I'm a 37 yr old woman who is losing a handful of hair daily.....:confused:
It started when my son was born and I went on paxil for anxiety, atenolol for tachycardia and birth control, this was almost 9 yrs ago. I was told the loss was from hormones and the birth of the baby plus the birth control. Well I lived with it and it wasn't so bad, my hair was really full and curly and it wasn't too bad at that time. Well, I've been off the birth control and paxil for almost 3 yrs and my hair loss is getting worse! Especially the last year or so and really bad the past few months. My hair is thin now and I'm losing so much I fear I will be bald within a few months. I have no bald spots, just overall thinning and lots of it. I do not have a stressful life, I'm a stay at home mom. My atenolol is a very low dose now as it was decreased - 25mg - and I'm on xanax now for my anxiety but that isn't known to cause hair loss. I'll also mention I have zero sex drive. I eat a healthy well balanced diet, take quality supplements and generally take good care of myself. I am going to go to my regular doctor but am confused as to what I need to ask her to do as far as testing. Could it be hormonal? I tend to get a lot of fungal type rashes on my upper body also and have never been able to control this even with lamisil so maybe it is on my scalp and causing the hair loss??? I'm just at a loss and very devastated by the amount of hair I have been losing the last 6 months. I really need advice on what testing to have done and what I might try. Also, are there specialists for this or is my regular doctor ok to see about this?

Thanks,
Tori

yeast problems such as skin fungus, toenail fungs and systemic fungus can be treated.

systemic fungal problems can make your hair fall out and since you have skin fungal problems, you may have a systemic fungal problem.

Low iron could also make your hair fall out.

systemic candidiasis can be take care of with herbs or drugs such as diflucan, nizorol, or ketacozinol, and probiotics.

If your doctor won't help you in this regard, do the candida test that you will be able to find on a candida website. Diet would also play a large role in this.

Dr. William Crook has written a good book on candida, how to control it with herbs and diet--recipies included and what to eat and avoid eating.

Nuttygirl -

Have you ever had your thyroid tested? That could be causing it, too.

Most doctors don't have a clue how to treat this. The two top reasons for hair loss are hormone imbalance and thyroid disease. Anti depresssants can cause hair loss also, so can low ferritin (it should be 70), vitamin deficiencies.. I would start with a dermatologist but don't get your hopes up, it took me 3 tries before I found one. The endocrinologist can run thyroid tests and the gyn can cover hormone testing.

My first step would be to go to your regular physician and have blood work done - complete blood count, thyroid, iron, ferritin. Low iron could be your culprit. After getting testing done, I would ask for a referral to a dermatologist. Good luck - I'm right there with you.

Thanks for your replies. I had complete blood work done in late Sept. and everything was normal with my thyroid, iron and such. My triglycerides were a bit high but my doctor said not too bad and just watch out for bad carbs, sugars and high fats which I am doing a better job of now. I'm calling her this morning to get in this week and wll ask for a hormone panel test plus adrenal testing and a referal to a dermatologist. I'm unable to take oral antifungals with the med I take for anxiety unless there's one that won't interact but I know the lamisil types are a no-no. I just have to get this under control I can't imagine be bald :eek:

Thanks again,
Tori

I just looked up atenolol, and it can cause hair loss.

Yes, that is true it can. The thing is, when I first began taking it I was on 50mg twice daily and the hair loss was there but not like it is now at only 25mg once daily which is considered a very minimal dose. In Oct I dropped down to the 25mg and it seemed the hair loss got worse :confused: I'm thinking it is something else because of this reason. Also with the complete lack of sex drive I'm thinking hormonal problem. I'll let y'all know what happens at the doctor when I go Friday.

Thanks,
Tori

Like others have said, it could be anything from diet, hormones, medication, thyroid etc.

When doctors do thyroid tests they are too general quite often. You can also be within the required range, but be close to the cut off point and it could be affecting you, but as you are within the required range docotrs will not put you on thyroid meds. Someone on the hair boards mentioned that you have to ask for a test including: Free T3 & T4, T3 & T4, thyroid antibody test.

I went to a dermatologist nearly 3yrs ago and it was a waste of time. I was so upset with my doctor as he new that my iron levels were low and he should have gotten me onto the iron before sending me off to an expensive dermatologist.

In mid February i'll be seeing a trichologist who specialises in only hair and scalp and this one specialises particularly with females who are having problems for whatever reasons. He also goes through all the possibilities and it's kind of like one stop shopping, you do everything with the one doctor instead of running to a gp, then to a dermatologist, then to a thyroid specialist, then to someone else and so on. I'm tired of useless gp's and trying these vitamins, those vitamins, having to do all the research myself and whatever else.

I did have success for a while with making infusions from nettles, rosemary or sage and using it as a rinse, but they only made my hair appear fuller and thicker. It did a fantastic job of cleansing my scalp though, it really cleaned out all the pores. Who knows, maybe my mass of baby hairs growing through are as a result of that or it could be due to months of iron supplements. Anyway, i'm sick of guessing so will wait till my trichologist appointment to find out what is the specific cause.

By the way, i recently read that excessive Vitamin E and Zinc can interfere with Iron absorbtion.

Hi,
I am also having hair loss. I was taking trazodone for a year and a half for depression and sleep problems. I noticed my hair falling out after taking trazodone for about 1month. I have been off trazodone for two months now but taking seroquel for sleeping problems. Still loosing hair. Have any ideas?

Hi,
I am also having hair loss. I was taking trazodone for a year and a half for depression and sleep problems. I noticed my hair falling out after taking trazodone for about 1month. I have been off trazodone for two months now but taking seroquel for sleeping problems. Still loosing hair. Have any ideas?

I just looked up seroquel for you, and it can cause hair loss.

Did you happen to notice if xanax can cause hair loss also? I've looked it up but haven't found anything yet. It's the only thing that controls my constant panic attacks so I surely hope it isn't the cause. My hair loss began before I started the xanax but has gotten worse the past few months so who knows.....but I hope not!

I did some searching last night and I found a few things about people getting hair loss from it. Also, I think there's a post either on here or on the Anxiety board about someone having hair loss from klonopin (clonazepam). It's in the same class as xanax. Have you ever tried anything 'natural' like kava kava or holy basil for your panic attacks? You can get these at a health food/vitamin store. Also, B vitamins are good for nerves. After losing lots of hair on various meds (including Prozac, currently weaning off), I'm all about the natural route. I haven't tried anything really yet, but I will if I start feeling bad again. It has to be better then these stupid scripts. There has to be a better way.

I've just been through a work-up for rapid hair loss (2/3rds of my hair in 2 years or so) with an Internist. I also have vitilago, or white spots on my skin. He claims all my bloodwork was normal, and that the white spots could be a integumentary (skin) immune problem such as lupus involving only the skin. He is exploring putting me on Plaguinel (a malarial drug) to see if this helps. Just a thought in that you also have another skin issue...

There really do seem to be a lot of people who are on mediction of various types, even the birth control pill, who are losing hair. It's unfortunate that what these drugs do to help on one hand they take with the other. So i agree with kittywitty that sometimes a natural alternative might be better if hair loss is affecting you due to drugs as not everyone gets the hair loss side affect but a fair amount of people do seem to according to reading things on various sections of these boards.

Even with natural you have to take care it seems. For example the herb astragalus is an immune system booster but through some research i did it was mentioned that even it can cause hair loss.

The problem is that hair grows slowly anyway and if you go off a drug or begin taking supplements or make some changes, you will likely not notice till at least 3 months down the track. Whatever new changes you make you need to be patient to give your hair time to become affected by the changes.

Thank you for looking that up for me.
Can you tell where you found that information?

Your welcome. :) Unfortunately, I can't tell you where I found it, because we can't post websites on here. Just google "seroquel" "hair loss" and you should find lots of info.

Yes I have tried EVERY natural remedy - herbal or otherwise for my panic disorder. I have gone many years on and off without meds and with using the herbals and therapy I just felt I was going mad! Even while off the meds I had the hair loss.....so, who knows :confused: I've had this disorder all of my life and it's been diagnosed as acute, severe and so on.

Anyway, my doctor has ordered extensive testing and said we'll go from there. I'll keep you all up to date on what's going on.

Thanks for your help!
Tori

Well, my doc said all of my hormone levels are optimal, iron level is good, thyroid good, adrenal function good, CBC was good. And then she said 'if there's anything else I can help with you just call for an appt!!!' Well yes, there's something you can do......figure out why my hair is falling out in handfuls! She said it's probably stress but I'm not having much, a lot less then normal. She told me to take zinc gluconate 50mg a day but I already take 100mg day so that won't help. What's my next step? My scalp also seems very itchy. Could it possibly be some type of rash or dermatitus(sp?) type thing? Would that cause hair loss? What kind of doctor should I go to next?

Thank,
Tori

What type of doctor did you see, just a gp? You can see a dermatologist but not all dermatologists specialise in hair loss. The best is a trichologist as they specialise in hair and scalp but as they aren't actual doctors they can not write you a prescription, but they can advise you on what to take.

I'll be seeing a trichologist in mid February as i too would like to get to the bottom of what has caused my hair to start thinning bit by bit in the last 6 years. Although i was very low in iron for quite a long time and your iron levels have to be in a certain range for hair growth, otherwise it will grow out, but also fall out very soon as i guess it doesnt have "staying power". I'm only guessing right now but hopefully will know more after my appointment.

I actually tried to find one of those docs near me but found nothing. I did see just my gp and am thinking of seeing a dermatologist and perhaps an internest. Not sure who else, maybe a gyn as they probably deal with female hair loss more often then any other doctor, I suppose because many women use their gyn as their primary doc. I'm grasping at straws, so desperate to have my beautiful, full, shiny, curly, strawberry blonde hair back to normal. Wearing it clipped up everyday is getting old.....

Good luck with your appt. next month. Let me know what you find out, I'd be interested to know.

Take Care,
Tori

I know what you mean about wearing your hair clipped up. It's hard to feel your thin hair that barely blows in the wind. I've had hair loss due to poor diet and low ferritin levels. I began to notice it last September..I had obviously been losing it for some time. Every time I would shake my head over the sink, at least 20 hairs would fall out. I've increased my protein intake and have been taking supplements and it seems like most of the shedding has stopped. Now, when I shake no hairs fall or only one or two. But the damage has been done. My hair is so much thinner. They had a piece about hair loss on the Today show and the woman said it will take 6 months to a year for your hair to come back to normal if it was due to a poor diet or low ferritin. So, we all have to be patient. But it's hard. I miss my old hair.

Yes it is sad to lose the hair you once had. My hair will moult a little throughout the year and nothing to really worry about, but as soon as summer comes a long i will moult so much for about 3 or 4 months so it seems that i lose a lot of my mature hairs which have grown full length plus the others which are trying to grow to full length. It also seems that each year i lose more than has grown out throughout the year. At first i thought it was simply seasonal shedding, but when i saw that at the ends of my hair the fullness was less and less each year i began to get worried.

It can be very difficult finding the right type of doctor who will be knowledgable enough to give reasons for your hair loss. As i said once before, i visited a dermatologist and she didn't think i had a problem. It was only later that i found out that not all dermatologists are good enough to deal with hair loss issues. Gp's can write prescriptions for various drugs or lotions for hair loss. Mine once gave me a script for women who have male pattern baldness, which i dont even have and the chemist just laughed and said my doctor isn't very knowledgeable. Hmmm, well i know this now!!

So then it was back to the drawing board and LOTS of research and then i came across trichologists. I'd travel long distance to visit one if i had to, just to find out why this is happening. I do not want to wait till i've lost the lot. I just hope i've picked a good one to go to.

I am having the same problem, 2 yrs now for me. I used to have thick, long beautiful hair and now it is very thin and I have to wear it back every day. I have been to 3 dr.'s and had all the testing done and everything came back normal and every dr. just shruged their shoulders and said "sorry, we have no idea what's causing this,"...even the dermatologist. It's incredibly frustrating and causing me a lot of stress and anxiety. I did go off the pill 2yrs ago, after being on it for a long time. I wonder if going on the bcp again would help?

Hi Jeel......BC pills have many varied side effects and for some people one of those side effects can be hair loss, but as we are all individuals and there are many varieties of BC pills out there, not everybody will have this particular side effect. If your thinning is due to being on the BCP for a long time, then you wont notice a major improvement too soon, it can take a while for your hair to get back on track.

BC pills also have an effect on the vitamins our bodies absorb as BC pills absorb most of our B group vitamins and that is why a multi vitamin B is essential for those on BC pills.

It is very difficult finding the right doctor to diagnose hair loss as hair loss can be caused by so many things. A lot of females begin noticing excessive hair loss after a certain age and it's usually after about approx 30yrs of age onwards and for some it's around menopause. It used to mostly be a problem associated with menopausal women, but a lot of doctors out there are baffled as to why it's happening to women at a much younger age. For females who dont have this problem due to genetics or vitamin deficiency or thyroid, then i figure it's something which has upset the hormonal levels as i've read that too little or too much testosterone can cause hair loss too.

I work with the public and i see a fair amount of females in their 30's onwards who have an obvious problem with either male pattern baldness or general thinning all over. My situation is nowhere near as bad as a lot i have seen but then i get worried and wonder if that will be me some day. The other odd thing i notice is that certain amounts of women with very obvious hair loss seem to belong to about 3 different ethnic groups. This led me to wonder whether certain people from certain countries are more predisposed to hair thinning and is it then a genetic thing or something linked to diet.

Today i visited the trichologist to see what is happening with my hair. He feels that my hair loss, which is fairly uniform all over my scalp, is related to my extremely low iron levels. He is very confident the problems can be reversed eventually.

He said iron levels should be 70 - 200 (new maximum levels is now 300) and should stay above 70 for a minimum of 3 months to enable visible signs of regrowth and less shedding. He wants to see my levels up to 150 and above as this allows enough measure for iron loss if it should happen again.

I told him that i have been on the liquid iron since last year and when he looked at the directions on the bottle he said that i could easily take double what was prescribed. I told him that i was afraid to 'overdose' and wasnt even sure what type of iron supplement to buy as my doctor offered no advice. He said he sees this problem often with gp's.

He has given me iron in a powdered form which cant be bought in a health food store or chemist, which he gets imported from the USA and something else which is an Amino Acid Complex made up of two different amino acids. He said protein is VERY important in the diet as is a complex multivitamin, but prolongued and constant use of Vitamins B12, D or E, zinc, calcium, copper and chromium stop the absorbtion of iron and can cause a defficiency in the long run. Dairy eg: cheese/milk can reduce iron absorbtion by up to 60% when taken with iron rich foods as can caffeinated beverages.

He said doing the right thing food-wise is all well and good, but he said that is simply not enough when your iron levels are severely depleted and that a strong iron supplement is required.

In 3 months time i'll have a blood test to recheck my levels as well as my thyroid as low iron levels can affect your thyroid also. If my levels are not up in 3 months then he will have to look into why this is happening, which can simply be as a result of a problem with foods containing gluten eg: wheat, or insufficient enzymes to help with food digestion as apparently it might not only be lack of iron, but your liver and stomach which also play a part in absorbing vitamins from your food and processing food etc. That's as simply as i can explain it, the doctor went through it all with me today and it all took an hour. I'm hoping it is only the lack of iron causing all this and not something else which is causing the lack of iron.

We did go through other issues eg: stress, oily scalp, blocked pores, follicles not getting enough oxygen, medication, shampoos etc, but he said that he couldn't see evidence of any of this and that mine was classic anaemia type hair shedding. He said majority of females who experience overall hair shedding are doing so due to aenemia, but eating extra meat or taking a multivitamin or your basic iron supplement will not get you up to where you should be for the problem to be gone. He said there is no issue with washing oily hair daily and he said it is likely more beneficial for daily washing if it is overly oil, but to do so with a mild non sulphate shampoo and not to scrub away at your scalp but to simply give a gentle wash.

Hope some of this helps and i'll definitely give an update in three months when i get a new blood test.

I have this fantastic book called 'mental and elemental nutrition' by Carl Pfeiffer. He claims that excessive hair loss can be as a result of excess copper. This can be caused by the BCP or by the last trimester of pregnancy. It can also be caused by excess copper in the drinking water or lack of zinc in the diet. (Zinc and copper do some sort of balancing act for each other) The other thing that he thinks causes it is heavy metal intoxication other than copper such as mercury, lead and cadmium.

The other thing good for reversing hair loss is vitamin B6. he says, 'some of the best results in hair strength and restoration have occurred when patients got adequate zinc, vitamin B6 and egg yolks.'

just thought i'd put this on.

Hi Audrey,

Thanks for posting about your visit to the trichologist. It's very interesting to me as I also have thinning hair and I'm wondering if it's caused by low ferritin levels, which I had a few years ago. I'm getting a blood test soon, to check my iron again and thyroid also. I had no idea until recently that low iron stores could cause hair loss. I thought it was more to do with age, in my 50s, and hormonal changes, as I notice quite a few women about my age with thinning hair.

I hope the iron supplements you're taking don't upset your stomach. This is the problem I have with really strong supplements and so can only take the mild forms. Has anyone found a good strong iron supplement that doesn't upset the stomach?

Happy hair days everyone!
Jacinda

Jacinda i noticed you are in Australia, that's where i am too. I found my trichologist by googling for one in my city where i live. There are not too many of them around and i was afraid i'd find a dodgy one who would put me onto some contract where he'd want money off me each month for all kinds of things he might be trying. You have to be careful that some so called professionals aren't simply trying to rip you off. I dont think we can give dr's names on here? Anyway, i googled and googled and did months or research until one guy stood out as knowing what he was talking about as it all matched my research and other things people have said on these boards. I guess time will tell if his iron supplement does the trick.

Previously i was taking Clements Iron and it says to take 15ml twice per day, but he said i could easily take 30ml twice per day. I found it easy on my stomach and it didn't constipate me either and it didnt taste bad. It said on the bottle to take before meals, but he said it's ok to take after meals, especially if you get nauseated or dont feel well when taking things on an empty stomach.

I put egg yolks (not the whites) into my banana smoothies. If you have raw egg whites (yukkkk) they bind themselves around biotin and stop it's absorbtion.

Zinc might be beneficial, but too much zinc will work in reverse and can also cause hair loss, just like too much of certain other vitamins.

I thought anaemia simply involved some iron supplement, eating more red meat and drink some orange juice and hey presto all is good, but i never realised what a mine field it is. The more i look into it the more complex it is with certain foods/vitamins working against you, dont take this take that, do this, dont do that.............

Zinc might be beneficial, but too much zinc will work in reverse and can also cause hair loss, just like too much of certain other vitamins.

I take Zinc 22.5 mg (whole food vitamins) and I was wondering how much is 'too much'? It says RDA 150% on the bottle.

Audrey, I can understand your concerns about finding the right trichologist and I’m glad you’ve found someone you believe is trustworthy at least. Just hope he can do something for your hair.

There are so many iron tablets on the market it’s hard to know which is the best. I think it was Ferrous Sulphate I used to take a few years ago, on doctor’s recommendation and it must have been a strong dose as it gave me cramps and bloating in the stomach, so I stopped taking it. However, it did increase my ferritin levels at the time, the little I took of it.

Recently I’ve been taking ‘Maxi Iron’ 1 tablet a day, which is supposed to supply you with 24 mg Elemental Iron, derived from Ferrous Fumarate and Iron Amino Acid Chelate. It also contains Folic Acid, Vit. B1, B2, B6, B12. No preservatives or artificial sweeteners. I’m having a blood test next week, but I doubt if my ferritin levels will be in the normal range yet as I haven’t been taking this supplement very long. Thanks for the info about Clements Iron.

I suppose it’s all trial and error in finding the cause of the hair loss. Having recently read about Androgenetic Alopecia I’m wondering if that’s my problem rather than iron or thyroid. Still, it’s best to get these things checked I think. What a slow process it all is though.
Jacinda

Kittywitty, i'm not sure how much zinc is too much. I guess if you are getting enough from your general diet and then taking zinc supplements on top of that or taking more of the zinc supplements than the directions state then that might count as "over doing it".

Jacinda, yeah the difficult part of hair loss is finding out what precisely is the cause. Mine was easier to pin point as my hair loss is uniformly from all over my scalp and not from one area only, it's been a slow continuous loss, i've been anaemic without realising it for years and i have continous regrowth but it doesnt grow to full length. Other types of hair loss where it centres in one certain area is usually as a result of hormones and a lot of people both male and female end up, as far as i know, using topical treatments such as rogaine to rectify that.

The iron which the trichologist has me taking has 40mg and i take it twice per day. It contains two other things which i wouldnt even know how to pronounce, plus acid free vitamin C.

It sure is a long process and the wait for the 3 months to be over before i can have a blood test seems like ages away.

Best of luck with your blood test and i hope you find out specifically what is causing your hair problems.

Hey, thanks for getting back to me. :) Well, my diet isn't all that great so I'm pretty sure I need to supplement it. Plus, I was at the vitamin store the other day and they said that that the amount I'm taking isn't too much.

I am 31 and am experiencing thinning hair. It's been happening for more than a year or so. I always had thin hair, but I had more of it before. Now, I have thin, thinning hair, which is pretty bad. I can see my scalp easily wherever I part my hair. It is a thick line of scalp showing. And I used to be able to clip my hair up with a normal sized banana clip. Now, I have to buy a smaller size clip because i don't have much hair to hold up anymore.

I did go see a general practitioner and had my blood tested. I will find out the results in a couple of days. He said the only things that could affect hair growth is thyroid and blood count.

He also told me to try Rogaine, but I don't know if that will help much. No one in my family is bald, so I don't think it is any kind of baldness due to genetics.

This is so frustrating. I didn't even know that women had to worry about thinning hair, I always thought it was a male thing. And I'm not even that old yet!!!! Only 31!!!!

I did go see a general practitioner and had my blood tested. I will find out the results in a couple of days. He said the only things that could affect hair growth is thyroid and blood count.

There's alot more than just those two things that can affect your hair. Medications often times are the major causes of hair loss, but, of course, alot of times a doctor isn't going to tell you this. You either find out the hard way, like I did, or you do research on anything they prescribe before you take it. Other things that have an affect on hair are your diet (low levels of zinc or iron or a lack of protein) and also hormone levels. I'd seek out another doctor for a second opionion if I were you, maybe a dermatologist instead.

Well, I haven't really changed my diet.

I am taking bc pills for 8 months now. However, my hair began to thin before I took the bc pills, so I don't think it's the pills.

I guess I'm just going to wait for the results before I can assume anything else. But I hope it is something that can be corrected, and not something permanent like male patterned baldness or anything like that.

Since you mention that you're on the pill, you might want to take a Zinc supplement. Birth control pills deplete Zinc, which in turn can cause hair loss. Also, just a FYI, the pill also depletes a host of other important vitamins and minerals, including B vitamins and magnesium.

Thx Kitty!


I think I will take some Zinc pills. I'm willing to try anything to get my hair back!

:p

Audrey, Just to let you know my blood test came back with everything in the normal range. Ferritin was low normal though, about 30, so will keep working on that, I only took the supplement for about a month. So looks as though my hair loss is probably hereditary.

Thinking of trying Rogaine. Any women had success with Rogaine at all?

Jacinda

Jacinda,

Does anyone in your family have hair loss problems too??

Hollandlop, Only some male members of my family have hair loss, none of my sisters and my mother's hair didn't start to thin until she reached 70 or so. I'm still not sure what is causing this problem. Low iron even in the normal range can cause some hair loss, so I'm continuing with the supplements in case this is contributing to it.

Jacinda

Hi Jacinda, 30 is still too low for proper hair growth so i guess you will still have to look at boosting it up to 70 or over.

Well i've been taking this high powered iron supplement for 2 weeks now and it has so far only made me feel a bit light headed and naseous (sp?) in the last couple of days, but that only happens when i take it in the morning, but at night i'm fine and i haven't experienced an upset stomach yet, so fingers crossed it will stay this way. Still can't wait to take that blood test in 3 months time..........

Audrey,
Sorry to hear about your nausea after taking iron supplements. Perhaps you need to take the iron with plenty of water. You could also have a day off taking them every so often, they can be very harsh on the intestines sometimes. Good luck with your next blood test.

Jacinda

I got my thyroid and my blood count tested.

The doctor said the results of my blood test is normal.



So, now back to the drawing board.


I have no idea what is causing my hair loss.....

hollandlop, what was your result for your iron and ferretin levels on your last blood test? and do you know that your levels need to be over a certain amount for a certain amount of time for normal hair growth? A lot of doctors say your blood test is ok simply b/c you fall within the "range", but being at the low end of the range can make you lose hair. If this isn't the case for you, then it could be anything from medication like birth control or other med's, hormonal issues, diet, genetics, stress, thyroid.

Since last posting i had a bit of stress which elevated my blood pressure and i think this could be why i've been a bit light headed. When i visited my gp he ordered a full blood test to check that all is ok and i'm happy that my iron has moved up from 6 to 21 and my ferretin went from 8 to 29, but still it's a long way to get to 70, but at least this stuff is working.

The tricky bit will be once my levels get over 70 and my hair stops falling, how will i keep my iron levels up naturally without having to take anything.

I'm also researching which foods contain iron so that i'm not resorting to lots of meat and spinach and there are some really nice things out there to include in your diet which contain iron such as mangoes, sweet potato with skin on, pumpkin, apricots b/c they contain copper and cobalt which is good for anaemia, eggplant, avocado, alfalfa sprouts, and rye bread is good for anaemia too.

Audrey, most of my blood test results range in the middle. Except my WBC, which is at the lower end of the range.

I got my TSH tested, which came out to be normal too.

I asked my doctor about the results, he told me that my range is ok for normal hair growth. But he's just a general practitioner, so I don't know how much knowledge he has on hair growth.

What kind of doctor has more knowledge about hair loss? I really need to find out the answer.

Only "some" dermatologists will specialise in hair loss. I went to one about 3 yrs ago and she said that my hair looked healthy and she tried pulling it to see if it feel out easily and said i had nothing to worry about and to give it time, well i've lossed a lot more of my hair since then. Fat lot of good that advice did me!!

My own gp was useless and i find most gp's to be useless determining whether blood test results are affecting the particular problem a patient might be having. They might be ok with the common stuff, but throw in a difficult question and they know nothing. Even the blood test i had done the other day, the new gp i'm visiting simply said ALL was ok and dismissed my hair loss issue, as did the gp who ordered the actual blood test as did my old gp who i dont see anymore. This is 3 doctors had no idea that hair loss can be triggered by low iron.

Then i read a newspaper article on how a Trichologist is best to see as they specialise in actual hair and scalp and all reasons/causes of hair loss. So that is who i saw to get meds to boost my iron levels faster than the over the counter stuff you buy at the chemist or healthfood store.

I have read of people going to naturopaths as well.

I'm fotunate that my situation is fairly black and white and it's definitely my iron as i have blood test from at least 6 years ago which show that i was very low back then and it's never picked up.

In your case, if it's not your iron or thyroid, are you on any meds or have you been? is your hair loss even all over your scalp or is it predominantly situated in one area? Have your had children? as it's normal to lose hair due to childbirth, but it's supposed to grow back, but for some females they experience problems and this would be hormonal, too much testosterone can do it too. Your body wouldn't be gearing up for menopause would it? Other things could be nutritional deficiencies, as your body uses up all the nutrients it needs and what is left is then used by your hair. Hair also needs good circulation, if the scalp is to acidic then that can cause the hair to fall out and i think i've read that some people get folliculitis.

At the end of the day all you want is to know why it's happening to you and what can or can't be done so that you at least know where you stand. Hope you find out soon.

My hair is thinning all over my head. So it's not just one area.

I'm 31, and haven't had any children.

I have been taking bc pills for 8 months, but I began to notice my hair thinning even before I started taking the bc pills.

I started to use Johnson's baby shampoo because I read that some shampoos might be too harsh for certain people's scalps. I have a very oily scalp and need to wash my hair daily, so I guess the baby shampoo will be better for me.

I also read that using too much conditioner will make hair fall out, I don't know if that's true or not. But I usually just put conditioner on the bottom half of my hair to avoid my scalp getting oily.

Other than those factors, I don't know what else could be causing my hair thinning.

By the way, what exactly is a trichologist and how much do they usually charge per visit? I don't have health insurance right now so it's difficult for me to go around seeing different doctors.