Audrey-B

FLFLOWERGIRL is correct in what she says. Just a word of caution, don't end up like me and solely focus on the low iron. I kept thinking i only had a low ferretin issue and beleived my abnormal hair shedding was from that. It took me a long time to raise my ferretin and i got up to 78, but couldn't stay there. Now i keep going up and down between approx 50 and 70.

Firstly, when you lack iron, you do need extra protein. If your diet already includes protein you can always buy some Isolate Whey Protein and have that each morning. I was eating so healthy and i ate red meat most days of the week. I didn't have super heavy periods. There seemed no reason for my dropping ferretin.

I was then diagnosed finally with a thyroid autoimmune condition called Hashimoto's. Low and difficult to raise ferretin is often a symptom of Hashimoto's. Thyroid issues will also cause abnormal hair shedding due to not having sufficient/too much of the T4 or T3 thyroid hormones.

I was also found to be lacking in pancreatic digestive enzymes when it came to digesting protein. This would also lead to abnormal hair shedding as hair is 98% protein. I'm also very low in Vit D and iodine, for which i'm taking supplements. Low iodine can lead to hair loss too and iodine is necessary for proper thyroid function.

A lady at my work was extremely low in Vit D and said once she began supplementing she noticed less hair shedding. I don't know whether it was the vitamin D which helped or or whether her hair was going through a normal shed.

The thing is, i've known people whose ferretin was in the 30's or 40's and they never had hair shedding. Actually many many years ago when my ferretin was 34 i wasn't shedding any hair. This is why i believe my hair shedding has nothing to do with my ferretin, but with my thyroid hormones.

When my thyroid hormones got very close to where they should have been, with help of medication and other supplements, i did notice a mass of new growth. It looked quite comical, like i'd stuck my finger in a powerpoint. Afterwards i went through some major, major stress and my thyroid hormones went totally crazy again and i began the abnormal hair shedding again.

That's my story and i'd advise everybody to look at other things and not do what i did. I wasted valuable time focusing only on iron supplements and ferretin figures, when my issues were far greater.

There is some good reading you can do. The doctor who helped me so much and who i initially saw and who diagnosed my thyroid condition, has information on the net which explains a lot about hair shedding and anemia/low iron. His name is Dr Tony Pearce.... if you want to have a read. He also touches on thyroid issues among other things so you might learn a lot there.