Hair loss/SCARED

[Guest]

Shelley,
I have such a long story. I'll sum it up. Ever since accutane use 8 years ago I have had hair loss problems. It starts and stops for so many reasons. Always grows back. Ive been to at least 10 doctors. nothing is wrong. Ferritin is about 50 which I know should be higher. Im working on it.

I had surgery and three months after hair started falling. During that time i was using retin a...I probably should know better. Now my hair is still falling..Im into month seven. I stopped the retin a one month ago. My hair is falling less..it was falling 200 a day, now more like 70 but its not growing back fast enough to catch up.

I feel something inside me is wrong. When I take vitamins it seems to make my hair loss worse the next day. I think protein might be causing my loss?? Is my liver not capable of handling anything. Sometimes I can take iron pills and vitamins with no problems. Othertimes NO WAY. I was trying to supplement with milk thistle and my hair was pouring out. So I stopped. Im not sure what is wrong...please help. I know you believe me. Doctors think Im insane!! I want this over forever.

[shelley]

Hi Guest! I'm so sorry you're having to go thru this.

Hair sheds with any sudden changes in metabolism, and a compromised liver = compromised metabolism, because it is the liver that is responsible for the all-important Kreb's Cycle, the way we get our energy from calories.

I'm afraid that liver management may cause a shed initially as things ramp up, but if it happens during liver management like taking liver herbs, then that is a GOOD sign. It's part of the healing crisis and shows that the herbs are indeed changing your metabolism and that your metabolism NEEDED to be changed. It's only when hair loss happens when we *aren't* doing any intervention that it's bad, see what I mean?

Now if your hair growth is very very slow, and temperature tends to be lower than 98.4 even when active, then you could have thyroid issues. Have you had your thyroid tested? The main lab test is called TSH and should be in between 1-3.

I don't like the sound of the low ferritin, but it makes sense. To absorb iron properly, we need to have a very acidic stomach. In other words, a good power of digestion, a term I use a lot. Most of us do not have strong digestion and many things result and doctors never see the connection. Low stomach acids are also responsible for much of acne. Is that why you were taking the accutane? And all you probably needed was apple cider vinegar, one spoonful with every large, cooked meal!

So now what you have are all the original issues that you tried to deal with by taking antibiotics (antibiotics should never be taken for anything except infections), PLUS you have to deal with all the ramifications of the antiboitics. That means a period of the cleansing stage, be thorough and do comprehensive liver, bowel, lymph management and some kidney management too, and address the following deficiencies:

Choline/lecithin (essential for hair growth) - see Protein Shake recipe
Skin food - emergen-C and Zinc and Cod Liver Oil should be okay for you even with a compromised liver
B vits, especially folic acid and B12 - these help the liver so should be okay
Colloidal minerals
stomach acid
digestive enzymes
probiotics
iron - calves liver and iron asporotate (sp?). Iron asporotate are not constipating like taking Ferrous Sulfate or whatever is. I still have to post how to prepare and cook liver right so that it tastes great, but the recipe is in Nourishing Traditions.

Most of what you need to know is in the FAQ. Be sure to read the digestion guidelines, start eating the essential recipes, follow good digestion guidelines, and use tongue diagnosis to monitor your progress and make adjustments as you go.

Hope that helps!

[pharaoh]

Shelley,
Thanks for the reply. Yes I was taking accutane for acne, which I still get!! How can I make my stomach more acidic? Ill do anything. Should I take ACV with a meal and how much if so?
Ive had my TSH tested and I'm at 1.4...pretty good right?
The things you listed..choline, b vitamins, collodial minerals. Are those all things that I need to start taking? And do you recommend certain brands? Should I do the liver, kidney etc...do all those flushes? I'm so scared.
Should I slowly start with the milk thistle again? Is there anyway to make my liver HAPPY????? And do you think this is all because I have a damaged liver? Can I ever ever repair it and get my hair back to normal?

[shelley]

oh good, that's a perfect TSH! So things should be easy for you to manage. Cool.

Do all the cleansing you can, starting with bowels and lymph.

Fast until your tongue is clean of coat. THEN you can start nourishing yourself properly and do comprehensive liver management - see FAQ.

I always recommend Emergen-C, and good brands are Solaray, Garden of Life, Kcal, Sonne, anything created or endorsed by Dr. Jensen or Dr. Schultze.

All your questions are answered in the FAQ so start reading and educating yourself!

In a nutshell, to increase stomach acids, one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, or squeeze of lemon, or 500 mg of unbuffered Vit C, eat some marinated ginger, umeboshi plums, sauerkraut. You can also take HCL Betaine but it may not be necessary.

Start taking digestive enzymes right away. Take them with all of your main meals that aren't just fruit. You can take one dose even when fasting or not eating so that it helps in other ways.

[pharaoh]

I've been reading since my last post
When I take vitamins or milk thistle or whatever and notice my hair loss goes up...do you think that is good? That my body is like having a healing crisis and I should move forward. I bought some liquid b vitamins and started taking them and now my hair loss is up. i KNOW I need b vitamins (now my only b's are from brewers yeast) and I want to supplement my body...If I can understand it's a healing crisis or getting me back in order (however you said it before) then I can stick with it. Otherwise I get scared.

Thanks again. I'll really start learning and trying to heal myself!

[shelley]

Once you cleanse your liver and start eating nutritious foods, you should see much less of a reaction. I don't know what vitamins you're taking exactly, there is a slight chance the hair loss is a reaction to the bad vitamins that are out there, like the "one a day" type which are pure poison. So long as you're not megadosing and liver is getting clean, you can rest assured it's healing crisis.

[harmony]

I just wanted to say I undertook a total redo of lifestyle last year.
clean foods for 3 month's an MC cleanse for 40 plus days. Then liver cleanses etc. Then onto rebuilding.
During the liver onto rebuilding phase I had extreme hair loss.
I was sure it ws the epsom salts for the liver flushes. It was so bad the two days following a flush I was afraid to brush my hair.
It was horrible. It has eased off now in the last month.
I can understand completely where you are coming from.

Shelley helped me build a good protocol last year. It's done wonders for me.

Hang in there, The loss will balance out with time.

[pharaoh]

Harmony,
Thanks so much for your insight....Did your hair fall for a long time or just a few days? Was it falling before you started cleansing etc? And is your hair better/good now?
I know im going to have to do this, it's just scary, but I want a clean body...so here I go!
Thanks again, it makes me feel normal...otherwise I wonder if Im nuts!!

[harmony]

Hi
It was intense as Shelley pointed out -during changes due to what I was doing and consuming. I majorly swung my metabolism around.

Heavy losses I guess would last 4 or 5 days then slow down, This went on for about a month.
I'm still lossing hair. Not much, but I think I notice/ am aware of it so much in my brush because it was such a concern for a while.

note : sorry for the messy post. It was middle of the night My dog woke me to let her out.
I passed the computer on my way to let her out, and replied to your post as I waited for her to finish up her biz.
LOL. I thought I was pretty coherent at the time.

[pharaoh]

Thanks. Im glad your hair is getting better. Yep once you notice your hair coming out...every day it becomes a concern and I see and count every hair. it becomes obsessive. I want to read more about shelleys visualization etc...to try to destress.

was your hair coming out before the detox?

Shelley can you explain what causes this..is it all the toxins coming to the surface..or the body resetting its clock? or what????

Thanks for this board. I love it!

harmony what was your goal? liver cleanse/kidney or just overall good health? Were you a bad eater/alcohol consumer? before...what were you correcting?

[pharaoh]

Just wondering why this is happening. I took an iron pill last night..a prescription form that includes vitamin c, folic acid, b vitamins..i just took one...that day i had my regular whey protein shake, tablespoon of b vitamins, 5 mgs of biotin and a b12 sublingual...my hair went from falling aboug 50 a day to 120...why does this happen. should I stay with the vitamins?

[shelley]

Yep, it's just like resetting your clock! or like kick-starting a car.

Anytime you suddenly change your metabolism for the better you'll shed. As long as you know you're exercising, taking vitamins and all that, don't worry about the shed, it will return and grow faster.

Also, hair growth speed (and sheds) are ruled somewhat by the moon phases - we're supposed to get our hair cut and colored during the new moon phase when it grows slower so we keep our look longer.

[harmony]

shelley wrote:

Also, hair growth speed (and sheds) are ruled somewhat by the moon phases - we're supposed to get our hair cut and colored during the new moon phase when it grows slower so we keep our look longer.

I never knew that! Thanks Shelley.

And to answer to my motives as to my revamp... well it was do or die I suppose.
I finally had found the strength to leave an abusive marriage.
I had lived a complete toxic life. Excessive weight, poor diet, lack of movement, radiation treatments. So many terrible factors.
I started with just a desire towards making a positive change. The further I went, the better, stronger, healther I felt. I just keep going. I still am.

I wish you well on your healing path.

[pharaoh]

Sounds like 2005 will be great for you. Good job on finding the courage and the strenght to do such wonderful things for your mind and your body! You should be so proud!!

[pharaoh]

Shelley,
I was reading a hair loss board and one of the girls said that Sulphites, in any form can be very harmful and could cause hair and skin problems. She suggested that stuff like sodium laurel sulphate and anything with "sulphites" in it could actually cause hair loss.

What are sulphites and are they harmful? If so how can we stay away from them.??