help with hairloss - Hair Problems Message Board

littleopihi · 08-05-2008, 11:07 AM

i am a 32 year old female and have been losing my hair for 2 years now. they have done EVERY test in the book from two scalp biopsies to double stranded DNA tests... everything came back normal. but still it falls =( so finally my doctor decided to take me off the birth control... i've been on the bill for 9 years now and not the same one. i'm hoping that that may help something since it was the only medication i'm on at all... she said that sometimes BCP's can sync all the hair follicles and thus causing mass amounts of hairloss. i don't know what to do! my hormones are all in normal ranges and yet they decided to try spironolactone just incase it was female pattern alopecia. but i don't want to take that if i don't have to. my scalp biopsy the first time said telogen effluvium and the second said it could not differentiate between telogen effluvium and hereditary hairloss. i don't know what to do!! does anyone have any ideas? thank you so much!

doria444 · 08-05-2008, 02:49 PM

This is just a thought-even if all your hormonal tests are "within range", you might want to be retested-find the best endocrinologist that you can. It's possible you have too much testosterone, which can lead to hairloss. Don't assume that even though you're young, your hormones won't act up now. Good luck to you.

Audrey-B · 08-19-2008, 03:55 AM

How did they test your hormones and what time of day?

I used to get a blood test done and they never told me when to get it done. My results always came back normal. Only when i did a saliva panel test which spanned from 6am to 10pm did i get a true result which showed my hormones were messed up.

A lot of doctors are also good at saying test results are "normal" or "within range". Be careful there. Unless you know where you ought to be when it comes to ranges for various things you will end up in trouble if you have a doctor who simply thinks "within range" is normal. I kept having that told to me for a number of things and had hair shedding for 7 years. Finally i found a doctor who took me seriously and knew what he was on about and it was a thyroid problem all along.

With you being on the pill for a while then coming off it and experiencing hair loss, i've heard and read of that happening to other females too. With hormone imbalances it takes time for things to settle and hair to begin growing again.

Lastly, what is your ferretin level (iron storage) at? A lot of people have low ferretin and their doctors thinks it's normal.

littleopihi · 08-21-2008, 06:13 PM

thank you guys so much for your response! i did actually INSIST on seeing another endocrinologist finally... we are in the process of ordering more hormone, thyroid, vitamin D and iron tests... hopefully this sheds some light on something. at this point i'll take any answer as long as it sheds some light on why... it's been very hard, lately i've been depressed and not wanting to go out of the house other than to work of course. Audrey, you'll have to tell me since you've been shedding for 7 years, did you have any bald patches? did you get really thin all over? i'm really thin now... although my pony is the a bit bigger than a sharpie pen most people probably don't notice unless i point it out i think i may still get a lace front hair piece so i can feel better about myself until we figure out some answers. the endo does not think it's female pattern baldness with no baldness in my family at all, no high testosterone, no acne, no oily skin, no excessive hair anywhere at all, no high DHEA... nothing. infact i was taking an anti-androgen for almost a year now (just incase it was due to testosterone) and using rogaine and still it was falling out... i'm sure tho, it could totally be exacerbated by stress, infact i'm positive it is because this whole thing is stressing me the heck out! i'm trying not to, but i can't help it. a year ago my ferritin was 40 and dropping cuz i wasn't eating much protein for years... in march i finally got it back to 71 and i started to see many new hairs growing but still not enough to keep up with the shedding. i was wondering also was yours a steady fall or did you have periods where it was TONS? i seem to have a few months where it is just handfulls and then it'll go back down to 50 a day or so... frick this sucks =( thanks for listening!

Audrey-B · 08-25-2008, 06:24 PM

Good to hear you are getting more testing done and seeing a new Endo. With the iron test, make certain they include FERRETIN. Often they do iron testing, but exclude the ferretin if it's not specifically mentioned. Lucky you were able to boost your ferretin to 71. It takes 3 - 6 months, or for some 12mths, to notice proper hair growth phase if it's due to low iron.

My hair was shedding all over informly, but i did notice right at the front centre area that it was definitely thinning. Why wouldn't it after 7 years worth of shedding

at the moment of have loads of baby hairs everywhere, even in the front, but i know it will take ages to truly see major results, but at least there is sign of hair growth as i was so worried about folicles dying and no more hair growing out ever.

All my hormones testing was done first thing in the morning and was done via a saliva test. I also was tested throughout the day, but that was more so for my cortisol levels to check for adrenal fatigue, which you can develop after long term stress among other things.

Not sure whether you are on birth control pills? If you are, maybe the hormone testing can get a bit skewed as a result of the pill, but i'd think your doctor would have taken that into account?

My hair was shedding big time all year around, except for the coldest 2 months of winter for some odd reason. As soon as the warmer weather began i noticed it shedding more and more as we got closer to summer. Then during the summer months it broke my heart to see how much hair i was losing.

I read on the thyroid board that if your TSH goes up and down and doesnt stay constant that that will also contribute to hair shedding.

I have a book at home called A - Z of Nutrients and i was looking up something and came across Protein and how lack of protein or inability to digest protein leads to anemia and hair loss among other things. That is part of my problem, i eat lots of protein but wasnt digesting it due to lack of enzymes.

It's difficult and you need a lot of patience. At the end of the day it has to either be either iron, thyroid, hormone, birth control pill or digestive related. I haven't come across other things, but i'm sure there likely are other things, but those would be the most common ones.

Let us know how you got with your new doctor and new test results. all the best