimulants- they stimulate the adrenals and you need to baby them for now.

Reply

Tim Allen March 14, 2010 at 8:31 am

Hi, i’m trying to get a hold of Collette. I would love to pick her brain as I also have Raynaulds, bad food allergies (think it is Celiacs), and think I have something going on with Adrenals. If anyone can help me or help me het in contact with Collette I would really appreciate it!! My email is: timallen45@hotmail.com
Thanks so much!

Reply

Susers July 4, 2010 at 5:32 am

I would LOVE to talk to Collette too!

Reply

elle December 16, 2011 at 10:08 pm

Hi, I just thought I’d chime in here. I’ve been reading a lot and just found out something very interesting that I thought some of you might not know. When a woman goes through or is close to going through menopause, her ovaries stop producing estrogen. When this happens, her adrenals take over and they become the prime glands to produce estrogen. Thus, if you are using stimulants such as coffee or tea and I found for myself, especially green tea, it will stress your adrenals and make it so they cannot produce enough estrogen. Thus, without estrogen, the body has trouble producing hair. This is what happened to me. For a year I stopped eating gluten, soy and was a vegan; I avoided all caffeine and my hair started getting better. I stopped losing it. Then, I started drinking green tea again and wham, I started losing it in handfuls. Once I stopped drinking it, I stopped losing my hair. I am not kidding!!!! I think some people are more stimulated by caffeine than others. I hope this helps someone.

Reply

Nora September 10, 2012 at 10:34 am

I’m going to chime in as well with my own question based on Elle’s reply. The caffeine angle is really interesting to me. I’ve always reacted badly to caffeine-if I have even half a cup of coffee or black tea on an empty stomach I get nausea, increased anxiety and my heart starts to pound. Does coffee affect your adrenal gland? Has anyone had success fixing their adrenals through natural means?

Reply

Vee April 30, 2014 at 7:22 am

Does green tea really effect this? I am hypothyroid losing my hair and I thought green tea would be healthy. Ill certainly cut out caffeine if this is so

Reply

Cancel reply

Leave a Comment

Previous post:

Next post: