First Iron Injection Today

[Audrey-B]

I Claire, i notice you are in NSW too. I'm also worried about summer in a few months time as that is when most of my shedding occurs. Is your shedding all over or just in one area? Mine is all over and quite uniform.

My Trichologist didn't want me taking anything to stop my hair from shedding due to the fact that apparently while you are using these products it keeps your hair from falling out, but once you stop using them the hairs which should have fallen out do fall out. A gp i used to see once told me to get rogaine and when i went to the chemist the lady there just laughed saying that rogaine wasnt for people like me and that i'd be wasting my money and i would be better off finding the source of my hair shedding. Well the gp who advised me on the rogaine knew all along that my iron levels where out and that my immune system wasnt very good, but he just kept telling me very year that my blood test was fine. This makes me so mad b/c i could have done something 6yrs ago and averted all this hair shedding. I simply feel i'm in a much deeper hole now than i would have been 6yrs ago!!

As far as i know, you need zinc (among other things) to help boost iron levels, BUT, if you take zinc supplements when you take your iron supplements the zinc can stop your body absorbing the iron. My zinc, B12 and haemoglobin are all ok, it's just my ferretin. Also the fact that my iron has been so low for so long it has already started affecting my thyroid and moving me towards hypothyroidism. I don't have it yet as such, but my Trichologist has given me new targets he wants me to reach so that i dont end up with full blown hypothyroidism in the future.

I am really happy with my Trichologist. He has given me so much info regarding foods and vitamins and which things help with boosting iron and which things can hinder. He is also very knowledgable in how iron affects our entire system and which bodily organs/functions can stop working effectively if our iron is too low. He also works in conjunction with a couple of other doctors who specialise in particular fields and a professor at Sydney University whose field it is to discover why some people can't absorb iron no matter what. He hasn't sold me any thing which i felt he was selling me just to make money out of me. He feels my iron levels are the root of all my problems and simply put me on a strong iron powder, which had a few other things in it, plus complex amino acid pills to help better absorb vitamins and minerals in my diet, of which one is lysine as it helps increase the blood levels of ferretin.

Unfortunately for me, my iron still wasn't going up the way it ought to have and we have now moved to trying iron injections. He has had me do a very thorough blood test too and he has an extremely good knowledge of correct levels, which the pathology people simply over look and he has set new/correct targets for my thyroid, vitamin D and my SHBG hormone test is also a fair bit out (i'm having problems correcting my monthly cycles too). Dont know whether the iron has affected my hormones or whether that is a seperate issue at this stage.

As for extra hair on arms/face etc. I have not noticed any changes. I know certain drugs/pharmaceutical meds can have a side effect of extra hair growth in areas you do not want it, eg: my mum began growing extra hair on her previously hairless arms after going onto a calcium supplement.

Have you had your thyroid thoroughy checked out? Sometimes the hair loss can be thyroid related. My thyroid was viewed as being fine by pathology as i fell within the "range", but my levels are heading towards hypothyroidism. Even if your blood test shows you are ok, if your levels are a bit out you can have side effects from this. This is why it's important to have a good doctor who doesnt simply pass off your blood test results as being ok just b/c your results fall in the pathology "range". For some things this might be ok, but there are a number of things on blood tests that need to be above or below a certain figure and not just fall within the "range".

With my blood test he checked my liver function, magnesium, iron levels, folate, B12, full thyroid function test, hormones (SHBG, FAI, testosterone), zinc, vitamin D and copper.

As my Trichologist said, there are no super quick fixes for most people with low iron stores and that it can take a while to correct. For some reason in the last couple of months i have seen more baby hairs sprouting out all over the place and when i tie my hair back the baby hairs stick out and it looks as though i've had an electric shock!! I dont know whether this is simply the new growth that grows in over the winter months or whether it's due to the stuff i've been taking. Time will tell i guess.

I hope i've answered some of your questions.

Best of luck and keep us posted how you get on

[clairenichols01]

Thanks for all of that info. I to oam scared of the summer as I am afraid all the growth will be taken away by the heat!

My iron is low and zinc is low but not low enough for the doc to allow iron injections I have tried: accupuncture, chinese herbs, natropath, iron, zinc supplements, trichologist- menoxidol and am taking aldactone. I have aquired female allopecia- (baldness) I just want to be normal again! I am only 27 and I get depressed about it- people without this condition don't realise how stressful it is to not have hair- it makes such a difference. I had very thick hair as a child and now it is so thin. I hate standing in the sunlight. Recently it got very bad and it fell out heaps- the main area seems to be the top and front of my hair so if I wear it up I can hide it to a degree but then it falls out more becuase it has been tied up.

If you have any suggestions please let me know. I am in Evans HD NSW but go to Sydney regularly.

Thanks for the support.

[Audrey-B]

Hi Claire - I don't know what any of us would have done before the internet and boards like these. It really does help to be able to read what others have to say and what their experiences have been.

If you don't mind me asking, when they tested your iron levels last, what was your result for ferretin? The trichologist i have seen said that even alopecia can be brought on much earlier in life than it would normally occur (if you were to be predisposed to it eg: genetically) if your ferretin levels are low or have been low over a long period of time.

From reading other people's posts it appears that some doctors don't have an understanding how iron levels can relate in some people to more hair shedding than is normal. I know that there are other factors which can contribute to hair loss too, but if those other factors are pretty much ruled out and you know your iron is very low then it's worth building up your levels and keeping them there to see what will happen. Most doctors who understand will usually say that you should get your ferretin up to 70 and keep it there for 3 - 6 months, while other doctors will have a patient with a ferretin level in the 20's and will say that all is fine.

As for the iron injections, reading the pamphlet which comes with the injections it states that the injections can't be given to people with a number of conditions eg: low b12. Your doctor is possibly right in not going ahead with the injections which if administered incorrectly can have very bad side effects. On the other hand there are doctors who think injections are extreme and don't think it's necessary, when in fact they could be of benefit.

The only advice i can give is not to quit. I can honestly say that the only doctor who was of benefit to me and had what i felt to be a high degree of understand was the Trichologist. I went to a dermatologist, which was a waste of time. Later i found out that not ALL dermatologists are qualified in the hair loss department, only a small number of them are. Going to the Trichologist was a last ditch effort as i felt i had exhausted all my other avenues. I found the one i go to over the net. I did lots of research, phoned a few of them, asked questions and at the end he seemed most genuinely interested and knowledgeable, but then he does also have a medical background and isn't just one of those people who did a short term course and are in it for the money. Well that's my personal view on how he appears to me anyway. He works at Glebe and at Sutherland. He is at Glebe 2 days per week. I don't think we can give phone numbers on here, but if you look him up on the net it gives his contact number. Often you have to leave a message and he phones you back. If you are really worried it might be worth phoning and explaining your situation and he can tell you what he may or may not be able to do for you. I can't give any guarantees as your situation is a little different to mine.

As for your zinc and iron, they are both important, but i wouldn't be taking a zinc supplement at the same time as you take an iron supplement as the zinc can cancel out some of your iron absorbtion. Best to take them a number of hours apart.

If i think of anything else i will post it on here. I know it's hard not to stress, but stress wont be doing any good. Your best bet is to keep up with the research and find out what can/t be done and then work with that. All the best

[clairenichols01]

Thanks again for the support- today is a bad day for shedding it's getting hot 28 degrees and I have already counted about 100 hairs in 4 hours!

I will ask my doc to check my ferriting levels.

I will cease the zinc. Do you see Tony Pearce? I also see him and use his minoxidil, shampoo etc.

Have the iron injections helped? Tony requested that I get them too but the doc wont do it.

Thanks again.

Claire

[Audrey-B]

Hi Claire - Yes i see Tony Pearce too. He really new his stuff so that is why i selected him over any other Trichologist. I even phoned the Trichologists Association and the lady on the phone wasn't helpful. Tony gave me the Complex Amino Acid tablets plus an iron powder which had a few other things in it too. My ferretin went up a bit, but should have gone up more. I'm still taking the Amino Acid tablets as they contain Lysine which benefits people with low iron, but have stopped taking the iron powdered supplement as i'm on the injections. My next blood test should show good ferretin levels hopefully, but i'm scared of my ferretin levels dropping again after ceasing the injections.

I think you should find out your ferretin level first. If you are low in zinc i wouldn't advise giving it up. If you haven't already, you should probably have a thorough blood test and show it to Tony Pearce. He can then advise you on your levels and how best to take your supplements. If you are on an iron and a zinc supplement, simply dont take them together, take them a few hours apart so they wont affect one another and your body can still absorb them.

If Tony Pearce has suggested iron injections has he seen blood test results? If so, your ferretin levels must be on the tests as i dont think he would suggest injections without seeing any type of results. As for your gp, if he/she wont do the injections did they say why they wouldn't do it? If they didn't give you a reason why, i would find another gp. I dont waste time with doctors who wont do the right thing by me as i have wasted too many years trying to fix this problem. I have only recently begun seeing the gp who i see now and after checking certain things on my results he agreed to do the injections automatically and he is only in a medical centre and doesnt have his own practice.

The worst thing you can do is stress and count your hairs each day. For now all you can do is use the treatments you have been given, get answers out of your doctor or find a new one, try and keep calm and perhaps you can visit the hair section of the Healthboards to see whether others have found anything which has helped them. There are an amazing amount of people on here who are losing hair for a variety of reasons, but we can't give up hope.